The Third District Court of Appeals of Ohio will hear oral arguments in two cases in the Celebrezze Moot Court Room of Ohio Northern University’s Pettit College of Law on Tuesday, Jan. 14, at 10 a.m.
Judges Richard Rogers, Stephen Shaw, Vernon Preston and John Willamowski, sitting in panels of three, will hear oral arguments in two cases pending before the Third District. Rogers, Shaw and Willamowski are alumni of Ohio Northern’s College of Law.
The first case to be heard by the judges, The State of Ohio v. Jeremy Stober, originated from Putnam County. On appeal, Stober is arguing that he was denied due process and a fair trial based on the individual assignments of errors as well as the cumulative effects of the purported multitude of errors in the case made by the state.
Stober, a former Kalida teacher, was convicted following a four-day jury trial and sentenced to 10.5 years incarceration on three counts of gross sexual imposition, one count of sexual imposition, and one count of importuning and sexual battery in August 2013.
The judges will hear a second oral argument in a civil case from Mercer County, Ann Hopkins, individually and as executor of the estate of Ralph Ranly, deceased v. Darren Porter.
This is an appeal and cross-appeal from the judgment entered by the Mercer County Court of Appeals in October 2013. The court granted summary judgment, based on immunity, in favor of Defendant Mercer County Commissioners, the employer of Porter, but overruled a motion of summary judgment, finding an exception to immunity as to Porter, in favor of Hopkins. Porter, driving a county-owned gravel spreader, reportedly changed lanes on Fort Recovery-Minster Road near St. Peters Road into the path of an eastbound motorcycle operated by Ralph S. Ranly, 90, of Fort Recovery.
The motorcycle struck Porter’s spreader, ejecting Ranly onto the roadway. Ranly reportedly received incapacitating injuries and was transported by emergency helicopter to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton and died in September 2011.
At the conclusion of oral arguments, the appellate judges will take questions from the audience.
The Third District’s special session at the College of Law is part of an educational outreach program that gives students, educators and the public the opportunity to enhance their understanding of the appellate process. The Third District, based in Lima, Ohio, is comprised of 17 counties and travels among them for special court sessions.
This event is free and open to the public and will be broadcast live on ONU3-TV.
