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Has anyone heard or seen this Before?
by Andrew Welsh-Huggins
The Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A bounty hunter convicted of abduction and burglary charges after seeking a fugitive in a third party’s home should receive a new trial because of ineffective legal help, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled yesterday.
The 6-1 ruling in the case of bounty hunter Michael Kole, however, did not address the substance of Kole’s appeal — that he should not have been charged because Ohio law says a bounty hunter can arrest a defendant "at any time or place."
Ohio’s law is suitably broad to cover Kole’s actions, his attorney, James Foley, argued before the Supreme Court, but prosecutors argued that bounty hunters’ ability to do their job shouldn’t trump Ohio’s criminal laws.
Bail bondsmen provide criminal defendants with a bond to get them out of jail pending a trial. Bondsmen hire bounty hunters to track down defendants who skip out on court appearances and leave the bondsman liable for the bond money.
Bounty hunters may pursue a fugitive "into another state; may arrest him on the Sabbath; and, if necessary, may break and enter his house for that purpose," according to an 1872 U.S. Supreme Court opinion, Taylor v. Taintor, long the pre-eminent ruling in determining bounty hunter rights.
Kole’s lawyers used this case in defending Kole during trial. However, after Foley, an assistant state public defender, took over the case, he argued that the conviction should be overturned because of state law.
Had that law been cited during the trial, it is "reasonably probable" that it would have provided a defense for Kole, Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton wrote for the majority.
Justice Deborah Cook dissented, saying her colleagues were trying to "have it both ways."
The majority cannot decide that Kole’s lawyer was ineffective for failing to cite state law without deciding that the law provided Kole a legitimate defense, Cook said.
Kole’s case dates to May 31, 1996, when he was hired to hunt down Cecil Cobb, now in North Central Correctional Institution in Marion on a robbery conviction.
Acting on a tip, Kole entered the Elyria apartment of Cobb’s half-brother William McAuliffe and found him asleep on the couch, according to Supreme Court records.
Kole and companion Jose Rosario held McAuliffe at gunpoint until they could determine if he was Cobb. Elyria police eventually arrived but allowed Kole and Rosario to leave after checking their credentials.
About 30 minutes later Kole arrested Cobb outside the apartment and turned him over to police, according to records.
Kole was eventually convicted on abduction, burglary and weapons charges. He is free on $250,000 bond.
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Steve Faircloth
A Way Out Bail Bonds
(220) 204-9733 Cell
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