COLUMBUS – The Ohio Supreme Court on Friday reinstated the felony murder and traffic compliance convictions of a driver who struck and killed a Cleveland firefighter at a highway crash scene.
The state’s highest court unanimously reversed an appeals court ruling that had downgraded Leander Bissell’s murder conviction to involuntary manslaughter. The lower court had previously ruled that the state failed to prove Bissell acted knowingly when his car hit 61-year-old firefighter Johnny Tetrick on Interstate 90 in November 2022.
Writing for the Supreme Court, Justice Patrick F. Fischer stated that the evidence showed serious physical harm was more likely than not to result from Bissell’s actions. Fischer noted that Bissell drove at a high rate of speed through a visible accident scene at night, swerved around four parked police vehicles with flashing lights, and never applied his brakes before hitting Tetrick…