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McConnell Columbiana Property, L.L.C. v. Beno
Ohio Court of Appeals · 2026-06-24
In 2023, McConnell Columbiana Property, LLC filed a declaratory judgment action in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court against multiple defendants, including the Chestnut Family Trust trustees, to determine the exact location and boundaries of an unmaintained but still-public portion of Crosser Road in Center Township that the company needed to access its landlocked property. The trial court granted summary judgment to the plaintiff, incorporating the metes-and-bounds descriptions from two registered surveyors’ maps and affidavits, and the Seventh District Court of Appeals affirmed. The appeals court found no genuine issues of material fact remained because the plaintiff’s surveys and supporting documents established the road’s location, while the defendants’ sole rebuttal—a self-serving affidavit from Frank Chestnut plus a 1998 plat page and 2002 deed—contained unsupported conclusions or hearsay and actually confirmed rather than contradicted the plaintiff’s evidence.
propertyprocedure
State v. Brink
Ohio Court of Appeals · 2026-05-20
In State v. Brink, Christopher M. Brink pleaded guilty in four consolidated cases to charges of aggravated possession of drugs and appealed, arguing that the trial court failed to adequately advise him about postrelease control before accepting his pleas and in the sentencing entries, which he claimed made his pleas invalid. The Seventh District Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's judgments. The court held that the trial court had complied with R.C. 2929.19(B)(2) and 2967.28 by notifying Brink at the change-of-plea hearing and in the sentencing entries that he faced up to two years of discretionary postrelease control supervised by the Adult Parole Authority, with violations potentially leading to up to half his original prison term; the additional details he sought were not required, any error would make the judgment voidable rather than void, and no plain error occurred.
criminal lawprocedure
State v. Gore
Ohio Court of Appeals · 2026-04-24
The case involved Dean Dominique Gore's convictions for engaging in prostitution and possession of criminal tools after he responded to a police undercover advertisement on the "Skip the Games" website offering sexual services, arranged a paid meeting via text messages, and was arrested during the resulting sting operation in Columbiana County, Ohio. The Seventh District Court of Appeals affirmed the municipal court's judgment. The court rejected Gore's constitutional challenges to the prostitution statute as vague, overbroad, or violative of free speech; upheld the denial of his motion to suppress evidence from the stop, arrest, and seizure of his phone; and found the convictions supported by sufficient evidence and not against the manifest weight of the evidence, including the text exchanges and officer observations confirming his intent to engage in the prohibited conduct.
criminal lawfree speechprocedure
Cicoretti v. A&M Total Restoration, L.L.C.
Ohio Court of Appeals · 2026-04-23
The case involved homeowners Dean and Andrea Cicoretti suing A&M Total Restoration over allegedly defective roof work performed in 2018, which they claimed caused insured damage in 2020. Their complaints were captioned as breach of contract but contained only allegations of negligent, defective, and unworkmanlike conduct, without attaching any contract or stating its terms or breach. The trial court dismissed the refiled action under Civ.R. 12(B)(6) for failure to state a claim. The Seventh District Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that the claims were time-barred negligence actions (with the four-year statute of limitations having expired before the May 2025 filing and the saving statute inapplicable), that no valid breach-of-contract claim was pled, and that dismissal was not based solely on the failure to attach a contract under Civ.R. 10(D) or on any external documents.
proceduretorts & liability
State v. Lewis
Ohio Court of Appeals · 2026-04-13
In State v. Lewis, the defendant pleaded guilty to five fourth-degree felony counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor after investigators found he had uploaded, downloaded, and traded child pornography over at least two years. The trial court sentenced him to five consecutive one-year prison terms (totaling five years) plus sex-offender registration. Lewis appealed, arguing that the record did not support consecutive sentences under R.C. 2929.14(C)(4) and that the court improperly considered the wider societal harm of child pornography. The Seventh District Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that the record justified the consecutive-sentence findings and that R.C. 2929.11 expressly allows sentencing courts to consider the need to protect the public from future crimes by others, including through general deterrence.
criminal lawprocedure
State v. Morgan
Ohio Court of Appeals · 2026-04-09
In State v. Morgan, defendant John Eugene Morgan appealed the trial court’s denial of his postconviction petition after his 2024 convictions for voluntary manslaughter, murder, and felonious assault arising from a fatal shooting during a confrontation with his estranged wife’s partner. The Seventh District Court of Appeals affirmed the denial. The court held that Morgan’s claims—based on affidavits purporting to show improper admission of dash-camera footage, an invalid search warrant, and flawed jury instructions—were barred by res judicata because the issues had already been raised and rejected on direct appeal or in his application for reopening, or could have been raised in those prior proceedings. The court therefore concluded that the petition presented no basis for relief.
criminal lawprocedure