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City of Toledo Pleas For Help In Arson Investigations

dave — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:06:18 +0000

Thirty-one vacant house fires in the last two months have the city of Toledo on edge. So much so that the Mayor announced the reward for valuable information has been boosted to $25,000 in hopes of solving some of the yet-unsolved blazes in the area. Of the six most populous cities in the state, Toledo has had the most arson cases per capita in the past year.

Since the start of this year, Toledo has seen 80 suspicious fires, up 37% from last year. The Fire Chief states there is reason to believe many of these arsons have been committed by the same people. Evidence at the blaze scenes connect the fires in some way.

Two arrests were recently made in one of the fires as two boys, ages 12 and 13 were seen leaving the scene of a smaller vacant house fire. Despite the magnitude of these offenses, they often begin as a childhood prank.

Arsons are considered very serious crimes. Their potential for damage is huge and likely why they are so serious. A natural occurrence like fire is difficult to control and can spread easily to destroy residences and hurt or even kill the very people fighting to stop it.

While arsons are often portrayed on television and movie screens as being committed by totally deranged individuals, they are often started by kids. Sometimes, what begins as a controlled burning can also quickly get out of hand and appear to be a deliberately set blaze.

Property crimes like this carry serious criminal sentences. With arson, the degree of the criminal charges faced depends on the result of the blaze. You could be looking at a misdemeanor charge with a 6 month jail sentence. If, however, the fire involves an occupied structure, you are looking at 2 to 8 years in prison and a felony record.

The fires in Toledo have served to cause millions of dollars in damage, preventable damage. And whoever is found to be responsible will likely face a court motivated by the city’s collective displeasure.

If you’re facing charges of arson or something as simple as vandalism, you need a defense attorney looking out for your best interests. Please contact us to speak about your case and to get some legal help.

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New Ohio Laws to Reduce Wrongful Convictions

dave — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 21:35:19 +0000

A new set of laws in Ohio will work to keep the criminal process more efficient while simultaneously reducing the change of wrongful convictions and eyewitness identifications. While it may take prosecutors and police some time to adjust, the adjustments will be well worth it and are coming at a very good time—when dozens of states have passed similar legislation.

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, close to 25 states have adopted “open discovery” rules. What this means is prosecutors and defense attorneys will be required to share their information earlier on in the case and they won’t be able to withhold important data like police reports, expert witness reports, and other potentially trial changing information.

In addition the laws will change how eyewitness identifications take place. Interestingly, about 75% of wrongful convictions nationwide have hinged on false eyewitness identification. This new law will seek to minimize this occurrence by adopting a new process for doing photo lineups.

Until now, police would show witnesses a series of photos, altogether, spread out on a table or copied on the same piece of paper. This method has been shown to produce false identification because people are more likely to compare the photos to one another, choosing the one that may look the most like the suspect, even if the suspect isn’t in the lineup.

Now, witnesses will be shown a series of photos, one after the other, in what’s referred to as a “folder shuffle” method. This, University of Cincinnati law professor Mark Godsey says, “forces the person to compare the suspect not to other pictures but to their individual memory” an important distinction.

This package of reforms has been spearheaded by the Ohio Innocence Project. It was approved by lawmakers and is said to have seen immense support by police and prosecutors alike. Despite the adversarial system and common attitude of “we vs. them”, most people within the legal community want to see methods adopted that have less room for error and better protection of the innocent. Nationwide, the Innocence Project has been aggressively working to reform the criminal justice system and exonerate wrongfully convicted individuals.

Laws like these are very important in ensuring the right people are tried for crimes and that they receive a fair trial and fair treatment leading up to the trial. If you’re facing criminal charges, you know just how important this is.

If you are accused of a crime, knowing the laws in place to keep your rights protected is important. You need to know what you’re up against and you need to have someone on your side to assist you. Contact me today. Whether you are facing charges of drug possession or fraud—I can help.

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Ohio Considering More Probation, Less Prison

dave — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 20:36:02 +0000

Budgets across the nation are tight. States spend exorbitant amounts on locking up their citizens. So much that the United States incarcerates people at the highest rate in the world. But balancing a budget might mean slowing down on the locking up as this report from the Dayton Daily News.

