Under Ohio law, there are multiple theft offenses. One of these is petty theft. This type of theft is a misdemeanor (a first-degree misdemeanor) rather than a felony. When is a theft a petty theft? Here in Ohio, a petty theft is a theft in which less than $1,000 in value was stolen and in which no special circumstances were present…Read More
For most felony convictions here in Ohio, the court has a fair amount of discretion in what prison sentence to give an individual. Each felony class has its own particular sentencing range associated with it, with the courts, when issuing a prison sentence, being allowed to pick which of certain sentences within this range would be most appropriate for a…Read More
It is no secret that marijuana use is fairly common on college and university campuses in Ohio and across the country. College students can sometimes feel immune from negative consequences, but Ohio law imposes serious consequences for anyone convicted of marijuana-associated crimes like possession or driving under the influence of drugs. Last week, the federal government published a report about…Read More
However, if the crime were relatively minor or committed when the defendant was young and he or she has had no further criminal activity, it may make sense for the law to allow that kind of person’s criminal past to be erased, so to speak. As we talked about in a recent post, to give some people who fall into…Read More
Criminal conviction can have a significant impact on everyday life. Not only is there the public stigma of being branded an offender, there are also the hurdles conviction can present for employment, housing and licensing. One of the remedies that may be available is expungement. Expungement removes a conviction from your criminal record and seals the court file. The general…Read More
Four out of every five college students consume alcohol, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. That is a lot of underage drinking, since 21 is the legal age to consume alcohol in Ohio and all other U.S. states and most students begin college right out of high school at age 18 or 19. While the health…Read More
Nearly 30 years ago, an Ohio man served time for a rape conviction stemming from an encounter with a woman his own age. While he was in jail, the state retroactively labeled him as a sexual predator, a label that many people associate with child sex abuse. Since that time, state registry restrictions dictate where he lives, works and plays.…Read More
As kids, many of us had at least one experience involving a physical altercation. Such altercations are often treated as inevitable rites of passage in popular culture. For example, acting in self-defense against a school bully is essentially treated as a matter of course in American coming of age stories. As we get older, however, fighting is generally perceived differently…Read More
