03/20/06
Judges
Trumped, Bankruptcy Filing Stays Contempt Case
OTTAWA
COUNTY, OHIO
No
court can conduct an action unless they have jurisdiction, the power of
a court to adjudicate cases and issue orders. Because Ottawa County Common
Pleas Court has no jurisdiction in the Elsebeth Baumgartner contempt case,
the trial scheduled to open Monday can’t go forward. See North
Country Gazette Article. |
03/09/06
Visiting
Judge Denies Motion and Ignores Facts
IIAO,
CLEVELAND
On
March 7th, 2006, visiting judge H.F. Interlied Jr. rendered his judgement
against John Peters denying his Motion for New Trial. During the two days
of evidentiary hearings in November last year we heard startling testimony
revealing how exculpatory evidence was withheld from defense cousel by
then prosecutor Timothy McGinty. See John
Peters Page |
02/22/06
Magistrate
Judge Withdraws Recommendation to Dismiss Petition
IIAO
CLEVELAND
On
December 7th Magistrate Judge Norah McCann King had recommended to dismiss
John Frazier's Federal Writ of habeas corpus. After defense attorney William
R. Gallagher filed a Supplement and Objections to the Report and Recommendation
on January 9th, the judge has now filed an Order to withdraw her Report
and Recommendation. See the motions and orders on Frazier's
Page. |
02/02/06
Sirak
Class Action Suit Dismissed Feb. 1st
Judge
Carr Issued His Opinion and Dismissed the Case In Its Entirety, but Sirak
Will Be Back
IIAO
Becki Miller broke the devastating news today through e-mail and the Parole
Reform Discussion Group. Federal Judge Carr's decision represents a
conflict with other recent rulings in similar suits against the APA, not
the least of which are Dotson, Layne, Ankrom, and
the January 12th Ohio case in Hernandez.
Our hearts and prayers are with the clients, their families, the Siraks,
the Millers, and all the volunteers who gave of themselves to get us this
far. Something must have gone awry. |
01/05/06
Murder
Convicts May Get New Trial
Bob
Gondor and Randy Resh Appeal Motion for New Trial from 11th District
AKRON
Beacon Journal - 11/26/05 The Ohio Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments
for Jan. 25 in the bizarre case, and attorneys for both men say they are
confident of winning after repeated delays and setbacks. See
Article Free
Bob and Randy |
12/15/05
Clarence
Elkins is Set Free From Prison!
COLUMBUS,
Ohio (AP) - A prosecutor on Thursday dropped all charges against a man
serving a life sentence for murder and rape, freeing the man after serving
seven years in a case that turned on DNA evidence on a cigarette butt that
had been dropped by another inmate. WOIO
Article |
11/09/05
Spirko
Execution Delayed
Spirko had been scheduled
to die Nov. 15th, but on Monday, Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro requested
a 60-day reprieve to allow time for the DNA testing that Spirko's lawyers
have been seeking. Plain
Dealer Article |
10/29/05
DNA
Proves that Clarence Elkins is Innocent
But
I'll bet you the Prosecutors and Judges will Never be Held Accountable
for Ruining his Life
Akron- Clarence Elkins,
serving a life sentence for killing his mother-in-law and raping his niece,
is innocent and should be freed, Attorney General Jim Petro told Summit
County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh on Friday. Plain
Dealer Article |
10/09/05
Ohio
Prisoners Win Major Medical Class Action Lawsuit
US District Court issues
a Stipulation for Injunctive Relief in Fussell
v. Wilkinson. The Court appointed MIT found, "a clear pattern
of problems emerged early in our work and was confirmed as we continued."
Read
the Story Press
Release |
10/03/05
The
Story of John Wesley Frazier, Exclusive by James F. Love
Let a cop get killed,...and
today's justice system is all too ready to throw the Constitution out the
door. And you, the people of this great country, are too willing to let
them. John Frazier was sentenced to Life in prison without ever being first
found guilty of a crime. Read
the Story Frazier
Page |
9/14/05
COLUMBUS
Judge
Cain Issues Decision in Ankrom, Over Contempt Motion
"Clarification
should not be necessary at this point. Nonetheless, the court will attempt
to make it as clear as possible. And, while the court believes the defendants
may be deliberately distorting the orders..." Read
the Decision |
9/12/05
CLEVELAND
Motion
for New Trial Postponed for John E. Peters, Jr.
Hearings previously scheduled
for this week Have Been POSTPONED until November 14th-16th. Peters |
9/08/05
COLUMBUS
Taft
postpones man's execution to allow new clemency hearing
Gov. Bob Taft has delayed
the execution of death-row inmate John Spirko so that the Ohio Parole Board
can give him a second clemency hearing - an unprecedented move prompted
by concerns that the board got inaccurate information in the first go-round.
