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Chase Students Try Wrongful Death Case in the Ohio Court of Claims
Prof. David Singleton, Ioanna Pareskevopoulos, Bryce Rhoads, Katy Harris, and Bess Okum
Prof. David Singleton, Ioanna Pareskevopoulos, Bryce Rhoads, Katy Harris, and Bess Okum

Feb 05, 2009 - Under the supervision of their advisor, Chase professor David Singleton of the Ohio Justice Policy Center (OJPC),Chase students Ioanna Pareskevopoulos, Bryce Rhoades and Katy Harris represented the estate of Rex Elam in a wrongful death case against the State of Ohio.

Elam was a prisoner who was stabbed to death by another prisoner who made a shank from glass he removed from his window. The OJPC sued the State of Ohio claiming that it was negligent in failing to prevent the death. The theory presented by the students is that the State was on notice of the danger posed by the killer, who had removed or tried to remove glass from his cell on at least five prior occasions. The killer also had a history of making weapons and of threatening to kill other prisoners and staff. Thus, the OJPC believes that the State could have prevented this death by simply putting the killer in a windowless cell.

The trial, which concluded February 3 without a decision from the court, proved very challenging from the start. The first witness, a corrections officer the students learned about and interviewed a week before trial, denied telling them that prison windows posed a danger 'from day one' because they could be broken and made into 'fast and handy weapons.' Ioanna calmly set up the impeachment by asking him about his interview with the students, and then completed the impeachment by calling an OJPC volunteer who attended. Bryce was tenacious in fending off the government's objections to evidence that the prison had replaced the cell windows with safety glass after Elam's murder, evidence which the State opened the door to by eliciting evidence that replacing the glass prior to the murder was not feasible. And Katy did a terrific job on cross examination neutralizing the government's two key witnesses and highlighting evidence that helped the OJPC's theory of the case. After post trial briefs are filed, the court will issue its decision.

Professor Singleton would like to acknowledge and thank those at OJPC who helped give the students this great opportunity. Bess Okum, a lawyer with a wealth of litigation experience, helped supervise and prepare the students for trial. OJPC staff attorneys Margie Slagle (Chase '06) and Angie Jackson helped the students practice their oral arguments. Zoe Hutchins, a volunteer lawyer, helped with legal research. Terran Reid, a volunteer paralegal, accompanied the team during its interview of the corrections officer, completed his impeachment at trial, and played a variety of witnesses during oral argument practices.

http://chaselaw.nku.edu/documents/news/Elam_v_ODRC_Pl.Prop_FoF_CoL.pdf