Wednesday, March 31, 1999
Prosecutors to appeal ruling in Sess case
BY DAN HORN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Prosecutors will ask an appeals court to overturn a ruling that wiped out most of their case against former Cincinnati police officer John Sess.
Special Prosecutor James Beaton said Tuesday a successful appeal is the only way he will be able to use crucial evidence that links Mr. Sess to planting drugs on a suspect.
Judge Robert Ruehlman threw out the evidence Monday after hearing arguments from both sides in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.
The judge ruled that the evidence was “tainted” because it was gathered after Mr. Sess had been granted immunity from prosecution.
Before giving a statement to police, the judge said, Mr. Sess signed a document that barred prosecutors from using his statement against him in court.
Judge Ruehlman said prosecutors would not have been able to charge Mr. Sess if not for that statement.
Therefore, he said, all evidence gathered from that point on is “tainted by the immunized statement.”
Mr. Beaton said the decision “ef fectively terminated” the case because it eliminated nearly all of the evidence against the former officer.
Mr. Sess, a 23-year veteran of the police division, lost his job shortly after he gave police his statement.
Prosecutors say Mr. Sess admitted to planting marijuana on drug suspect Shadarle Ragan in 1984. Mr. Ragan, an admitted drug offender, pleaded guilty in the 1984 case.
Mr. Beaton said he will appeal Judge Ruehlman's decision to the Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals.
He said it could be more than six months before the court rules.
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