Marianna’s blog Legally Speaking Ohio saw a lot of activity in December, with three  justices leaving the Ohio Supreme Court at or near year’s end, two because of election defeats, and one because of retirement.  The Court released decisions in all of its submitted cases, and Marianna blogged analyses of all of them:

• State v. Hood: Are cell phone records admissible at trial as business records?
• Anderson v. Massillon: Defines recklessness, willful and wanton misconduct in context of sovereign immunity statute
• Horvath v. Ish: interprets sports and recreational activity rules as codified in R.C. 4149, Ohio’s ski safety statute
• Ruther v. Kaiser: upholds the constitutionality of the medical malpractice statute of repose
• State v. Moore: discusses the effect a waiver of a fine in a sentence for an offense with a mandatory fine if no affidavit of indigency is filed prior to sentencing
• M.H.v. Cuyahoga Falls: does the exception to sovereign immunity codified at R.C. 2744.02(B)(4) apply to a diving board accident at the city’s indoor natatorium?
• Branch v. Cleveland Clinic Foundation: involves some medical malpractice fundamentals, including demonstrative evidence, the “different methods” jury instruction and an adverse inference instruction
• Houdek v. ThyssenKrupp Materials: how to prove intent under the current version of Ohio’s much litigated employer intentional tort statute.
• Smith v. Landfair: at issue is the interpretation of the word “spectator” under R.C. 2305.321, the Ohio Equine Immunity statute, which grants immunity for certain equine-related activities.
• Rayess v. Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates: can  a written contract  be created when it is based on an application to take an examination, payment of a fee to do so, and the receipt of general informational brochures about the exam?
• State v. Raber: does the trial court lack subject matter jurisdiction to reopen the case after the final judgment entry was journalized in order to hold an evidentiary hearing on whether the defendant had to register as a sex offender?
• D.W. v. T.L.: did the trial court abuse its discretion by inappropriately granting a father’s petition to change his child’s surname to his own?
• Doss v. State: did the trial court properly granted Doss’ motion for summary judgment on his wrongful imprisonment claim when it relied solely on the court of appeals decision vacating Doss’ criminal conviction.
• State v. Williams: use of other acts testimony under Evid. R. 404(B) in a sex crimes case.
• Hewitt v. The L.E Myers Co.: issue in this employer intentional tort case is what constitutes the deliberate removal of an equipment safety guard, thus creating a rebuttable presumption of intent to injure under R.C. 2745.01 (C).
• State v. Gardner: what is the effect of an outstanding arrest warrant on evidence obtained from an earlier allegedly unlawful detention of the defendant?