Criminal Defense
Assault & Tampering with Evidence
Mr. Yoder represented a bank executive that was charged with felonious assault and tampering with evidence. After more than a year battling the Summit County prosecutors office the case proceeded to trial. The state of Ohio alleged that the defendant stabbed the victim eight times with a knife. After four days of trial the defense successfully argued self-defense and the jury returned an acquittal on all counts. This was a significant win for our client.
Criminal Defense
Not Guilty
Attorney Reid Yoder received a not guilty verdict on a case involving three counts of rape and one count of gross sexual imposition in Tuscarawas County. All came back not guilty after a two week long trial. Attorney Yoder has obtained 6 not guilty verdicts in a row, on rape trials.
Criminal Defense
Drug Charges
We represented a client who was stopped for a fictitious registration sticker on his vehicle. Once stopped, they found a gun and cocaine in his car. Our client was an attorney and he would have lost his ability to practice law with these charges. We successfully argued to the Prosecutor’s Office that it was his wife’s car and he was not aware that those items were left in her car. The Prosecutor’s Office dismissed the charges against him and charged her. We immediately were retained on her case. After a two day jury trial the jury returned a not guilty verdict because the state could not show that the wife had possessed those items.
Criminal Defense
Theft
Our client a middle aged women who was shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue was caught putting items of clothing up her shirt. The total amount taken was close to $5,000. After interviewing our client who was a middle age women and financially well off she could not explain why she did something like this. We retained the services of an expert who was able to opine that our client at the time she took these items was not able to understand and appreciate her actions and therefore could not be guilty of such offense. We argued a mental break and after a three day jury trial the jury returned a not guilty verdict.
Criminal Defense
Aggravated Robbery
Represented a man who was charged with Aggravated Robbery and gun specifications. The State alleged he had entered a convenience store and robbed the clerk at gun point. The State showed a video of the incident and the assailant in the video appeared to match the description of our client. After he robbed the clerk he ran out the store door. The Clerk followed him out the door and called the police. When the clerk testified at trial we asked him to watch the video recording. When he ran out the door we paused the video and marked on the screen where the top of his head was located at the door. We then rewound the video and taped where the assailants head was when he exited the door. The two men were the exact same height. Our client was three inches shorter than the clerk. Case dismissed.
Criminal Defense
Theft
Represented a client who broke into a bar and stole close to $50,000.00 worth of restaurant equipment. Client was arrested with the stolen items while he was attempting to sell them to an undercover police officer. After speaking with the victim and resolving the civil side of the case we were able to convince the prosecutor to dismiss the case.
Criminal Defense
Drug Charges
Represented a man that the police believed to be a very large trafficker of cocaine in the northeast Ohio area. The man was charged with possession of cocaine and trafficking cocaine. The Prosecutor’s Office made an initial offer of 15 years. Our client rejected that offer and we filed a motion to suppress the illegal search of his home. After a two day suppression hearing the Court took the matter under advisement. Three weeks later the Court issued their Order finding the police had in fact violated our clients constitutional rights and dismissed the case.
Criminal Defense
Attempted Murder
Represented a man on a highly publicized case charged with Attempted Murder, felonious assault and numerous other less serious charges. The State alleged our client had taken a machete to a man’s head and cut his ear off. It was a very gruesome case with graphic pictures. At trial we argued self defense. After a four day trial the Jury returned a not guilty verdict on the attempted murder. Our client viewed this as a huge victory.
Criminal Defense
Drug Charges
Represented a client charged with trafficking in marijuana. Client was an Army Ranger and if convicted would have been discharged from the military. After obtaining the evidence from the Prosecutor we conducted our own independent investigation and found a witness who was willing to testify that our client was not selling but was using the marijuana for his personal use. We brought the witness forward and the Prosecutor’s Office amended the complaint and charged him with a non-criminal offense.
Criminal Defense
Murder
Represented a client charged with murder. It was alleged that he shot and killed someone while walking down the street. We hired a private investigator who was able to find bullet holes near where the client was standing. We successfully argued that the client was also being shot at and the case should be reduced to manslaughter. The prosecutor’s office reluctantly agreed and reduced the charges.
Criminal Defense
Drug Charges
Represented a client charged with manufacturing of meth and illegal assembly. The officers who had charged the client stated that they had consent to enter into the home by the homeowner. During the suppression hearing we brought up the issue that the person giving consent did not have the authority to do so and the officer was aware of that fact. The judge ruled in the clients favor and suppressed the evidence. The prosecutor immediately moved to dismiss the case.