The article cites the Center for Economic Policy Research when it states that governments could save 25% if they were “to place half of their non-violent criminals on probation and parole instead of in prisons and jails.” While this number is hard to argue with, not many people are too keen on freeing those people currently locked up.

Ohio’s correction budget stands at $1.78 billion. We incarcerate about 51,000 men and women though our institutions only have the capacity for 38,665. But when lawmakers start discussing the release of inmates or relaxing sentencing policies, they are accused of putting the public at risk.

Interestingly, 28% of new male inmates in 2009 were sentenced for drug offenses, not violent crimes. And while no one wants drugs in their communities, we simply don’t have the resources to continue locking people up at such alarming rates.

Although being “tough on crime” is popular, the sentiment has driven prison populations through the roof and has done nothing to reduce recidivism. Because the broken and highly expensive system isn’t working, you would think people would be more willing to see it changed.

Typically, probation is reserved for those people who are first time non-violent criminals. Things like minor drug offenses, bad checks, and small theft cases are common in the probation department. As the seriousness of your offense and the length of your criminal history increases, so do your chances of prison time.

While the budget is an important matter, and changing sentencing practices is too, we can’t exactly ask a judge to give you probation to save the taxpayers’ money. However, as your attorney, I could argue that you pose no risk to the community and that your rehabilitation would be far more productive on probation than locked away in prison.

Whether you are facing OVI, drug charges, or something more serious like assault—we can help. Contact our attorneys today to discuss the details of your case. I can help you determine if you might be a good candidate for probation within a short amount of time.

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Ohio Supreme Court Rules Officer Estimate Good Enough for Speeding Ticket

dave — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 21:21:32 +0000

In a 5-1 ruling, the Ohio Supreme Court decided that a trained police officer’s visual estimate of a cars speed is sufficient proof to assess a finding of guilty with a speeding ticket.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, the defense argued unsuccessfully that the court should have more discretion to question the judgement of the officer’s option, depending on the exact facts in the case.

The obvious questions this decision raises, is now that an officer’s opinion is de facto beyond a reasonable doubt evidence of speeding, does that mean that anytime an officer says a car was speeding, any police vehicle stop is legitimate?

When pulling over a car for any reason, a police officer must have articulable suspicion that some law is being broken for stopping the vehicle. This comes up all the time in drunk driving cases and other criminal traffic offenses like driving on a suspended license. If the officer didn’t have a clearly valid reason for stopping the car, then any evidence obtained after the fact: be it an intoxicated driver, or drugs in the car, is inadmissible.

But suddenly that standard can be the officer’s opinion that the car was speeding, with no other supporting evidence. This sounds like a questionable decision that could have significant implications for traffic stops and criminal charges across Ohio.

(Via balloon juice)

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Two Years Patrolling With a License Plate Scanner

dave — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:39:19 +0000

After spending two years with only an automatic license plate reader as a partner, a local Ohio police officer says it is an invaluable law enforcement tool. Interesting details on it’s use are provided in this news item in the Dayton Daily News.The officer is quoted as saying that this system accounts for an extra 6 or 8 arrests per week, often by locating people with outstanding criminal warrants.

One noteworthy arrest came from driving down a residential street. A car was parked at a home, where the owner of the vehicle was sought for a felony warrant for failure to pay child support, but her listed address was on the other side of town.

After some investigation, it was determined that the woman had moved two weeks earlier, likely in an effort to evade the police and the warrant.

Now, most people would applaud this efficient use of technology for police to locate people sought by the law.

But one should seriously consider if there are negative implications with the police locating and tracking everyone parked on a residential street, in their homes.

It is true that only cars that are wanted by police will display active alerts. But to get to this point, ever plate is scanned, stored, and matched. So the police now have a record of where you are, every time a police car drives by.

Who has access to this data, and for what purposes? Can the police now search backward to find out where you have been spotted by these systems?

