This Spring Training seminar will have an assortment of topics for the seasoned, new, and even juvenile prosecutor! Starting out on Thursday we will have a presentation from Rich Orman from Aurora, Colorado on prosecuting mass casualty homicides; Phil Bogdanoff will continue his journey through “privilege”; The Department of Education will join us to talk about truancy laws post HB410; and the AG’s office will be on hand to talk about RICO and their Economic Crimes Unit. Friday will include Chris Schroeder updating us on Ohio Supreme Court cases of interest; Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Galvin will present on enhancing federal sentences after Johnson; Allen County Prosecutor Juergen Waldick will be guiding us through trial advocacy; and Lara Baker-Morrish, Anne Murray and Liz Poprocki will be in to help us decipher “Marsy’s Law”.

Thursday, April 19th

8:00 - 9:00 Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00 - 10:30 Prosecuting a Mass Casualty Homicide. Lessons Learned From the Aurora Theater Shooting Trial
As one of the prosecutors on the Aurora theater shooting trial, the presenter found that prosecuting a case of this nature (12 killed, 70 injured) is very different than prosecuting an “ordinary” murder case (if there is such a thing as an “ordinary” murder case), and that he had learned a lot of things about this unique class of cases that would be valuable to his fellow prosecutors. This training focuses on the prosecutors’ initial response to such an event, working with the police in these unique cases, working with the federal agencies who will be involved, organizing the trial, and other items that are likely to occur in these type cases.
Richard H. Orman
Senior Deputy District Attorney
18th Judicial District, State of Colorado

10:30 - 10:45 Break

10:45 - 12:00 Prosecuting A Mass Casualty Homicide continues

12:00 - 1:00 Lunch

1:00 - 2:30 Statutory Privileges: Are All Confidential Communications Privileged?
When Donald Trump Jr. asserted attorney client privilege when testifying before congress the scope of the privilege made front page news and we had “experts” explaining this privilege on “headline news”. It seems like the perfect time to discuss the Ohio rule on privileged conversations. There are numerous times when a defendant or witness will assert privilege to prevent a prosecutor from introducing relevant evidence. In this presentation we will discuss R.C. 2317.02, the Ohio statute on privileged communications. We will review different privileges, when they can be used, and exceptions to these privileges. The goal of this presentation is to give prosecutors a working knowledge on this important statute. Philip D. Bogdanoff
Retired Career County Prosecutor

2:30 - 2:45 Break

2:45 - 3:45 HB 410’s Impact on Truancy Laws and Education
House Bill 410, which became effective in April 2017, made changes to Ohio’s truancy laws and how local prosecutors and school districts handle truancy cases. HB 410’s focus is to engage with students and families before a student becomes truant and to address the underlying issues that may be contributing to a student’s absenteeism. Discussion will highlight key changes to the law in Chapter 3321 of the Revised Code (ie, the switch to calculating absences from days to hours) and how the Ohio Department of Education, through its published guidance, is implementing HB 410 and what advice it is providing to districts.
Diana Lease, Chief Legal Counsel
Brittany Miracle, Program Administrator, Center for Accountability and Continuous Improvement
Both with the Ohio Department of Education

3:45 - 4:45 Expanding the Application of “RICO” – Cattle, Computers, and Conmen
In this session, participants will learn the basic components of the Ohio “RICO” statute, and how to successfully establish a prima facie case. Further, they will consider ways in which R.C. 2923.32 might be expansively applied to cases involving financial fraud. A main focus of the lecture is to discuss the benefits of utilizing R.C. 2923.32 to prosecute corrupt activity, charging considerations, and the litigation challenges associated with trying financial fraud schemes. Case studies will be offered to illustrate the various ways in which RICO has been successfully utilized in Ohio counties to prosecute a wide array of crimes including cattle theft, telecommunication fraud, multi-jurisdictional fraud, and more. This program will also provide attendants with an opportunity to learn information regarding the resources offered to local prosecutors through the Office of the Ohio Attorney General, Economic Crimes Unit.
Yukiko V. Yee
Senior Assistant Attorney General
Economic Crimes Unit
Office of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine

Friday, April 20th

8:00 - 9:00 Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00 - 10:30 The Ohio Supreme Court Year in Review
You asked for more OSC cases, so here you are! This presentation is an overview of the criminal cases released from April 2017 to April 2018 by the Ohio Supreme Court. The Court upheld the constitutionality of the felonious assault statute, prohibited sentencing juvenile non-homicide offenders to any prison term that exceeds the juvenile’s natural life expectancy, restored mandatory bindovers, exempted autopsy reports from public records requests made while the investigation is ongoing, and dramatically limited the scope of what constitutes a “trial tax”.
Christopher D. Schroeder
Managing Attorney, Capital Crimes Docket
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office