Criminal Defense
Aggravated Arson
Represented a client who was charged with aggravated arson. It was alleged that an eyewitnesses saw him leaving a building moments before it was set on fire. The police argued the fire was started by lighting gasoline in the building. The case proceeded to trial where we successfully argued that the eyewitnesses were not able to correctly identify our client. We also argued that the government was not able to show motive of why the client would have done this. The jury deliberated for 45 minutes and found the client “not guilty”.
Criminal Defense
Not Guilty
United States of America v. M. H.
Felon in possession of ammunition.
Criminal Defense
Not Guilty
State of Ohio v. J. A.
Stark county Ohio. Gross sexual imposition.
Criminal Defense
Not Guilty
Criminal Defense
Not Guilty
Our client, a physician, “was indicted by a Stark County grand jury on one count each of rape, a first-degree felony, and gross sexual imposition, a third-degree felony, stemming from allegations of sexual contact with a young girl sleeping over at his home in December 2019.” Attorney J. Reid was able to get two verdicts of not guilty for our client. To read more about the case, please click here.
Criminal Defense
Rape
Our client was charged with Rape of a woman. The women had stated to the police that she did not know our client and had never seen him before. The case proceeded to trial and during the course of the trial we successfully presented evidence that our client and this woman had in fact been dating for a short period of time and had known one another for years. The Jury found the woman’s credibility lacking and found our client not guilty.
Criminal Defense
Aggravated Murder / Murder
Mr. DiCaudo represented a young man charged with Aggravated Murder and Murder. The defense successfully argued at trial that the State could not show the aggravating circumstances of the murder and the jury returned a NOT GUILTY Verdict on Aggravated Murder. The Judge would not allow a lesser included offense of manslaughter which the defense objected to. The case is now being appealed as a result of that ruling.
Criminal Defense
Medicaid Fraud
Firm represented a client charged with Medicaid fraud. The client had reported reduced income statements from his employer in order to be eligible for Medicaid. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services conducted the investigation. It was reported the client benefits amount to $87,000 over five years. The Firm successfully argued that the number was inflated and the employer was responsible for the erroneous statements not the employee. The case was resolved for a misdemeanor offense and restitution of $13,000.
Criminal Defense
Grand Theft
Represented a man who the FBI believed to be one of the foremost wanted car thieves in the country. It was alleged that he had stolen hundreds of corvettes. After intense pretrial negotiations and a proffer we resolved the case for probation. It was estimated that he had stolen over 2 million dollars’ worth of cars.
Criminal Defense
Federal Offense
Mr. Yoder is the partner in the Firm that specializes in Federal Offenses. He has a very successful practice defending those individuals who have been charged in the federal system. Recently he resolved a case in the Northern District of Ohio where his client was caught using access devices to collect the PIN numbers on ATM machines and also the individual user’s passwords. It was alleged that the individuals involved in the conspiracy attempted to withdraw over $1.2 million dollars.
Over an 11 month period of time Mr. Yoder argued not that his client did not help in facilitating the crime, which the client had already admitted to, but he argued that the actual loss was far less than $1.2 million. This was an important factor, because based on the United States Sentencing Guidelines Mr. Yoder’s client was facing an increase of 6 points for sentencing. The United States Attorney’s Office was not willing to concede this point so the issue was briefed and argued to the Court. After thoroughly researching the issue Mr. Yoder was able to find case law out of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals which allowed the Judge to make a determination that the actual loss was much less and sentence accordingly. At sentencing the Judge found that the actual loss was less than $29,000 and as a result he exercised his discretion and sentenced the client to the lowest possible outcome. A great result for a young client who made a horrible mistake.
Criminal Defense
Attempted Murder
Represented a man charged with attempted murder and domestic violence . After a three day trial we were successful showing the jury that the injuries the women had sustained were self-inflicted. She was upset that her husband had been having an affair and wanted to scare him. She picked up a knife and walked toward him. Instead of attacking her husband she began cutting at her arms. She called the police and told them that our client had attacked her and attempted to stab her.
Criminal Defense
Willful Flee
Represented a client charged with Willful Flee. He was studying to be a physician and any felony would have prevented him from continuing on. It was alleged that he was traveling 149 mph on his motorcycle on the interstate when a state trooper clocked him. The trooper pulled out after him and called for assistance. Other troopers arrived an attempted to stop our client. He got off the interstate a few exits later and when he was paying his toll he was grabbed from behind and arrested. We hired an expert who opined at trial that our client was not physically able to see or hear the police chasing him due to the wind, his helmet and speed. The Jury returned a not guilty verdict on the Willful Flee and found him guilty of reckless operation.
