Mallory Introduces "Trina's Law"

(Columbus) – State Senator Mark Mallory (D-Cincinnati) today introduced Trina’s Law to change the law so that when a person is found guilty of committing a crime in a criminal trial, that guilty finding can be used as proof that the person committed the crime in a civil trial. Trina’s Law is named after an Ohio law student and developed with the help of the Center for Law and Justice at the University of Cincinnati College of Law.

“I am amazed that someone can be found guilty in a criminal case and turnaround and deny that they committed the crime when they are sued by their victim,” Senator Mallory said. “It is a senseless waste of time and taxpayer money to force the victim to prove all over again that the person is guilty in order to recover damages.”

The bill was inspired by UC law student Trina Hatchett. Dining at a restaurant with a friend, Ms. Hatchatt was confronted by an acquaintance and shot. The attacker pled guilty to two counts of attempted murder and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Trina sued her attacker to recover the money she lost in tuition and medical expenses. In the lawsuit, the attacker denied that he shot Trina. Under current Ohio law, Trina’s attorney was unable to use the attacker’s criminal conviction to prove that he shot her. Instead, she was forced to go through the lengthy process of again proving that her attacker had committed the crime.

“I am all for justice having its day, but once a court finds you guilty, you should not be able to say something different just to get out of being sued,” Senator Mallory said. “Trina’s Law will save the courts time and money and save victims additional grief.”

This is the third time that the University of Cincinnati Law School has conducted research resulting in legislation being introduced by Senator Mallory. The first project led to the ratification of the 14th Amendment in Ohio. The second led to the removal of offensive racial language from the Ohio Revised Code.

“I am happy to work with the students from the University of Cincinnati Law School. Hopefully, we will be as successful as we were with the last two pieces of legislation,” said Senator Mallory.