Plain
Dealer article here. |
8/27/05
COLUMBUS
Step
Aside Texas, Ohio Loves Murdering Innocent People Too
State
misstates facts in death row case: Prosecution fighting inmate's clemency
bid
Ohio
prosecutor Tim Prichard lies to the Parole Board to ensure the murder of
John Spirko. Please note that State Officials are never held accountable
for their illegal activites. Plain
Dealer article here. |
4/01/05
Columbus,
OH
10th
District Court of Appeals Affirms Ankrom v. Hageman
A
great decision for old-law inmates who had plea agreements. Assistant Public
Defender Charles Clovis characterized the Court of Appeals’ decision as
“a major victory.” Read the Public
Defenders press release. Get the decision in PDF
format here. |
3/07/05
US
Supreme Court Decides Wilkinson v. Dotson
State
prisoners may bring a §1983 action for declaratory and injunctive
relief challenging the constitutionality of state parole procedures; they
need not seek relief exclusively under the federal habeas corpus statutes.
See
Decision |
1/26/05
Kenny
Richey gets new trial
After
18 years on Ohio's death row, the 6th Circuit Court says give him a new
trial or set him free. Kenny
Richey |
1/20/05
Chaplain
Ted Kaplan
Long
time prisoner activist Ted Kaplan passed away on January 18th and will
be greatly missed my many. |
11/30/04
City
Police Officer Resigns STEUBENVILLE
Robert
Mamula, 44, of Steubenville resigned Monday as a City Police officer after
pleading guilty to multiple charges of illegally processing drug documents,
possessing drugs and drug trafficking. See
article and Koniski's response. |
9/29/04
Ankrom
Case Appealed
Notice
of appeal has be filed in the Public Defender's case in Ankrom. |
9/17/04
Motion
for New Trial Granted for Eugene Johnson
CUYAHOGA
COUNTY
Judge
Nancy Russo finds the defense has met their burden by clear and convincing
evidence and grants a new trial for Eugene
Johnson, the defendant with the greatest culpability from the East
Cleveland Three, in the spirit of Thomas Paine. |
9/7/04
[Public
Defender]
Recent
court ruling on parole hearings should result in prison closing, saving
state tens of millions of dollars
Granting
parole to 2,750 inmates who have been denied meaningful parole consideration
would save the state nearly $60 million annually. Read
Article (...and Mayor Jane Campbell
wants to know why Cleveland is the poorest major city in the U.S.)-editor |
9/1/04
[Public
Defender]
Court
orders Parole Authority to give meaningful consideration to thousands of
"old law" inmates
The
Franklin County Court of Common Pleas issued
a final order in the class action civil rights lawsuit known as Ankrom. |
6/8/04
City
to pay $1.6 million for man's prison time, Cleveland also agrees to review
old cases
Michael
Green will get a lot of money from the city of Cleveland, but he's also
getting what he wanted most: change in the justice system. The city agreed
Monday to pay Green $1.6 million for the 13 years he spent in prison for
a rape he didn't commit. See the PD
series here. |
7/21/03
Sirak
Files New Suit Against Ghee and Farmer
The two counts raised, Tortious
Interference and Civil Conspiracy describe Farmer deceiving an inmate's
mother and taking money from her to get her son a parole, and Ghee visiting
the inmate, a Plaintiff in Sirak's case, to tell him that Sirak had already
lost the suit. Truth is stranger than fiction. Busted
Selling Paroles |
6/12/03
Online Petition Demands
the Release of Old Law Inmates
Jenny
Warwick's petition also demands the release of inmates who have satisfied
their time imposed by the Parole Board if they were put in the proper guideline
category, and emphasizes the extreme waste of $4.7B of taxpayer's money
by the Parole Board, and the disparity in sentencing. |
12/18/02
Supreme Court Rules Against
Parole Board in Layne Decision
Since the APA imposed their
new guidelines in 1998, they have been sentencing people to crimes they
never committed, but now they must obey the law for a change. Read
decision. |
6/28/02
Norman Sirak Files Answer
and Cross Claims
Sirak's
motion in the suit against the Ohio Parole Board details the Abuse
of Discretion, Arbitrary and Capricious Decision Making, and much more. |
2/20/02
Apprendi Challenges Ohio
Sentencing Laws
A recent lawsuit
filed in Lucas County challenges the constitutionality of imposing
extra terms without due process. The state court has removed the case to
the U.S. District Court.
1/16/02
Patrolman Robert Mamula
terminated from PD
The arresting officer who
gave false testimony against Joe Koniski has been fired from the Steubenville
Police Department for four alleged violations of policy. Herald-Star
article |
1/15/02
Prosecutors Run From
Hearing
Stark County prosecutors
are afraid of facing Robert Norris in court, and file a motion
to continue hearing "until further notice". |
12/28/01
Cleveland Investigator
Indicted
A recent Plain Dealer article
reports that Cleveland Detective Gregory Wheeler, who worked in the
Sex Crimes Unit, was indicted on Dec. 27th on charges of dereliction of
duty, tampering with evidence, falsification and forgery. |