Criminal Defense
Sex Charges
Represented a client charged with raping a child under 13 years of age. Our client was looking at life in prison. The State had a strong DNA case and our client had failed a polygraph. We tried the case to the Court and argued that the item of clothing the DNA was found on was just a coincidence and was not indicative of sexual activity. The Judge found our client not guilty of rape and found him guilty of a lesser included offense and sentenced him to 6 months.
Criminal Defense
Sex Charges
Represented a client charged with dissemination of child pornography . The police had executed a search warrant of his home and confiscated a number of computers from him. In the search warrant they had asked permission from the Judge to search his residence. While they were leaving the premises they walked by his car parked on the street and found a computer on the front seat. They seized the computer and found child pornography on it. We filed a motion to suppress based on the grounds the search warrant did not include a car parked on the street. The Court found in our favor and dismissed the case.
Criminal Defense
Murder
We had a client who was twice convicted of felony offenses before being charged with murder. He was looking at life in prison without the possibility of parole. Case was set for a suppression hearing. Before going forward with the hearing the Prosecutor’s realized they had some issues with their case. They offered a reduced plea to manslaughter for 10 years which our client accepted.
Criminal Defense
Theft
Represented a Client who was a student at a local university. It was alleged that he had broken into other student dorms and stole items from them. Client was accused of stealing a few women’s purses and computers which were located in his room. He lived with four other male students and all four testified at trial that they had never seen him with any of those items before. We painted a picture to the jury that the real culprit had been hiding his stolen goods in our client’s room so he would not be caught with them. The jury returned a not guilty verdict.
Criminal Defense
Theft
Represented a hedge fund business man who was out with friends at a very nice restaurant in Cleveland. After he had consumed too many drinks, as a practical joke he took a mirror off the wall and walked out the door with it. He ended up forgetting about it and took it home. The next day the police arrived and found it in his car. The mirror was valued at $15,000 and unfortunately it had been damaged. After paying restitution we were able to convince the prosecutor to not file charges and allow us to handle the matter civilly.
Criminal Defense
Fraud
Represented a family charged with mortgage fraud. The husband, wife and mom were all charged with different aspects of the fraud. The Attorney General’s Office was responsible for the investigation. There were over five thousand documents that were relevant to the case. After a year of pretrial motions and litigation the state dismissed the case against the wife and mom and reduced charges against the husband. Allegedly the amount of the fraud was 2 million dollars.
Criminal Defense
Expungements
Attorney Horrigan has focused a large part of his practice on expungement law. Over the past year because of the new expungement statute he has had great success getting case expunged that have not been previously able to. In October 2012 a client who was turned down for a job because of his criminal record called Attorney Horrigan and asked whether his previously record could get expunged. Attorney Horrigan reviewed the new law and advised the client that he was eligible for an expungement. They filed the necessary paperwork and unfortunately the Judge relying on the Prosecutor’s Office objections overruled the expungement motion. Attorney Horrigan being undeterred filed an appeal in the 9 th District and received a unanimous decision overruling the lower court’s denial. The case was remanded and the expungement was granted with the record being sealed.
Since that day Attorney Horrigan has been successful in sealing every case that he has filed on. He has filed expungement and sealment motions in municipal courts, common pleas courts and juvenile courts.
Criminal Defense
Over Prescribing Prescription Medication
Mr. Yoder was hired to represent a young medical doctor charged with over prescribing prescription medication. The case lasted for over a year and resulted in a NOT GUILTY Verdict at trial. The defense successfully argued that the prescription the doctor was administering were reasonable and necessary for the treatment of his pain clinic patients. This was one of the few not guilty verdicts in the State since the inception of this law.
Criminal Defense
Fraud
We represented a client charged federally with conspiring to defraud a bank out of 1 million dollars. We were the second Firm to handle the case and knew that the prior law firm had not done some things that they were supposed to do. After only one month on the case we went to trial. Half way through the trial the U.S. Attorney offered a reduced plea for no prison time. Our client graciously accepted the offer.
Criminal Defense
Robbery
Client was charged with complicity to commit robbery. The State alleged that our client had helped his brother by acting as a look out while his brother broke into a neighbor’s home and stole jewelry and electronic equipment. The Prosecutor was not willing to dismiss or reduce the case against our client based on his prior record. We knew we would be required to go to trial to give our client a chance of not going to prison. After only eight hours of trial the jury returned a not guilty verdict.
