Mootispaw v. Eckstein
Decision Date | 21 August 1996 |
Docket Number | No. 96-777,96-777 |
Citation | 667 N.E.2d 1197,76 Ohio St.3d 383 |
Parties | MOOTISPAW, Appellant, v. ECKSTEIN, Pros. Atty., Appellee. |
Court | Ohio Supreme Court |
Page 383
v.
ECKSTEIN, Pros. Atty., Appellee.
Decided Aug. 21, 1996.
[667 N.E.2d 1198]
Page 384
Appellant, Rusty E. Mootispaw, is an inmate currently imprisoned at Lebanon Correctional Institution. In 1981, the Fayette County Court of Common Pleas convicted Mootispaw of murder and sentenced him to fifteen years to life in prison. At that time, Mootispaw was represented by attorneys John C. Bryan and James L. Butler, and the state was represented by then-Fayette County Prosecuting Attorney, John H. Roszmann, and Assistant Prosecuting Attorney James A. Kiger.In October 1994, Mootispaw allegedly received mail from Bryan which included a letter dated August 9, 1986 from Bryan to Kiger in which Bryan stated that Mootispaw was aware of Bryan and Kiger's "knowledge of his innocence of murder."
In August 1995, Mootispaw filed a complaint in the Court of Appeals for Fayette County for a writ of mandamus to compel appellee, Fayette County Prosecuting Attorney Steven Eckstein, to investigate the alleged fraud committed by Bryan and Kiger. Eckstein filed an answer as well as a motion for summary judgment. Attached to Eckstein's motion for summary judgment was his affidavit in which he stated that (1) he had received a letter from Mootispaw along with the alleged letter from Bryan to Kiger, (2) he had investigated the matter by conducting interviews with Roszmann, Bryan, Butler, and officers of the local bar association, and (3) upon completion of his investigation, he had concluded that Mootispaw's allegations were meritless.
Mootispaw filed a motion for summary judgment and reply to Eckstein's summary judgment motion. Mootispaw contended that Eckstein had conflicts of interest in proceeding with the investigation because (1) Butler, one of Mootispaw's trial counsel, is a law partner of the president of the local bar association that Eckstein met with to conduct investigative interviews, and (2) Eckstein represented the attorneys complained about [667 N.E.2d 1199] by Mootispaw in Mootispaw's false imprisonment action. See Mootispaw v. Doe (Oct. 23, 1995), Fayette App. No. CA95-03-009, unreported, 1995 WL 617476, appeal not allowed (1996), 74 Ohio St.3d 1523, 660 N.E.2d 743.
In March 1996, the court of appeals granted Eckstein's motion for summary judgment and denied the writ. The court of appeals determined that based on Eckstein's affidavit,...
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