Philip Bogdanoff
Attorney & Instructor

The police use of deadly force is a hot topic in the national news. A prosecutor’s decision on whether to charge a police officer with murder can be a decision subject to national scrutiny. We will review recent Supreme Court and Ohio case law regarding the police use of deadly force and recent high publicity cases involving the police use of deadly force. We will discuss the Cleveland case where Melissa Williams and Timothy Russell were shot in East Cleveland while fleeing from the police. Philip Bogdanoff was a consultant for the Cuyahoga County Prosecutors Office in that case and filed a 67 page report and assessment of the police use of force. We will also discuss whether to seek a special prosecutor in these cases and whether a prosecutor should present these cases to the grand jury. The goal of the seminar is to educate prosecutors on the problems inherent in these cases and to form a consensus on how these cases should be prosecuted. Mr. Bogdanoff has done this presentation for numerous police departments and for the 2016 Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association spring seminar where it was described as captivating, interesting, relevant, useful and best presentation at the training seminar.

A prosecutor is trained to control the control the courtroom in order that the State and the defendant can have a fair trial. However, a defendant or defense attorney can easily place inadmissible evidence before the jury. This seminar will examine situations where the State must react to unexpected conduct in the courtroom. We examine when a prosecutor has grounds to request a mistrial and the procedures a court must follow when a defendant waives his right to counsel. This training was a favorite with prosecutors in West Virginia and Ohio.

In order to be an effective prosecutor you must have the cooperation and respect of the law enforcement personnel in your county. This seminar will examine how to keep the peace with your law enforcement officers and different ways to assist your law enforcement agencies. This presentation was given to newly elected prosecutors in Ohio and West Virginia.

An ax murderer has just brutally murdered three women and raped a third woman at gunpoint after having her watch him cleave up the body of one of his victims.  He then held her hostage along with two others. He released the hostages and told them to contact the police. The ax murderer agreed to surrender if he could talk to a public defender before his surrender. Afraid that the ax murderer was an immediate danger to the public, an assistant prosecutor posed as a public defender to arrange the surrender and prevent his escape. This presentation examines whether prosecutors or attorneys can bend or break ethical rules to protect the public good. This ethics presentation and has received high marks in Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Indiana and Idaho.

The disclosure or non-disclosure of exculpatory evidence is a hot topic with news reports indicating that prosecutors are not disclosing exculpatory evidence. This ethics presentation will examine Brady and ethical decisions regarding the disclosure of evidence. We will also discuss the requirements that the prosecutor disclose the records of police officers in a Brady list if the officers have a prior history of dishonest conduct. This Brady presentation has prosecutors thinking about their Brady obligations and their discovery obligations under the ethical rules. This presentation was given to prosecutors in Ohio, West Virginia and Arizona.