This year’s fall training will cover a variety of topics including social networking, allied offenses, sentencing reform, exculpatory evidence, getting the most from your forensic expert, sixth amendment confrontation, and protecting your case against habeas. We will also offer complete Ethics, Professionalism, and Substance Abuse CLE requirements. (All of these will also be on the Annual Meeting agenda.)

Thursday, September 22 9:00 - 10:00 Registration and Continental Breakfast

10:00 - 11:00 Social Networking And The Courtroom
With many social networking avenues available to the world now many questions arise regarding using available information when selecting juries, during a trial, during cross, and if information is leaving the courtroom via electronic means. We will discuss these topics, along with intimidation through social sites, Brady, and Ohio Rules of Evidence relevance.
Juergen A. Waldick, Prosecuting Attorney
Allen County

11:00 - 12:00 Allied Offenses After Johnson
Allied offenses seem to come up in every case as of late. We will discuss the history of allied offense, the Johnson test, sentencing, appellate decisions post Johnson, and the pending clarification request (State v. Jackson, OSC Case No. 2010-1542).
T. Allan Regas and Matthew E. Meyer
Assistant Prosecutors
Cuyahoga County

12:00 - 1:00 Lunch

1:00 - 2:00 Highlights Of House Bill 86 - Sentencing Reform
The panel will discuss several of the changes recently enacted in House Bill 86, including the changes in juvenile bindover law, the changes in felony threshold for various offenses, the equalization of crack and powder cocaine, the changes for judicial release, and the change in maximum sentence for many third-degree felonies.
Jim Hughes, Senator Ohio 16th District
Ron O’Brien, Prosecuting Attorney Franklin County
Steven L.Taylor, Chief Counsel, Appellate Division, Franklin County

2:00 - 2:15 Break

2:15 - 3:15 A Prosecutor’s Professional Obligations At Trial
This program will focus on the professional dilemmas prosecutors face at trial. Discussion will include a review of the applicable ethical rules, the standards against which unprofessional conduct is measured, and the types of comments prosecutors can and cannot make during opening and closing statements. This session will also review the lawyer’s creed and the aspirational ideals set forth by the Ohio Supreme Court.
Kathleen M. Sasala, Esquire
Librarian and Chief Administrator
Cuyahoga County Law Library

3:15 - 4:15 Ethics for Prosecutors, Keeping Disciplinary Counsel from Knocking on your Door.
Each week we read the disciplinary decisions from the Ohio Supreme Court regarding attorney misconduct. Who is being disciplined and what did that attorney do to warrant the discipline? What can prosecutors learn from these decisions and is there any pattern of misconduct? What ethical rules exclusively pertain to prosecutors? Can a prosecutor be disciplined for a Brady violation? This seminar will examine ethical decisions from the Ohio Supreme Court and ethical decisions involving prosecutors from across the nation. The Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct will also be discussed.
Philip Bogdanoff, Esquire
Retired Summit County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney

4:15 - 4:45 Substance Abuse and Mental Heath Issues
Recognizing addictions and treatment alternatives will be discussed along with mental health issues, the Ohio Lawyers Assistance Program, and other ways of receiving help.
Scott R. Mote, Executive Director,
Ohio Lawyers Assistance Program

Friday, September 23 8:00 - 9:00 Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00 - 10:00 Exculpatory Evidence: A Prosecutor’s Primer
The United States Supreme Court declared in Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 10 L. Ed. 2d 215, 83 S. Ct. 1194 (1963) that prosecutors have a constitutional obligation to disclose exculpatory evidence to defendants. The application of this rule of law has spawned a plethora of cases interpreting what due process obligations prosecutors have, what exculpatory evidence is and how to apply this rule of law. This presentation will discuss exculpatory evidence and the obligations of prosecutors in relation to exculpatory evidence.
Clifford R. Strider, III
Assistant Attorney General
Louisiana Department of Justice, Office of Attorney General

10:00 - 10:15 Break

10:15 - 11:15 Prosecutorial Ethics And Exculpatory Evidence
Traditionally, the withholding of material exculpatory evidence by a prosecutor results in the reversal of a conviction. That result, while distressing, is not the only possible penalty a prosecutor may face for the failure to provide exculpatory evidence. The failure to disclose exculpatory evidence may also be a violation of the Louisiana Rule of Professional Conduct. This presentation will address ethical concerns for prosecutors in relation to exculpatory evidence.
Clifford R. Strider, III
Assistant Attorney General
Louisiana Department of Justice, Office of Attorney General

11:15 - 12:15 How To Get The Most Out Of Your Forensic Expert
The forensic pathologist is said to be the family physician for the deceased. But even though life has ended, contact with the legal system does not. Aside from families, attorneys are the people the forensic pathologist interacts with the most, from determining cause, manner, and mechanism of death to determining someone’s identity to establishing paternity. In this hour, I will give you a brief overview of what it is that I do, to help you understand the questions I can and cannot answer.
William Z. Bligh-Glover, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

12:15 - 1:15 Lunch

1:15 - 2:45 Sixth Amendment Confrontation
A shooting victim drove himself to a gas station and stumbled out of his car. When police arrived, they asked victim what happened and he told them that Rick shot him. Victim died and the state prosecuted Rick for the murder of victim. May the police officers testify that victim said, “Rick shot me”? Even if there is a hearsay exception for victim’s statement, the criminal defendant’s sixth amendment right to confrontation must be examined. We will discuss what triggers the sixth amendment and what satisfies the sixth amendment by analyzing United States Supreme Court and Ohio cases decided since the 2004, United States Supreme Court opinion of Crawford v Washington. We also will discuss exceptions to confrontation.
Professor Beth A. Eisler
University of Toledo, College of Law

2:45 - 3:30 Habeas Corpus: How Recent Changes Affect Your Courtroom
Many of you have received that dreaded call from the AG’s office: “The federal court has granted Bad Guy Z habeas relief. You will have to retry him on that crime from 2002…” The good news is that the United States Supreme Court has begun to reign in the federal habeas courts second-guessing your convictions. The Attorney General’s Office will explain these changes in habeas corpus law, what it means for your convictions, and what you can do to protect your convictions from habeas claims.
Elizabeth Matune, Assistant Attorney General
Special Prosecutions Unit
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s Office

WE HAVE REQUESTED APPROVAL FOR 10.75 HOURS OF CLE TRAINING, INCLUDING – Ethics, 1 hour; Professionalism, 1 hour; Substance Abuse, .5 hour; General Topics, 8.25 hours.

Guest rooms at the Wyndham are $135.00 single or double occupancy. Call the Wyndham at 216-615-7500 or 866-270-6768 to make reservations. Be sure to tell them you are with OPAA to receive this rate. Check-in time is 3:00 p.m., and check-out time is 12:00 noon. Early check-in or late check-out on a case-by-case basis. Cancellation policy: 4:00 p.m. day of scheduled arrival. Our hold on rooms expires on Tuesday, September 6th. Parking: self parking, $12.00/night; valet parking, $20.00/night.

The registration fee of $200.00 covers all handout materials, continental breakfast, and lunch both days, and refreshments at breaks. The fee for one day only is $125.00. Due to the expense of producing the training manual, which requires an early commitment, a $45.00 penalty will apply to all cancellations made through September 16th, and a manual will be sent to the registrant. To help defray the cost of food guarantees, cancellations after September 16th will be assessed a penalty of $110.00 if scheduled to attend both days, and an $85.00 penalty if scheduled for one day only.