Paul Johnson’s journey through the criminal justice system is over, and he walks the earth a free man. The Eighth District Court of Appeals reversed his convictions and vacated his sentences last week, a landmark decision interpreting H.B. 86, Ohio’s recent sentencing reform law. In May 2011, Johnson was indicted...
Continue reading "ZDL wins landmark reversal in the 8th District Court of Appeals on HB 86 sentencing issue" …
In Bailey v. U.S., 2013 U.S. LEXIS 107, the Supreme Court limited a previous holding that allowed police to detain a suspect incident to the search of a residence. Police were getting ready to execute a search warrant at the apartment of defendant Chunon Bailey when detectives spotted Bailey and...
Continue reading "US Supreme Court Limits Police Power to Seize Suspects Incident to a Search of Premises." …
In U.S. v. Jones, Docket No. 10-1259, the Supreme Court of the United States, in a vote of 9 to 0, held that the installation of a global positioning system (GPS) tracking device on a suspect’s vehicle, without a warrant, constituted an unlawful search under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The significance of the decision in Jones lies in the narrow basis for the holding. In essence, the majority’s holding reflects an irreducible constitutional minimum: “when the Government physically invades personal property to gather information, a search occurs.” The Majority’s trespassory test does not offer guidance in a world where physical intrusion is now unnecessary to many forms of surveillance.
Continue reading "Fourth Amendment: Physically invading personal property to gather info, means a search occurs" …
BY S. MICHAEL LEAR On April 5, 2010 Senate Bill 77, a comprehensive criminal justice reform package, was signed into law. SB 77 stemmed from a joint project between the Ohio Innocence Project and the Columbus Dispatch and the passage thereof was the culmination of the efforts of many individuals,...
Continue reading "OHIO'S SENATE BILL 77: A NATIONAL MODEL OF REFORM" …
BY ROBERT B. BLACKWELL, ESQ. AND S. MICHAEL LEAR, ESQ. The fourth amendment to the Constitution of the United States provides protection for the people of this nation from unreasonable searches and seizures. What rights and safeguards do we have to prevent such unreasonable searches and seizures? For decades, the...
Continue reading "The limits of the exclusionary rule, from Weeks to Herring. Are We Secure in Our Person?" …
Subscribe