Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Supreme Court case announcement, 7/5/17

Today the Court announced that it has accepted discretionary appeals in two criminal cases.

The announcement is here.

In State v. Martin, the Court will consider whether a juvenile who is determined to have been a victim of human trafficking must have a guardian ad litem appointed prior to a bindover hearing, and whether such a juvenile waives issues related to a defective bindover hearing by pleading guilty in Common Pleas Court. The Ninth District had answered the questions no and yes, respectively. Chief Justice O'Connor, Justice Kennedy, and Justice DeWine dissented from the order accepting the appeal.

State v. Mason concerns the constitutionality of Ohio's death penalty statute in effect in 1993, in light of the US Supreme Court's 2016 decision in Hurst v. Florida and its 2002 decision in Ring v. Arizona. Ring held that any scheme in which a judge, and not a jury, determines a fact that results in a death sentence, violates the Sixth Amendment's right to a jury trial. Hurst construed Ring to render unconstitutional Florida's scheme in which a jury renders an advisory sentence, but a judge independently evaluates the evidence and imposes a sentence irrespective of the jury's advisory sentence. Mason, who was convicted of murder in 1993 and sentenced to death, contends that the death penalty scheme in effect in Ohio at the time of his crime and conviction is unconstitutional in light of Hurst. The trial court agreed but the Third District reversed. Justice O'Donnell and Kennedy would not have accepted the appeal.

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