In any criminal case, police records and summaries are very important; if the case has a history of egregious state misconduct, access to those records becomes critically urgent. If the case that has been tainted by misconduct is a death penalty one, the withholding of police records is unconscionable.

Shockingly, despite Jeffrey Wogenstahl’s death sentence, and the extensive known prosecutorial misconduct in his case, relevant police records were withheld until legal pressure was brought to bear:
“The Harrison Police Department, as well as the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s office (the same office that suborned perjury and utilized the false and unscientific evidence at issue here in order to convict the Appellant) unjustifiably refused to release the records in question.” *

Accordingly, Jeff asked the Ohio Supreme Court to order the Harrison Police Department “to immediately provide the police reports and summaries”. He was unable to view the documents until May 3, 2016; the contents provided shockingly exculpatory evidence.**

This post was corrected on October 9, 2016, to reflect information in a motion filed on October 7, 2016.

*See Appellant Jeffrey Wogenstahl’s Memorandum in Support of Jurisdiction, filed in the Supreme Court of Ohio, March 21, 2016 – Case No. 2016-0423; PP 2-3 (referring to Jeff’s Complaint for Writ of Mandamus).

**See Appellant Jeffrey Wogenstahl’s Motion to Remand Case to the Trial Court, filed in the Supreme Court of Ohio, October 7, 2016 – Case No. 2016-0423; P. 4.