Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 14, 2006 11:39:29 GMT -5
A legal twist that chokes justice
A strange quirk in Ohio's public records law needs to be fixed. It's a
legal wrinkle that prevents criminal defendants or their lawyers from
obtaining public records, such as police reports, that could possibly help
prove their innocence.
This law has several glaring problems, among them the fact that the same
public records generally are made available to any other, disinterested
party. Attorneys for death-row inmate Tyrone Noling last week asked a
federal judge to force The Plain Dealer to turn over public records the
newspaper obtained before publishing stories that called into question
Noling's actual guilt.
Noling was convicted and sentenced to death in 1996 for the murders of an
elderly Portage County couple. His attorneys chose to pursue this
newspaper because it has records that they could not obtain from the
Portage County prosecutor's office - records that the defense says could
have helped exonerate their client.
Noling's attorneys will have access to the previously unseen records
because The Plain Dealer has voluntarily posted them on a publicly
accessible Web site. But this does nothing to address the fact that the
law will continue to create an unnecessary and indefensible hurdle for
those fighting to prove their innocence.
The law was created in 1994 when the Ohio Supreme Court ruled 5-2 that
defendants and their attorneys could not use public record laws to gather
information that prosecutors did not turn over in discovery. The court's
rationale was curious, to say the least. Writing for the majority, former
Justice Andy Douglas opined: <>P> "We recognize that our decision will not
be met with universal approval, but those who criticize do not see the
daily bombardment on our criminal justice system that we see."
This "bombardment" for public records by those whose freedom is on the
line is simply the cost of justice. It's inexcusable that disinterested
parties can have unfettered access to potentially useful public records
denied to the accused. The Ohio legislature must amend a public records
law that has been distorted and turned against those most in need of it.
(source: The Cleveland Plain Dealer)
A strange quirk in Ohio's public records law needs to be fixed. It's a
legal wrinkle that prevents criminal defendants or their lawyers from
obtaining public records, such as police reports, that could possibly help
prove their innocence.
This law has several glaring problems, among them the fact that the same
public records generally are made available to any other, disinterested
party. Attorneys for death-row inmate Tyrone Noling last week asked a
federal judge to force The Plain Dealer to turn over public records the
newspaper obtained before publishing stories that called into question
Noling's actual guilt.
Noling was convicted and sentenced to death in 1996 for the murders of an
elderly Portage County couple. His attorneys chose to pursue this
newspaper because it has records that they could not obtain from the
Portage County prosecutor's office - records that the defense says could
have helped exonerate their client.
Noling's attorneys will have access to the previously unseen records
because The Plain Dealer has voluntarily posted them on a publicly
accessible Web site. But this does nothing to address the fact that the
law will continue to create an unnecessary and indefensible hurdle for
those fighting to prove their innocence.
The law was created in 1994 when the Ohio Supreme Court ruled 5-2 that
defendants and their attorneys could not use public record laws to gather
information that prosecutors did not turn over in discovery. The court's
rationale was curious, to say the least. Writing for the majority, former
Justice Andy Douglas opined: <>P> "We recognize that our decision will not
be met with universal approval, but those who criticize do not see the
daily bombardment on our criminal justice system that we see."
This "bombardment" for public records by those whose freedom is on the
line is simply the cost of justice. It's inexcusable that disinterested
parties can have unfettered access to potentially useful public records
denied to the accused. The Ohio legislature must amend a public records
law that has been distorted and turned against those most in need of it.
(source: The Cleveland Plain Dealer)