10:30 - 10:45 Break

10:45 - 11:45 Combating Firearm Violence Through Federal Prosecution In The Wake of Johnson v. United States
In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion, Johnson v. U.S., which has greatly affected the landscape of sentencing defendants based on prior convictions. Certain crimes of violence can be used to enhance a person’s sentence federally, and this case has affected which Ohio convictions apply. Following Johnson, the Sixth Circuit has issued numerous opinions regarding several Ohio statutes. We hope that by informing and working with Ohio county prosecutors on the types of qualifying convictions that enhance a federal sentence, that they can be better informed when negotiating plea offers, and using a defendant’s criminal history to achieve significant sentences for firearms and violent crime offenses.
Kelly L. Galvin, Assistant U.S. Attorney
The United States Attorney's Office, Northern District of Ohio and
Eleina K. Thomas, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney
Managing Attorney, Crime Strategies Unit
Cuyahoga County

11:45 - 12:45 Lunch

12:45 - 1:45 A Dozen Easy Tips for Better Trial Performance
An experienced trial lawyer, elected prosecutor, and law professor will impart his experience from 25-plus years of trying all kinds of cases. Juergen will give a quick tour de force of trial techniques, discussing voir dire, direct and cross examination, argument, and will pass on tips for the new assistant on putting forward the best case and persuading the jury to your point of view.
Juergen A. Waldick
Allen County Prosecutor

1:45 - 2:00 Break

2:00 - 3:00 Marsy’s Law
On November 7 Ohio voters passed the Crime Victim Rights Initiative known as Marsy’s law. As a result, the Ohio Constitution will be amended to afford crime victims greater rights in criminal proceedings. Is your office prepared to meet the new requirements of Marsy’s law? In this session we will explore the notification and consultation requirements of the new constitutional requirement, and hopefully have a draft of the new Ohio Revised Code statute that will serve as the guideline.
Lara Baker-Morrish, City Solicitor General
Anne M. Murray, Director, Domestic Violence and Stalking Unit
Both from the office of Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein
Liz Poprocki, MA, RA
Executive Director
Ohio Victim Witness Association

We have requested approval of 10.75 general hours of CLE as well as 10.75 general hours for New Lawyer Training from the Supreme Court of Ohio Commission on Continuing Legal Education.

The room rate at the Sheraton Columbus Hotel at Capitol Square is $144.00 for single or double occupancy. Room reservations may be made by phone at 800-325-3535; or online at https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/Book/OPAA2018SpringTraining. If you choose the online option, be aware that you can only book three (3) rooms at a time. WHICHEVER METHOD YOU USE, PLEASE MAKE MULTIPLE RESERVATIONS USING INDIVIDUAL NAMES, AND GET INDIVIDUAL CONFIRMATION NUMBERS, RATHER THAN MAKING ALL RESERVATIONS IN THE SAME NAME AND SAME CONFIRMATION NUMBER. Some counties have had disastrous results when canceling a reservation that was made under a single name and a single confirmation number for multiple persons. Be sure to tell the Sheraton you are with OPAA to obtain our rate. To avoid paying tax, accommodations must be paid for with either an office check or office credit card. Personal payment, even though it will be reimbursed by the office, is not tax exempt by state law. Also, provide the Sheraton with a tax exemption form. The cut-off date for our block of rooms is 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 22nd. To avoid being charged a penalty in the event that a room reservation must be cancelled, the Sheraton requires that the cancellation be made 48 hours prior to the day of arrival. Hotel check-in time is 3:00 p.m., and check-out time is 12:00 noon. Early check in and late check out are based on availability.

Our contract with the Sheraton anticipates that attendees will pay the above rate of $144.00 for sleeping rooms. Attendees SHOULD NOT request the government rate as it violates the spirit, if not the letter, of our agreement.

The registration fees for OPAA members are $250.00 for both days, and $150.00 for one day only. Registration fees for non-members are $500.00 and $300.00. These fees cover all materials, continental breakfasts, breaks, and lunches on both days. To help defray the cost of food guarantees, cancellations after April 13th will be assessed a $100.00 penalty if scheduled to attend both days, and a $60.00 penalty if scheduled for one day only. Please send registrations to OPAA by April 9th.

OPAA is now providing all course materials in electronic format. Approximately 48 hours prior to the course date, seminar registrants will receive an email that will include a link to a PDF of the course materials. Since reliable wi-fi access at meeting facilities can’t be guaranteed, we encourage registrants to download the materials to electronic media, or print form, for use during the seminar.

Special dietary needs: If any registrant has special dietary needs, please have them contact Delores or Diana at 614-221-1266 so that advance arrangements can be made with the venue. If the venue can handle the request at no additional charge, there will be no charge to registrant; but if outside sources and/or additional charges are incurred, the registrant will be billed accordingly, and will be notified in advance.