State ex rel. Shane v. New Philadelphia Police Department

We hold today that a criminal defendant may not obtain a writ of mandamus under R.C. 149.43 to secure public records when he may litigate his right to obtain these records in his criminal case. Hence, we conclude the court of appeals correctly denied Shane’s complaint for a writ of mandamus.

In State, ex rel. Scanlon, v. Deters (1989) , 45 Ohio St. 3d 376, 544 N.E. 2d 680, paragraph one of the syllabus, we held: “A relator in a mandamus action seeking production of documents pursuant to R.C. 149.43 is required, as are relators in other mandamus actions, to show the absence of an adequate…