Criminal Defense
Resisting Arrest
Represented a client who was a patron at a local grocery store. He was asked to leave when he tried to pay for his purchases with his wife’s credit card that was not in his name. He demanded to speak to a supervisor. The local law enforcement agency responded at the request of the store and he was asked to leave. While he was leaving he made a derogatory statement to the police officer and was immediately grabbed and thrown down. The police charged him with resisting arrest. Our client’s wife had contacted us while he was being taken to the jail. The next day we were able to procure the video of the store and witnesses who were present. The case was dismissed a week later.
Criminal Defense
Grand Theft
Represented a client who was charged with grand theft and accused of stealing over 500 cars. He was under investigation by the FBI and the Franklin County task force for over a year. After he was arrested we were able to address bond with the court and argue that he was not a flight risk. He was released on a small bond and we were able to start fighting the case with him on the outside. He provided a great deal of information to us and we went through dozens of boxes of discovery. We found that the vehicles they were accusing him of stealing were, in fact, never reported stolen and they no longer had the cars in their possession. We filed a motion to dismiss for lack of evidence and the court denied our motion. We requested permission to file an appeal on that issue. After 10 months of fighting the case the Court of Appeals agreed with our argument and the case was dismissed.
Criminal Defense
Sex Charges
Represented a past client of the firm who was charged with gross sexual imposition for allegedly touching a young girl. The attorneys handling the case traveled to Cincinnati where the crime allegedly took place. There they realized that the girl had made the same allegations against two other gentlemen in the past and had a proclivity of accusing wealthy successful men of touching her. This evidence was presented to the prosecutor who ended up dismissing the case once she assessed the credibility of the alleged victim.
Criminal Defense
Domestic Violence
Represented a client where, police where sent to the client’s home in response to a call of domestic violence. Upon arrival, seeing injuries and blood at the scene, the police charged the client with domestic violence. At the pretrial we were able to show convincing evidence that our client was not residing with the alleged victim and therefore it should not be a domestic violence which made it a felony. The prosecutor amended the charge to misdemeanor assault and the client pled for fines and court costs.
Criminal Defense
Receipt of Stolen Property
Represented a client in Muskingham County in which he was charged with receiving stolen property. It was alleged the client had received over $50,000 worth of checks and that he cashed them illegally. The client had been interviewed by detectives prior to retaining counsel. We were able to convince the prosecutor to allow the client to enter into the diversion program and pay the money back. After 6 months of attending a class a month the case was dismissed. The client has no criminal record and is currently studying to be a lawyer.
Criminal Defense
Drug Charges
Represented a client who was arrested after a month long investigation conducted by a joint task force of Federal and State law enforcement agents and charged with several counts of conspiracy to commit drug trafficking. There were a total of 18 defendants charged. The case proceeded to trial which lasted three weeks. At the end the jury returned a “not guilty” verdict for our client. The other 4 defendants that went to trial were all found guilty.
Criminal Defense
Drug Charges
Our client was charged with distribution of marijuana in the Northern District of Ohio. Our client was charged in a conspiracy to distribute over 2000 kilograms of marijuana over a three year period of time. We argued to the Government that the only witness that they could potentially use against our client was a convicted felon and the Jury would question his credibility. After six months of negotiating the case the Government agreed to allow our client to plead guilty to distribution of 40 pounds of marijuana; with a sentence range between 24 to 30 months.
Criminal Defense
Felonious Assault
Our client was charged with Felonious Assault for assaulting another man at a volleyball tournament. Our client pushed the other man and he fell off the bleachers breaking his leg in two places. The Prosecutor’s Office was upset with our client for the way he handled the situation and the fact that he resorted to violence at a children’s volleyball game. During the course of our investigation we discovered that another spectator had been operating a camera. Although there was not any video footage of the assault we were able to provide to the Prosecutor an audio recording which clearly showed the other man being the aggressor. With that information the Prosecutor’s Office offered a misdemeanor assault. Our client rejected that offer and we went to trial. After three days of trial the Jury returned a not guilty verdict.
Criminal Defense
Theft
Represented two clients charged with theft of ATMs. They were charged in a 69 count felony indictment. We resolved the case pleading them to 16 counts and having them serve 100 days in the county jail. The potential sentence could have been 69 years in prison.
Criminal Defense
Hung Jury
Our client was charged with federal murder. After two weeks of hire, the jury came back with a hung verdict. This is a good outcome for this level of charge.