City of Akron v. Frazier

I respectfully dissent. The majority holds that R.C. 2953.53(D)(1) mandates that a trial court unseal a defendant’s sealed record, simply because the defendant requests it to do so. However, the unambiguous language of R.C. 2953.53(D)(1) gives the court the discretion to determine whether sealed records may be unsealed upon such a request. Therefore, because the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it denied appellants’ motion to unseal the records, I would affirm the decision of the lower court.

The trial court’s decision to unseal an official record is a matter of judicial…