Johns v. Wasylyshyn, 2016 Ohio 564

Petitioner Elizabeth C. Johns was indicted on one count of murder, two counts of endangering children, and one count of involuntary manslaughter.
The Wood County Common Pleas Court set bail at $500,000, with no 10% option.
Johns had prior convictions: a 2012 misuse of a credit card conviction (on probation at time of the child’s death) and an outstanding $10,000 bond (no 10%) for a 2014 theft charge.
Johns filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging the amount of bail as excessive.
The court considered statutory and rule-based bail factors (nature of the offense, weight of evidence, criminal history, flight risk, public safety) and Johns’s compliance with R.C. 2969.25(A) by filing a supplemental affidavit.
The Sixth District Court of Appeals denied the writ, concluding the $500,000 bail was not excessive under the circumstances (death of a young child) and found no abuse of discretion by the trial court.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the $500,000 bail was excessive in violation of Johns’s right to reasonable bail	Johns argued the bail amount was excessive and unreasonable	Sheriff/respondent defended the trial court’s bail determination based on seriousness of the crime and statutory factors	Bail was not excessive; writ denied — no abuse of discretion shown

In re Petition of Gentry, 7 Ohio App.3d 143 (6th Dist. 1982) (habeas corpus protects right to reasonable bail)
Lewis v. Telb, 26 Ohio App.3d 11 (6th Dist. 1985) (right to reasonable bail for bailable offenses is inviolable)
Ex parte Lonardo, 86 Ohio App. 289 (8th Dist. 1949) (defendant cannot be required to give bail in an excessive amount)
Jenkins v. Billy, 43 Ohio St.3d 84 (Ohio 1989) (standards for habeas review of excessive-bail claims)
Chari v. Vore, 91 Ohio St.3d 323 (Ohio 2001) (habeas writ may be denied without ordering a return when petition facts do not show trial-court abuse of discretion)