Dunbar v. State

{¶ 1} The issue in this appeal is whether a guilty plea to a felony prevents a claimant from qualifying as a “wrongfully imprisoned individual” for purposes of pursuing damages against the state of Ohio in the Court of Claims when the guilty plea is subsequently vacated on appeal. We hold that it does.

Case Background

{¶ 2} The facts in this case are not in dispute. In November 2004, Lang Dunbar struck his live-in fiancée, knocked her to the ground, and twisted her legs. The couple’s two children witnessed the incident. Dunbar then instructed his fiancée that she was not to leave the house and…