What other data mining can they do on anyone who they might even suspect or want to investigate in a criminal case? Can this information be subpoenaed in civil cases? If you are being sued for divorce, can this information be used against you, to find if you were at a girlfriend’s house?

Finding stolen cars and locating fugitives is a legitimate and beneficial use of these systems, but as these systems evolve and spread, the civil liberties concerns with what amounts to massive government surveillance of all citizens has yet to be seriously addressed.

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Small Town Ohio Faced with Human Trafficking

dave — Wed, 26 May 2010 17:24:40 +0000

Often when you think of human trafficking you think of big cities and immigrants being conned into servitude. A recent case, crossing state lines from Maryland to small town Ohio, however, proves this isn’t always the case.

Four men are accused of running a prostitution ring and recruiting women and girls as young as 16 in the Chillicothe area. The business was run out of a Maryland apartment, but the men allegedly did their recruiting and drug sales in the area north of Columbus.

The recruits were given promises of partying and a good time and then often held against their will, according to the Columbus Dispatch. The men are accused of getting the women addicted to drugs and then exploiting that addiction, requiring them to prostitute themselves to earn their “fix”.

The case was blown open when one of the women agreed to provide “services” to an undercover officer. Because the case crossed state lines, the men faced several federal charges. Sex and drug offenses at both the federal and state level stood to send these men to prison for lengthy terms.

All four were sentenced after accepting plea agreements. There was a 17.5 year sentence, two for 15 years, and one for 10.

Each of the four men had varying criminal histories, with the ringleader having perhaps the cleanest record. One of the others had 30 misdemeanor arrests and a prior prison sentence, all of which, no doubt, played a role at sentencing.

Whether at the state or federal level, it is not unusual to face a multitude of charges stemming from one event. Multiple charges can lead to multiple sentences and the potential to serve a lot of time.

Plea agreements are used in the majority of criminal cases here in Ohio and across the country. In this case, each many stood to serve a life sentence if convicted on all charges. The plea bargain lessened this potential sentence.

If you are facing criminal drug charges, soliciting a prostitute or related sex offenses, or any other criminal charges and need help about plea agreements or your potential sentence, contact us today.

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Ohio Sexting Laws Reform

dave — Wed, 19 May 2010 00:48:27 +0000

There was a good editorial in the Journal News about the state legislature’s efforts to reform Ohio’s child pornography laws to account for teen “sexting”. Under existing statutes, a teen possessing a sexually explicit photo of his girlfriend sent to his phone or computer could be charges with felony possession of child pornography and convicted as a sex offender.While teen sexting is not something that should be encouraged or supported, most people understand the distinction between inappropriate (and stupid) teen behavior, and predatory adults taking advantage of children. It simply isn’t the same thing.

In today’s world when every teen has a camera on his or her cell phone, this kind of behavior is bound to happen.

But that doesn’t mean, a young person’s life should be destroyed.

The sexting laws reform effort in Ohio seeks to add a misdemeanor criminal option in these cases, and emphasize education about the consequences of distributing illicit photos of one’s self or others. The felony sex offense law would of course remain on the books, and could still be used to prosecute juveniles if the circumstances warranted the more severe charge.

But it would be a reasonable measure, and a nod to reality to give Ohio prosecutors a less onerous option, to teach kids a lesson, but not destroy their futures for adolescent bad behavior.

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Brimfield, OH Adds License Plate Scanners

dave — Mon, 10 May 2010 20:47:55 +0000

Brimfield Township is the latest Ohio law enforcement agency to deploy high tech license plate scanning devices to identify and flag drivers wanted by the police. These cameras mounted on police cars and connected to computer systems inside the police car alter officers to the nearby presence of cars that are being sought by law enforcement and government agencies.

The most common application for these systems is for finding stolen vehicles, or driver’s who may be operating with a suspended license, or an outstanding warrant. But police are able to put any plate into the system for any reason, and if spotted, the vehicle is flagged, and the officer alerted.

According to the Record Publishing, the new devices are set to be online within the next month.

