Ohio Second District Court of Appeals

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Ohio Second District Court of Appeals
Court information
Judges:	5
Judicial selection
Method:	Non-partisan election of judges
Term:	6 years
Active judges
Mike Fain  •  Mary Donovan  •  Jeffrey Froelich  •  Jeffrey M. Welbaum  •  Michael T. Hall  •

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The Ohio Second District Court of Appeals covers the Ohio counties of Champaign, Clark, Darke, Greene, Miami and Montgomery.

Judges

Judge	Term	Division	Appointed by	Party
Judge Mike Fain	1987-2017			Democratic
Judge Mary Donovan	2005-2017
Judge Jeffrey Froelich	1994-2015
Judge Jeffrey M. Welbaum	2013-2019	Term commencing 2/9/2013		Republican
Judge Michael T. Hall	2011-2017			Republican

Notable cases

Not using a turn signal leads to valid search and seizure in a residence in Ohio February 15, 2013 On February 15, the Ohio Second District Court of Appeals ruled that the warrantless entry by police officers into the home of a driver who failed to signal a turn was valid. The police used a battering ram to enter the home of Jeffrey Lam, a person well known to the officers, after he failed to use a turn signal while driving. This is a minor misdemeanor under Ohio law. The officers pursued Lam to his home, where he entered the residence and locked the door. Lam refused to allow the police entry; as a result, the police used force to enter the home. The officers then cited police safety as a reason to conduct a search, during which they discovered drugs. Lam was subsequently arrested and convicted based on the evidence seized during that search. His motion to suppress the evidence was denied by the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas during his trial. Writing for the majority, Judge Jeffrey Froelich indicated the judges were unhappy with their ultimate decision: “ "Although we are bound by supreme court precedent, we have reservations about permitting police officers to chase a suspect who is known to have committed only a minor traffic violation and to forcibly enter into his house, in the absence of exigent circumstances. This may be the unusual situation where legal reasoning has plunged off the slippery slope or where the exceptions have swallowed the rule." ” Lam will likely appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court, as the opinion here "called on the state Supreme Court to overturn the precedent" established by Middletown v. Flinchum. Decided in 2002, Flinchum extended the hot pursuit doctrine to misdemeanors. Traditionally, the hot pursuit doctrine allowed for the warrantless entry of the home of a suspect police are actively pursuing on suspicion of a felony.

See also

• Ohio District Courts of Appeal

References

2012 election

To organize the columns, click on the arrows in the column heading.

Candidate	Incumbency	Party	Term	Primary Vote	Election Vote
IngramCarley Ingram	No	Democratic	Term commencing 2/9/2013	60.2%A	46.06%   D
HeckmanDarrell Heckman	No	Democratic	Term commencing 2/9/2013	39.7%
WelbaumJeffrey M. Welbaum   A	No	Republican	Term commencing 2/9/2013	97.1%A	53.94%   A

2010 election

Court	Candidates	Details	Results
Second District, Term Commencing February 9	(R): Mary Donovan	Mary Donovan was up for re-election.	Mary Donovan
Second District, Term Commencing February 10	(R): Michael T. Hall and George Reynolds		Michael T. Hall
Second District, Term Commencing February 11	(D): Mike Fain	Mike Fain was up for re-election.	Mike Fain