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A SERVICE OF OHIO'S PUBLIC BROADCASTING STATIONS
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A set back for Tea Party activists this week, who had wanted Ohioans to vote on whether the state could "opt out" from the federal health care law. The Ohio Liberty Council now says it doesn't have time to finish gathering signatures to put the issue before voters this fall. Usually, a speech from a candidate for lieutenant governor doesn't get much attention. But this time, the response to the address from Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland's running mate got quite a reaction. The Ohio Democratic Party has filed complaints against Supreme Court Justices Maureen O'Connor and Judith Ann Lanzinger - just after the Ohio Republican Party has filed a complaint against Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Brown. The seven members of the state parole board have unanimously recommended against clemency for 37 year old William Garner, who set three fires in a Cincinnati apartment in 1992 and killed five children under the age of 13. The Ohio Supreme Court says it's not sex discrimination if an employer won't grant maternity leave to a newer worker ineligible for any time off.
TV shows and movies have given many people who might never find themselves in the criminal justice system the idea that attorneys and prosecutors share records, statements and other information. But in Ohio, that hasn't been the case. Defense attorneys don't always have access to evidence held by prosecutors, even things such as routine as police reports and witness statements. Prosecutors get to decide what defense attorneys can see, and in some cases they've determined that protecting witnesses is so critical that access to some documents is limited or shut down. But it has gone the other way as well, with defense attorneys refusing to provide information to prosecutors if they never requested information from prosecutors.
That's about to change, starting July 1, because of an agreement earlier this year that's being called "historic" and "momentous". That deal on open or fair discovery, worked out among prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys, states that all parties in a criminal case should be provided with the information necessary "to protect the integrity of the justice system, the rights of defendants, and to protect the well-being of witnesses, victims and society at large." It seeks to strike a balance between giving a defendant a fair trial and protecting witnesses who may fear for their lives and the safety of their families.
Two of those who were involved in this major change in courtroom procedure are with me to talk about it. Ian Friedman is the immediate past president of the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and led the charge for open discovery. Martin Frantz is the president-elect of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association and the Wayne County prosecutor.
TV shows and movies have given many people who might never find themselves in the criminal justice system the idea that attorneys and prosecutors share records, statements and other information. But in Ohio, that hasn't been the case. Defense attorneys don't always have access to evidence held by prosecutors, even things such as routine as police reports and witness statements. Prosecutors get to decide what defense attorneys can see, and in some cases they've determined that protecting witnesses is so critical that access to some documents is limited or shut down. But it has gone the other way as well, with defense attorneys refusing to provide information to prosecutors if they never requested information from prosecutors.
That's about to change, starting July 1, because of an agreement earlier this year that's being called "historic" and "momentous". That deal on open or fair discovery, worked out among prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys, states that all parties in a criminal case should be provided with the information necessary "to protect the integrity of the justice system, the rights of defendants, and to protect the well-being of witnesses, victims and society at large." It seeks to strike a balance between giving a defendant a fair trial and protecting witnesses who may fear for their lives and the safety of their families.
Two of those who were involved in this major change in courtroom procedure are with me to talk about it. Ian Friedman is the immediate past president of the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and led the charge for open discovery. Martin Frantz is the president-elect of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association and the Wayne County prosecutor.
June 25, 2010