Civil

6/16/10 - Smith v. Gordon, Case No. 08-CIV-0889
Gregg T. Gordon who does business as Gordon's Landscaping won a civil lawsuit in which he was sued for breach of contract and violations of the Ohio Consumer Sales Protection Act. The jury trial started in Judge Kimbler's courtroom on Monday, June 14 and ended on Wednesday, June 16. The lawsuit was filed by a Mr. Eric Smith of Doylestown. Mr. Smith alleged that he paid Mr. Gordon $6800.00 to do landscaping, install a new front yard, and put up two retaining walls at his home. He further alleged that the work was done in a un-workmanlike manner and that Mr. Gordon violated Ohio's consumer protection law by not giving him a written estimate. The jury deliberated a little over one hour before returning its verdict.

4/7/10 - Harrison v. Roth, Case No. 09-CIV=0622
Yesterday (April 7, 2010) afternoon a jury in Judge Kimbler's courtroom returned a $5,000.00 verdict for David J. Harrison of Barberton in a personal injury trial. Mr. Harrison was injured when his car was struck from behind by Scott R. Roth of Brunswick. The collision took place on April 19, 2007 in Brunswick at the intersection of Center and South Carpenter Roads. Mr. Roth admitted that he was negligent, but disputed the amount of damages claimed by Mr. Harrison. Before trial, Mr. Harrison had offered to settle the lawsuit for $7,000.00 and Mr. Roth's insurance carrier had offered $2,000.00. The jury trial was the shortest jury trial that Judge Kimbler has tried as a common pleas court judge. It started at 9:00 am and the jury returned its verdict at approximately 2:45 pm

2/18/10 - Alison Vitas v. Melvin Bond, et al., Case No. 08-CIV-1945
Alison Vitas of Creekside Boulevard in Brunswick, Ohio, won her personal injury jury trial last week in Judge Kimbler’s court. The jury was selected on Tuesday, February 16, and returned its verdict on February 18. Ms. Vitas was injured in two separate accidents in January and March of 2007. One of the accidents took place in Logan County, Ohio, near Nelsonville and the second accident took place in Medina County on IS 71 in Brunswick, Ohio. In the first accident Ms. Vitas was a passenger in her car which one of her brothers was driving. In the second accident Ms. Vitas was driving her car when the accident occurred. The first accident was caused by a Mr. Melvin Bond of Logan County. The second accident was caused by a Mr. Robert Cebula of Medina County. Since the second accident took place in Medina County, Ms. Vitas was allowed to file her lawsuit against both defendants in Medina County. Mr. Bond and Mr. Cebula admitted that they were negligent and had caused their respective accidents. The only issue in the trial was what damages were attributable to Mr. Bond and what damages were attributable to Mr. Cebula. The jury returned a total verdict of $24,815.00. The jury broke down the damages as follows: Ms. Vitas was awarded $21,443.00 against Mr. Bond and she was awarded $3372.00 against Mr. Cebula. Prior to trial, she had made a demand of $22,000.00 and the defendants had made a combined offer of $13,500.00.

1/20/10 - MACK CONCRETE INC-VS- A C E POURED WALLS INC, Case No. 09-CIV-0172
A jury verdict was returned in a one-day trial on Wednesday, January 20, 2010. The issues involved money owed to the Plaintiff by the Defendant corporation and whether a corporate officer was liable on a personal guaranty. At trial, the defendant corporation stipulated that it was liable on the debt but the officer disputed her liability on the personal guaranty. The jury found that she was liable.

Criminal

7/16/10 - State v. William C. Carson, Jr., Case No. 08-CR-0577
A Medina County Common Pleas jury entered returned split verdicts in a criminal case in Judge Kimbler's courtroom on Thursday, July 15. The defendant in the case, Mr. William R. Carson, Jr., of Akron, Ohio, was charged with seven counts. At the end of the State's case, Judge Kimbler granted Mr. Carson's motion for a directed verdict of acquittal made pursuant to Criminal Rule 29. Judge Kimbler granted the motion as to two counts of Burglary and Attempted Burglary. On two other counts of Breaking and Entering, Judge Kimbler allowed them to proceed as charges of Criminal Trespass. As a result of Judge Kimbler's ruling, the jury was given job of deciding whether Mr. Carson was guilty of Burglary, Attempted Burglary, two counts of Criminal Trespass, and one count of Possession of Criminal Tools. The jury returned verdicts of guilty on the charge of Attempted Burglary and on the two charges of Criminal Trespass. The jury returned verdicts of not guilty of the charge of Burglary and Possession of Criminal Tools. Mr. Carson was remanded back to the Medina County jail and a pre-sentence investigation was ordered. Judge Kimbler will sentence Mr. Carson on August 26, 2010 at 8:30 am.

3/24/10 - State v. Michael Lapp, Case No. 09CR0353
After the trial had started, Mr. Lapp entered a change of plea to a felony charge of operating while under the influence. He was found guilty and sentenced on March 30, 2010. Judge Kimbler sentenced him to one year in prison; suspended his operator's licence for three years; and imposed a mandatory fine of $1350.00, but waived the fine because he was indigent.

3/2/10 - State of Ohio v. John E. Sizler, Case No. 09-CR-0334
A jury trial ended abruptly on its second day when the State offered to amend the indictment to a misdemeanor if Mr. Silzer entered a guilty plea. Mr. Selzer took the State's offer and entered a guilty plea to a charge of Attempted Drug Trafficking, a first degree misdemeanor. Judge Kimbler proceeded to impose sentence. Judge Kimbler sentenced Mr. Selzer to 90 days in jail, but suspended the jail sentence on the following conditions: he is to be supervised by the Medina County Adult Probation Department; perform 24 hours of community service; and obtain a drug assessment at a agency chosen by the Medina County Adult Probation Department. If the agency reports that he has a drug abuse problem, then he is abide by all aftercare recommendations of that agency. Judge Kimbler also ordered Mr. Selzer to pay court costs and a community control sanction fee.

2/24/10 - State v. Nicholas R. Quintile, Case No. 09-CR-0361
A three day jury trial on a charge of Felonious Assault ended in a not guilty verdict for Mr. Nicholas R. Quintile of Madera Drive in Lodi. The trial, which was conducted by Judge James Kimbler, began with jury selection on Monday, February 22, and concluded on Wednesday. The jury returned its verdict late Wednesday (2-24-2010) afternoon.

1/25/10 - State v. Raffel D. Lawson, Case No. 09-CR-429
A jury trial resulted in two verdicts of guilty on two separate charges of Drug Trafficking. One charge was a second degree felony and the other was a fourth degree felony. On April 2, 2010, Judge Kimbler sentenced Mr. Lawson to six years in prison on one charge and 18 months on the second charge. The two sentences are to run concurrently with each other but consecutively to a sentence that Mr. Lawson is presently serving.