The specific system is a Mobile Plate Hunter 900, which can capture and track up to 3,600 license plates per minute. The system is hailed as a “force multipler”. Officers have long been able to selectively enter plate ID’s into their computers while sitting by the side of the road. This is considered a perfectly reasonable activity, to randomly check for scofflaws or wanted individual.

But this system is the equivalent of checking and verifying every vehicle within visual range. While many people are wary of this kind of giant surveillance net, it is all perfectly legal. If you are driving down a public street, the police do not have the right to stop you for no reason, but they do have the right to verify that your car is legitimately and legally on the road, without notifying you.

Worse yet, all this data is stored somewhere. These thousands of plates per minute are all logged and stored by location. All this data can be easily put together from different agencies, so the government can automatically assemble an extensive record of every time and plate your card was spotted on the road.

Something to keep in mind, if you decide to venture out driving your car after a license suspension. It used to be that you would have to be fairly unlucky to get caught. As the giant surveillance net is further expanded, soon it will be the exception rather than the rule that your plate is scanned, just by driving down your street.

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Ohio Lawmakers Consider Medical Marijuana

dave — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 19:40:58 +0000

Marijuana laws are changing across the country and although there is medical marijuana legislation pending in Ohio, many are saying the legislation will never pass. Caught up in politics and the fear that a “yes” vote on this law could cost them some election votes, some politicians are said to be playing it safe.

According to several media sources, some lawmakers have admitted to supporting medical marijuana while simultaneously saying they will not vote to pass such legislation. They are afraid, it seems, that it could cost them their seat in the legislature. This despite numbers from in Ohio and other states that say the majority of Americans support medical marijuana.

Ohio is one of many states considering medical marijuana legislation this year while some states are considering the legalization of marijuana altogether. The prevalence of such reform doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon due to the public’s support of change in the way marijuana is viewed within the legal system.

Currently, however, and until any such laws are passed in Ohio, we continue to penalize marijuana as we always have—as a controlled substance. If you are caught in possession of less than 100 grams, you can consider yourself lucky as you will only face a fine.

If, however, you are found in possession of more than 100 grams (just over 3.5 ounces) of marijuana, the penalties quickly climb. Anywhere from 100 to 200 grams and you will face misdemeanor charges. If you are found with more than 200 grams, however, you will face felony charges.

There are many legal defense options available to people charged with possession of marijuana and even possession with intent to sell the substance. If this is your first run-in with the law, I’m sure you don’t know what you should do. Speaking to an attorney can help you sort through the legal options before you.

If you are facing charges like this in Ohio, contact us today. You need an advocate on your side in court, fighting for your case.

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Ohio Woman Convicted and Sentenced for Identity Theft of Sister

dave — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:22:36 +0000

A nineteen year old Sidney woman was sentenced to 6 months in the Ohio Reformatory for Women after giving police her sister’s name when being investigated on theft charges. According to the Dayton Daily News, the judge said the woman’s actions were a “slap in the face to the criminal justice system.”

This wasn’t the woman’s first run-in with the Ohio criminal courts. She has apparently had contact with law enforcement since as early as the age of 15. Her crime of choice seemed to be theft offenses as the article details her prior run-ins included bad checks, unauthorized use of property, and theft.

The woman was on probation at the time of the latest offense when police were called to Walmart to investigate a theft. There she allegedly gave the investigating officers her twin sisters name and wasn’t identified until an officer came to the scene who had dealt with her on prior occasions.

A life of crime often starts early and if not stopped can spin out of control. The judge likely felt that confinement would be appropriate and hopefully give the convicted woman the wakeup call needed to turn her life around.

On the other hand, this was part of a plea agreement and she originally faced up to one year in prison for the identity theft charge. This goes to show that even in cases of extensive criminal histories, plea agreements can be reached that are mutually beneficial to both parties.

When you are facing charges, whether they are for identity theft, drugs, or even DUI, there are multiple options available to you—even more so if this is your first encounter with the law.

Contact us today to discuss any charges against you and what your potential outcomes could be. Our aggressive defense attorneys, will work tirelessly to ensure you get the best possible results in court.

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