Cincinnati, OH
Family Lawyer at Cincinnati, OH
Practice Areas: Family, Criminal Defense
OUTCOME:
Homicide case involving self-defense and complex notice requirement issue for Serious Youthful Offender Requirements. Numerous issues raised on appeal will continue to pave the way for Courts to consid ... er scientific and brain development in the future.
OUTCOME: Dismissal at the trial court level, affirmed by the Kentucky Court of Appeals and Kentucky Supreme Court
I was both trial counsel and appellate counsel in the Kentucky Court of Appeals and Kentucky Supreme Court. This case was dismissed in the trial court after complex litigation regarding competency and ... mental health defense. The Commonwealth appealed and the Kentucky Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal and affirmed the trial court's decision. In a brilliantly written decision, the Kentucky Supreme Court found that young people have the right to have the court consider competency before deciding whether they are tried as adults pursuant to the 6th and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution as well as Section 11 of the Kentucky Constitution. The Court held that because transfer hearings are critically important proceedings as identified in Kent, competence must be established before transfer proceedings commence. The court stated that ““Effective assistance requires counsel to move for a hearing if and when a [young person]’s competency may be at issue. This is so because inherent in effective representation is a client who can also assist in the preparation of a defense. A [young person], and B.H. herein, has the right to present testimony and cross-examine witnesses at a preliminary hearing. See KRS 645.070(3) and (4). Had the district court not considered the issue of competency, it would have infringed on B.H.’s right to effective assistance of counsel.”
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