Ohio Code 5503.101 – Disclosure of LEADS information to defendant
(A) Notwithstanding any section of the Revised Code or rule of procedure to the contrary, a defendant‘s traffic or criminal record contained in the law enforcement automated data system, also known as LEADS, may be disclosed to the defendant and the defendant’s counsel when formally requested pursuant to the rules of discovery in a traffic or criminal case.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 5503.101
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Rule: includes regulation. See Ohio Code 1.59
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
(B) Copies of information obtained from the law enforcement automated data system pursuant to division (A) of this section may be provided to the defendant and the defendant’s counsel when formally requested pursuant to the rules of discovery in a traffic or criminal case.
(C) Upon a motion made by a prosecutor, the court hearing a traffic or criminal case may order the redaction from information to be disclosed or provided pursuant to division (A) or (B) of this section pursuant to the rules of discovery in the case of the residential address, date of birth, social security number, and photograph of any witness, law enforcement officer, or prosecutor.
(D) Notwithstanding section 2913.04 or 2923.129 of the Revised Code, no prosecutor or person assisting a prosecutor in providing discovery shall be held civilly or criminally liable for disclosing information from the law enforcement automated data system in the manner authorized by this section.
(E) The superintendent of the state highway patrol or any person employed by the superintendent to carry out the purposes of section 5503.10 of the Revised Code shall not sanction or deny access to the law enforcement automated data system to any person or entity because that person or entity provided discovery information in the manner authorized by this section.
(F) The defendant’s counsel may disclose, copy, and provide to the defendant any information about the defendant’s own traffic or criminal record obtained by discovery from the law enforcement automated data system.
(G) The fact that information sought in discovery is contained in the law enforcement automated data system shall not be cited or accepted as a reason for denying discovery to the defendant of the defendant’s own traffic or criminal record.