Ohio inmate is represented on appeal based on recently discovered forensic evidence

Client(s) Siller, Thomas J.

A Jones Day Cleveland team represented an Ohio inmate convicted of murder in 2001, in an appeal before the Eighth District Court of Appeals (Cuyahoga County, Ohio). Recently discovered forensic evidence demonstrates that the State's key witness, and the only eye-witness to our client's alleged role in the crime, had several spatters of the victim's blood on the front of his pants, undermining his testimony and suggesting that he played a role in the crime, which he had denied. This evidence was not revealed to our client's defense counsel during his trial. Rather, the State's expert serologist testified falsely at trial about the results of the forensic testing performed on the pants of the alleged eyewitness. The New York-based Innocence Project took up the case and moved for a new trial in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. That motion was denied in December of 2007, and Jones Day agreed to pursue the appeal in January of 2008. Oral argument was held on January 20, arguing on our client's behalf. The ruling by the Eighth District Court of Appeals reversed the denial of our client's motion for a new trial.

Thomas Siller v. State of Ohio, Case No. CA 90865, Court of Appeals, Eight Appellate District, Cuyahoga County, Ohio