2023 OPAA SpringTraining
April 20th and 21st, 2023
Columbus, Ohio
Our Spring Training seminar will focus on a variety of topics including a look at jury instructions; conviction review practices; how the BMV can help with investigations; a Marsy’s Law update; how to best use PowerPoint from voir dire to rebuttal close; and a complex look at strangulation including the new Ohio law. We hope to see you there!
Thursday, April 20th
8:00 - 9:00 Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:00 - 10:00 My Favorite Jury Instructions
The effective use of jury instructions can take a prosecutor’s trial practice to the next level. In this presentation, we will discuss the effective use of jury instructions in opening and closing. We will address specific “evergreen” jury instructions that are given in all criminal trials, and how to best present those issues to the jury. Finally, we will discuss “special” jury instructions that can be applied to frequently occurring fact patterns.
Drew Wood, Senior Attorney General – Special Prosecutions
Office of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost
10:00 - 10:15 Break
10:15 - 11:45 Conviction Review Practices and the Prosecutor's Office – A Case Study (professional conduct)
This presentation will review a real-life case of an individual who was wrongfully convicted and what the prosecutor did to ensure justice was achieved in the case. The discussion will include the ethical obligations that prosecutors have when someone has been wrongfully convicted. We will look at the steps that should be taken to ensure the integrity of a conviction is maintained, either by plea or by guilty verdict. Finally, we will review and discuss post-conviction relief motions that are being presented to the courts.
Kyle Stone, Prosecutor and
Lisa Nemes, Appellate Division Chief
Both with Stark County
11:45 - 12:45 Lunch (with the OPAA Investigators Association members)
12:45 - 1:45 Effective Ohio BMV and Prosecutor Partnerships (with OPAIA)
This presentation will provide an update and overview of the services offered and the service methods of the modern Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV). Specific attention will be focused on the Ohio BMV Investigations Section where an overview will be provided on scope and impact of investigations involving BMV-issued credentials. The presentation will close with resources and assistance available by the BMV for the Prosecutor’s office.
Charles Norman, Registrar
Bureau of Motor Vehicles
Ohio Department of Public Safety and
Todd Ballinger, Administrator
Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles – Investigations Section
1:45 - 2:00 Break
2:00 - 3:30 Marsy’s Law Update
Victims have a number of self-executing procedural and substantive rights under Marsy’s Law as set forth in the Ohio Constitution effective on February 5, 2018. See Article I, Section 10a, Ohio Constitution. This presentation will provide an overview of these constitutional rights and will discuss the case-law developments arising in the Ohio Supreme Court’s just-completed 2022 term, i.e., the decisions addressing restitution (Yerkey and Brasher) and the decision addressing the prosecutor’s ability to appeal in order to enforce Marsy’s Law (Fisk). The presentation will also highlight the most-significant developments coming out of the General Assembly’s efforts at codifying aspects of Marsy’s Law in House Bill 343 as effective April 6, 2023.
Elizabeth Well
Legal Director
Ohio Crime Victim Justice Center
3:30 – 5:00 Using PowerPoint from Voir Dire to Rebuttal Close;
Best Practices
Jurors learn visually, which means effective and ethical use of PowerPoint presentations can aid the jury in its role as finders of fact. This presentation will discuss Ohio caselaw on the best use of PowerPoint at trial as demonstrative evidence. The presentation will also teach how to create slides that are visually effective and persuasive.
Mark R. Weaver, Assistant Prosecutor
Marion County
Friday, April 21st
8:00 - 8:30 Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:30 - 10:00 The Investigation and Prosecution of Felony Strangulation
Cases: Don’t Choke and Let Them Stroke
Are the injuries of the strangulation victim consistent with the history provided? Are we asking the right questions to elicit responses related to the obstruction of airflow and blood flow? Injuries, like those caused by strangulation, can be subtle, internal, and not visible, yet fatal. Missing or misinterpreting these injuries can be fatal to victims and hinder the investigation and prosecution of a strangulation case, including delayed homicidal strangulation. This presentation will go in-depth on strangulation including Ohio’s new strangulation law; benefits of clinical forensic nursing in the investigation and prosecution of non-fatal strangled patients; why lack of visible injury is not required for felony assault; why strangulation is a deadly force; why stranglers kill police officers and their partners; neck anatomy, pathophysiology, vascular injuries and forensic findings in fatal and non-fatal strangled patients; petechial hemorrhages, suffocation, clinical documentation, interpretation of symptoms, proving SBI and case studies; and wound documentation and interpretation: Can you differentiate assault from self-inflicted wounds?
Dr. Bill Smock, M.D.
Louisville, Kentucky
10:00 - 10:15 Break
10:15 - 11:45 The Investigation and Prosecution of Felony Strangulation
Cases: Don’t Choke and Let Them Stroke continues... Dr. Bill Smock, M.D.
Louisville, Kentucky
11:45 - 12:45 Lunch
12:45 – 1:45 The Investigation and Prosecution of Felony Strangulation
Cases: Don’t Choke and Let Them Stroke continues...
Dr. Bill Smock, M.D.
Louisville, Kentucky
We have requested approval for 10.5 hours of CLE (which includes 1.5 hours of professional conduct) from the Supreme Court of Ohio Commission on Continuing Legal Education.
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