I’ll make this an annual event, because we all love lists. Here are the top ten most frequently read posts of 2014, in order.
- Foreclosure issues continue to predominate. Last year Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. v. Schwartzwald, 2012-Ohio-5017 was number one. This year, of what will probably be one of many follow up cases, Bank of American, N.A. v. George M. Kuchta, et al., 2013-0304 was number one. In Kuchta, the court held that a Civ. R. 60(B) motion cannot be used as a substitute for an appeal on the issue of standing in a foreclosure action, and cannot be used to collaterally attack the judgment. Res judicata applies to bar a party from asserting lack of standing in a motion for relief from judgment. Additionally, the court held that a court that has subject-matter jurisdiction over an action does not lose that jurisdiction because a party to the action does not have standing. Read the analysis of the merit decision here.
- Anderson v. Massillon, 2012-Ohio-5711, the case in which the court held that negligence, recklessness, willful and wanton misconduct represent different degrees of culpability, and defined all these terms, was number two, up from seven last year. Read the analysis of the merit decision here.
- The merit decision in Liming v. Damos, 2012-Ohio-4783. The court held that a purge hearing to impose a suspended sentence for failure to pay child support is a civil proceeding, and due process does not require the appointment of counsel for an indigent parent at the civil contempt purge hearing. This was number six last year, now at number three. Read the analysis of the oral argument here.
- Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. v. Schwartzwald, 2012-Ohio-5017. Standing must be determined at the time suit is filed. Number one last year. Read the analysis of the case here.
- D.W. v. T.L., 2012-Ohio-5743. A perennial favorite about how the child’s last name is determined when the parents aren’t married and disagree about it. The court held that under its existing precedent, the test in a name change case is the best interest of the child, which in this case was to keep the mother’s name. Up from number nine last year. Read the analysis of the merit decision here.
- State v. Clark, 2013-Ohio-4731. In this 4-3 decision, the court held that a child’s statement to his teachers about physical abuse constitutes testimonial evidence barred by the Confrontation Clause when the child has been found incompetent to testify. The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in this case, which will be argued in March of 2015. Read the analysis of the merit decision here.
- The saga of Douglas Prade. This former Akron police captain convicted of the murder of his ex-wife, then declared actually innocent, then returned to prison, awaiting word on his right to a new trial, continues to fascinate. There are many posts on this case. Just search by Prade’s name.
- The merit decision in Schwering v. TRW Vehicle Safety Systems, Inc., 2012-Ohio-1481, in which the court held that a plaintiff may not voluntarily dismiss a claim without prejudice pursuant to Civ.R. 41(A)(1)(a) when a trial court declares a mistrial after the jury has been empaneled and sworn and the trial has begun. This totally technical decision still gets many hits, and moved up from number ten last year. Read the analysis of the merit decision here.
- State v. Gould, 2012-Ohio-71. The court held that a warrant was not needed to search a computer hard drive when the computer had been abandoned. Down from fourth place last year, but this subject is still of great interest, and a number of issues about warrants and information on a computer are pending. Read the analysis of the merit decision here.
- In Re M.W., 2012-Ohio-4538. By a vote of 4-3, the court held that a juvenile has no statutory right to a lawyer during police questioning before court proceedings have begun. Read the analysis of the merit decision here.