Criminal Law

Greene County – Montgomery County – Franklin County – Summit County Attorneys

Unlike civil law, which involves private lawsuits between two or more private entities, Ohio criminal defense law involves the state or federal government's prosecution of a person or business for a crime. A crime is defined as any act or omission of an act in violation of a public law forbidding or commanding it. With the exception of strict liability crimes, most crimes consist of three elements: an act (actus reus), a mental state (mens rea), and the intent to do social harm.

An Ohio criminal law attorney follows the latest legislative developments from the Ohio House of Representatives and Senate. The Ohio criminal code can be found in Title 29 of the Ohio Revised Code, which lists all laws for the state. The purpose of the criminal code is to define crimes, sentencing, and procedure using language that minimizes ambiguity. Many crimes are explicitly mentioned in chapters within Title 29:

• Homicide and assault
• Kidnapping and extortion
• Sex offenses
• Arson
• Robbery, burglary, trespass
• Theft and fraud
• Offenses against the public peace
• Offenses against the family
• Offenses against justice and administration
• Conspiracy, attempt, and complicity
• Drug offenses

Within chapters of the criminal code, each of these types of crimes has sentences—expressed as misdemeanors or felonies—associated with them. Some types of offenses, such as DUIs, are contained within other titles and chapters.
Crimes are divided into two classes of misdemeanors and felonies. Misdemeanor offenses are not as serious as felony offenses and typically do not involve great bodily harm to another person and are punishable by:

• Probation
• Jail time of less than one year
• Community service
• Counseling
• Restitution
• Fines

Avoiding mistakes when stopped by the police

When you are stopped or detained by the police, knowing your rights could mean the difference between being arrested and being let go. The police often use stops and temporary detainment as a method for obtaining incriminating information about you or other suspects.

If you have been stopped by the police or if the police are contacting you to 'chat', contact a criminal defense lawyer in Ohio with the QuickJd Legal Portal for advice.

Types of police encounters

There are several possible interactions that you can have with the police:

• A stop: this is the least serious type of interaction initiated by a police officer. During a stop, the officer may simply ask you questions and hope that you answer them. You are not obliged to answer or even stay in the presence of the officer.
• Temporary detainment: you can be stopped by police for "reasonable suspicion" that you have committed, plan to commit, or are in the process of committing a crime. During temporary detainment, the police do not have to recite your rights - which include the right to remain silent and the right to counsel - because you are not technically "under arrest" (i.e., being held in police custody). During this stage, self-incriminating statements can be used as grounds for arresting you.
• An arrest: for an arrest, the police must recite your Miranda rights informing you of the right to remain silent and to have access to an attorney. An arrest signifies that the police had probable cause to take you into custody.

If you are arrested:

If you are arrested for a crime, you may be entitled to a court-appointed attorney at public expense if you qualify as an indigent person. Ohio law defines an indigent people as those who cannot hire an attorney without causing substantial hardship to themselves or their dependent family. If you have been charged with a crime, you may complete an Affidavit of Indigence and Request for Court Appointed Counsel at your first court appearance. If you qualify, an attorney will be appointed for you. If you are convicted of a crime, the court may require you to repay some or all of the cost of your defense if it determines you are able.

Your rights in Ohio court:

When you are arrested, you have certain rights. Within 72 hours after your arrest, the judge must:

• Tell you the crime of which you are accused and explain it to you if you do not understand it.
• Give you a copy of the written complaint against you if you do not have one already.
• Give you a continuance (more time) to get an attorney, or appoint one for you if there is a possibility you could go to jail if convicted and you cannot afford to pay an attorney to help you.
• Tell you the nature and effect of the pleas you may enter and what will happen if you enter them. You may enter a plea of not guilty, no contest or guilty.
• Not guilty means you do not give up any of your rights, including the right to a trial. If you are in doubt, plead not guilty.
• No contest means you admit the facts in the complaint are true, but you deny guilt. The judge may find you guilty or not guilty. A no contest plea cannot later be used against you in a civil lawsuit for money damages. If someone sues you over the incident, he or she must prove you were at fault and violated the law. Most no contest pleas, however, result in a guilty finding unless the arresting officer cited you under the wrong statute or ordinance, or if the arresting officer's written statement of facts fails to sufficiently support the charge.
• Guilty means you admit the crime(s) you are accused of and waive your right to a trial at which the prosecution would have to prove you guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. You also give up your right to remain silent. The judge may sentence you immediately or at a later hearing. A guilty plea can later be used to prove you were at fault in a civil lawsuit. A guilty plea can also lay the basis for a harsher punishment if you are later convicted of another offense.
• You are entitled to have a record made by a court reporter or tape recorder of what has happened in the courtroom. Then, if a question later arises, you have evidence of what happened when you were in court.

Truth-in-Sentencing in Ohio

One of the more unique aspects of Ohio criminal law relates to sentencing. In 1996, the Ohio state legislature passed Senate Bill 2, which enacted broad sentencing reform. Senate Bill 2 marked a shift in Ohio sentencing philosophy in favor of truth-in-sentencing. Truth-in-sentencing refers to the idea that, when a person receives a sentence from a judge, a sentence should accurately reflect the amount of time that a convicted person is going to serve. Therefore, truth-in-sentencing advocates are typically in opposition to parole and early releases. Learn more about Ohio criminal laws.

For information about how truth-in-sentencing could affect you, contact Ohio criminal defense lawyer with the QuickJd Legal Portal.

Senate Bill 2

Prior to the passage of Senate Bill 2, judges would issue sentences as ranges (e.g., 5-25 years) and then a parole board would determine the release date in relation to the inmate's behavior. Since Senate Bill 2, the rules governing sentencing are more concrete:

• Control over an offender's sentence is left to the sentencing judge.
• A parole board cannot release people from non-life sentences committed after 1996.
• In almost all circumstances, only a judge can modify a sentence.
• Judges can use discretion in choosing sentences, with respect to sentencing guidelines of the criminal code.
• Some crimes have mandatory prison terms, including murder, rape, repeat felonies, drunk driving assaults and homicides, and various sexual offenses.

When deciding sentences, judges can also consider factors such as the age of victims and whether deadly weapons were used. In the truth-in-sentencing system of Ohio criminal law, judges have greater control over the sentencing process and victims and their families can feel relieved about knowing that a convicted criminal will not be released early. At the same time, the true goal is not for judges to be more powerful, but for the law to be more explicit.

Recent Changes to Ohio Criminal Code

The criminal code is not set in stone. From time to time, citizens and legislative respond to changing conditions and attitudes and call for reforms in how crimes are defined and treated. While changes to the criminal code are rare, they often pertain to penalties for crimes.

In the past few years, there have been several bills that have changed the penalties for various crimes:

• Senate Bill 18: effective October 2007, this bill prohibits offenders from having their records sealed for sexually-related crimes such as voyeurism, public indecency, prostitution, or disseminating harmful matter to juveniles
• Senate Bill 97: effective June 2007, this bill requires the inclusion of specified information on the statewide and county sheriffs' internet sex offender and child-victim offender databases and gives towns more power to regulate residency of sex offenders
• Senate Bill 260: effective January, 2007, this bill increases the prison term when a person is convicted of rape or attempted rape and the victim is less than 13
• House Bill 95: effective August 2006, this bill introduced sweeping changes to guidelines for sentencing repeat violent offenders

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