Ohio Court Sides With Media, Lifts Gag Order
Lawyer Blogs
The Ohio Supreme Court overturned a gag order that prevented the Toledo media from reporting on one defendant's trial until the jury was impaneled on a second defendant's trial.
Jayme Schwenkmeyer and her boyfriend, David Knepley, were charged with child endangering and manslaughter in the death of Schwenkmeyer's child.
Henry County Court Judge Keith Muehlfeld ordered separate trials and imposed a gag order on the media from reporting on Schwenkmeyer's trial until the jury was seated for Knepley's trial, which began one week later.
Muehlfeld said he took this action to prevent the tainting of the jury pool in Knepley's trial.
The Ohio Supreme Court, in a per-curiam decision, granted the Toledo Blade a writ of prohibition to override the gag order.
"Judge Muehlfeld's analysis proceeded from the erroneous premise that a criminal defendant's constitutional right to a fair trial should be accorded priority over the media's constitutional rights of free speech and press," the justices wrote.
"The judge did not rely on any evidence that a continuance might minimize any prejudicial pretrial publicity resulting from press reports about the Schwenkmeyer trial," they added, lifting the gag order.
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Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC
A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party
Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party
However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.