Cleveland, Ohio Criminal Attorneys

Stephen Cothran was acquitted of rape and kidnapping charges in connection to an incident that happened in 1993.

Cothran, 56, became a suspect when his DNA linked him to evidence gathered during the incident.

However, a negative test had the jury dismissing the charges against Cothran.

Reuben Sheperd, a criminal attorney in Cleveland defending for Cothran, said that the victim had agreed to have sex with his client.

J. Kevin Kelley was handed a six-year prison sentence for his involvement in the Cuyahoga corruption case, considered as one of the biggest in the county.

Kelley was the first defendant to offer his cooperation to the FBI who was investigating the corruption issue.

He admitted to being the one who collects and pays off the bribes to county officials.

During his sentencing, Kelley issued an apology to his family as well as the taxpayers of Cuyahoga County.

Kelley has also been ordered to pay restitution of about $700,000.

Kelley's cooperation ensured the cooperation of other defendants in the case and the conviction of several people involved in the corruption.

Cleveland defense attorney John Gibbons said there is no excuse for Kelley's involvement in the corruption, however, his cooperation is the best way for him to make amends.

Cleveland councilor Zack Reed will be spending more than a week in jail for his third drunk driving conviction.

Aside from a 10-day jail term, Reed, who is seeking re-election, will be wearing a bracelet for two months which will monitor his alcohol use.

Cleveland defense lawyers Kevin Spellacy and Jeff Saffold, representing Reed, said their client is being treated for alcoholism and is addressing his addiction to alcohol, which has been going on for much of his life.

Reed's other drunk driving convictions were meted in 2005 and three years later in 2008.

Ariel Castro will be spending the rest of his life in prison and will never be getting a chance for parole after he admitted to kidnapping and abusing three women for about a decade.

Castro, who used to work as a driver for a school bus, submitted a guilty plea to more than 900 charges in connection with the decade-crime.

The Puerto Rican kidnapped Michelle Knight, Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry from the years 2002 to 2004, and held them as prisoners in his home until May this year, when they managed to flee.

He made the three women live in appalling conditions, sexually abused them several times which resulted to him fathering a boy with Berry.

Castro also assaulted them several times which also resulted to Berry miscarrying five times.

Despite his guilty plea, Castro had objected to being called a "sexual predator".

Cleveland criminal defense attorney Craig Weintraub said Castro has a mental illness but a forensic psychiatrist said otherwise.

Judge Michael Russo of the Cuyahoga County told Castro that he is not the victim but the victimizer.

Blair Berk and Leonard Levine, defense lawyers in Los Angeles, are arguing for the release of their client, Darren Sharper, who used to play in the National Football League.

Sharper has submitted a not guilty plea to sexually assaulting two women in Los Angeles.

However, Sharper remains on indefinite custody with no bail after prosecutors pointed out that he also has an arrest warrant issued by authorities in Louisiana.

Sharper's lawyers are insisting on his release because no case has been filed yet pertaining to the Louisiana arrest warrant.

Brian Patrick O'Callaghan is facing murder charges after it has been alleged that he had beaten his adopted son which resulted to the 3-year-old's death.

O'Callaghan is a former marine and a war veteran who now works for the NSA.

The suspicion against O'Callaghan started when police were called to the hospital where the boy was confined.

The boy was suffering from brain hemorrhage and fractures in the skull, injuries consistent with beating.

O'Callaghan had told police investigators that his wife had gone out of town thus he had been caring for the boy.

While under his care, O'Callaghan said the child had hit his shoulder in the shower after falling backwards. The next day, when he went to check on the boy who was napping, he said he noticed mucus coming out of the boy's nose and when he picked him up, the boy started vomiting so he brought him to the hospital.

Steven McCool, a defense lawyer in Washington representing O'Callaghan, is insisting on his client's innocence.

He said the allegations have no basis and that O'Callaghan is disputing that the child suffered several injuries in the head.

A plea deal agreement has Broderick Kenyo Smith admitting to manslaughter instead of capital murder in the death of Arlando Maurice Pritchett in 2012.

The plea agreement will have Smith serving just a year in jail for a split sentence of 10 years.

His jail stay will be followed with probation for three years.

Should Smith violate his probation, he could be made to serve the rest of his 10-year sentence.

According to the police, Pritchett had an argument with a cab driver prior to his shooting while Smith admitted that he had been driving a cab during the time of the incident.

Birmingham defense attorney Charles Salvagio said Smith had shot Pritchett because the latter had robbed him.

After 18 months in prison, Monsignor William Lynn, may be released when he was granted bail following the reversal of his conviction.

Lynn, who served as a secretary for clergy at the Philadelphia archdiocese, will have to give up his passport. He will also be made to wear an electronic device for monitoring.

The Roman Catholic official was sentenced to between three to six years after he was convicted for endangering an abuse victim of a priest.

However, appeal judges reversed Lynn's conviction because the child-endangerment law which he was accused of violating did not apply to him.

Following the reversal, Lynn's defense lawyers asked for his release which the prosecution opposed during the bail hearing claiming that the priest is a flight risk.

However, Philadelphia defense attorney Thomas Bergstrom said that Lynn would never run away from conviction.

William S. Kern, a Baltimore Police instructor, was handed a 60-day jail stay, for shooting Raymond Gray, a police recruit, while they were doing exercises.

Kern, who has been in service for 19 years, told the court during his trial that he had brought a live gun to the exercises and he had accidentally used it instead of the training weapon.

Gray was hit in the head and was blinded in one eye when Kern fired his gun through the window to show the recruits the danger of lingering near the door, the window or the hallway.

Kern said that he brought his gun to the training for the safety of the recruits because the facility where they were having their exercises is not secure.

Baltimore defense attorney Shaun F. Owens had argued for Kern's release saying that his client's eventual dismissal from the service would already be enough of a punishment.

Kern is on a 60-day suspension while the Baltimore Police conducts an investigation within its ranks.

Gray's family, who expressed dissatisfaction with the sentence, has also filed a civil lawsuit in relation to the incident and is being represented by Baltimore litigator A. Dwight Pettit.