Legal Question in Criminal Law in Ohio

I live in Ohio and at someone's pretrial that I was with, the public defender met the family in a conference room after meeting the prosecuting attorney and the judge in his chambers. He spent 10 minutes with the family asking what they thought of the discovery package ( it is not all delivered). He got up to leave after the 10 minute meeting. The family was puzzled and started to follow him out of the conference room to the courtroom. But that was the pre trial, no judge, no courtroom. he said they would set it for trial. What am I missing here? I think they skipped some steps with the help of the public defender. Seriously who would I complain to and should I be worried about harrassment over this as I live in a small town. I seriously wonder if the public defender is disclosing information to the prosecutor.


Asked on 3/10/10, 8:32 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Richard Cline Office of the Ohio Public Defender

Every jurisdiction does things in their own way. There is no legal requirement that the court even hold a pretrial, so there is nothing "wrong" with doing pretrials in the manner you describe.

It is not uncommon for the pretrial to consist of the defense attorney and the prosecutor talking to the judge and then the defense attorney telling the client about that conversation. It is also perfectly appropriate for defense counsel to review the discovery packet with the defendant to make sure that what the police claim to be the facts is accurate.

If the prosecutor is unwilling to make an offier to resolve the case that the defense finds acceptable the alternative is to set the matter for trial.

You question whether the defense attorney is disclosing information to the prosecutor. I hope so, because he has a legal duty to provide reciprocial discovery. Furthermore, it is impossible to negotiate unless you provide some information. Based on what you describe, it sounds like defense counsel is doing his job.

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Answered on 3/16/10, 8:13 am


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