The intricacies of Blakely in Ohio

Once again, I feel I learned more than I taught when participating in a session on Blakely this morning. Though I thought I was to share the Blakely podium with Judge Burt Griffin, his trial schedule kept him from being able to attend the event hosted by Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. But that loss became a gain when I had a chance to meet and hear from Cuyahoga County Assistant Public Defender John T. Martin.

After I provided general background on Blakely, John gave a thorough and thoughtful (defense-oriented) account of all the potential Blakely issues/problems under Ohio’s intricate (and very judge-centric) sentencing laws. Though I have been following the Ohio Blakely story closely (as detailed here and here and here), John’s very effective presentation highlighted for me just how many challenging and uncertain Blakely legal issues will need to be resolved in Ohio. And the thoughtful questions from the audience also highlighted how may challenging and uncertain Blakely strategy issues defense counsel now face representing individual clients at a time of so much legal uncertainty.