Top Ten Blog Hits of 2021

Every year I prepare a list of the top ten blog hits. Here is the list for 2021:

1, Update on the Case of Brandon Moore. This case has been on the list for many years running and still seems to have high readership interest. Moore was originally sentenced to 141 years in prison for being part of a horrendous criminal rampage committed when he was 15 years old. That sentence was reversed by the Seventh District Court of Appeals. A second sentence was reversed for improper judicial fact-finding. At a third mandated re-sentencing, Moore was given an aggregate sentence of 112 years. Moore appealed to the Supreme Court of Ohio, arguing that sentence was tantamount to life without the possibility of parole, impermissible for juvenile offenders. Moore won that appeal. Read the analysis here. The case was again remanded for re-sentencing. This time, on April 17, 2018, Moore was sentenced to 50 years in prison. In his most recent appeal Moore was also classified as a sexually oriented offender under Megan’s Law with an annual reporting requirement of ten years.

2.Snay v. Burr, 2021-Ohio-4113. A landowner owes no duty to a motorist who strikes the landowner’s off-road reinforced mailbox built close to the edge of a rural roadway and suffers a serious injury. Read the merit decision here.   

3.Titles of Former and Retired Judges, Revisited. This is a perennial favorite.  I’m glad for that because I take it to mean lots of people want to be polite in addressing former and retired judges.

4.State of Ohio v. Manson M. Bryant. This case is not decided yet. The issue is whether a judge can use a defendant’s outbursts in court to increase his sentence? Read an analysis of the oral argument here.

5. State v. LaRosa, Slip Opinion No. 2021-Ohio-4060. LaRosa arrived at the hospital covered in blood. Seized from his hospital room were a washcloth used to clean him up, which belonging to the hospital, LaRosa’s fingernail scrapings, and LaRosa’s socks and underwear.  LaRosa moved to suppress all of these. The Court held that the washcloth and fingernail scrapings were properly seized, but the socks and underwear were not. But even though these items were not properly seized this was harmless error by the trial court in light of all the other evidence. Read an analysis of the merit decision here.

6.Maternal Grandmother v. Hamilton Cty. Dept. of Job & Family Servs. Slip Opinion No. 2021-Ohio-4096. The plaintiff in the case was not subject to a heightened pleading standard, met the applicable notice pleading standard, and could proceed with her case against the caseworkers involved. Read an analysis of the merit decision here.

7.Anderson v. WBNS-TV, Inc. After a reversal from the Supreme Court of Ohio, on March 29, 2021, the Tenth District Court of Appeals  found an issue of fact as to whether WBNS acted negligently in ascertaining the defamatory potential of its newscasts and internet story. The Anderson family was allowed to proceed with its defamation suit against the TV station.

8.State of Ohio v. James R. West. This case has not been decided yet. The issue is whether a trial judge’s line of allegedly biased questioning constitutes structural error requiring automatic reversal.

9.Ohio History Connection v. The Moundbuilders Country Club Company and Park National Bank. This case has not been decided yet. It involves good faith in the eminent domain context.

10.State of Ohio v. James O’Malley. This case has not been decided yet. The issue is whether Ohio’s criminal vehicle forfeiture statute constitutes an excessive fine in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  Also at issue is whether the statute infringes the equal protection guarantee under the U.S. and Ohio Constitutions.