Ohio Supreme Court Reviews Cleveland Firefighter LODD Verdict

CLEVELAND, Ohio — When Leander Bissell fatally struck on-duty Cleveland firefighter Johnny Tetrick in 2022, was it a form of murder or simply recklessness?

On Wednesday, the Ohio Supreme Court heard arguments on that very question, and it’s one where the stakes go far beyond legal termimology. If the court rules Bissell’s conduct rose to the level of felony murder, he could face life in prison.

“Bissell did not stop, did not slow, did not swerve...he either consciously knew and saw that firefighter Tetrick was there or that he was aware of the probable risk and simply did not care,” said Michael Wajda, an appellate attorney for the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office.

On Nov. 19, 2022, first responders blocked off a section of I-90 East near Martin Luther King Drive because of a vehicle rollover. Bissell, 43, drove around multiple police cars that were blocking traffic in an attempt to cut through.

Prosecutors say Bissell drove at 49 miles per hour and struck Tetrick, a father of three and a 27-year veteran of the Cleveland Fire Department, flinging him 100 feet from the scene. Bissell fled but was later arrested.

Bissell, who opted for a bench trial with Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Timothy McCormick, was convicted of felony murder. McCormick sentenced him to life in prison with parole eligibility after 16 years.

But after that, Bissell appealed successfully. In November 2024, two of three judges on a panel of the Eighth District Court of Appeals overturned the felony murder conviction, saying prosecutors failed to show Bissell was intending to commit a high-level felony when he fatally struck Tetrick.

The appeals court ruling found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter and assault on a firefighter, reducing his sentence to an 11-year maximum.

The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office, with official support from Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, appealed the appellate decision to the state’s Supreme Court.

Deputy Solicitor General Jana Bosch, arguing on behalf of Yost, said the appeals court used the wrong legal standard when lessening the charges against Bissell. It doesn’t matter that Bissell did not set out that day trying to kill a firefighter, she said. In Bosch’s telling, his actions showed he was willing to accept the likelihood someone would be hurt or killed when he sped around police cars blocking the scene of the accident.

“It’s clear to see that the Eighth District is on the wrong path here and needs to be course-corrected,” Bosch said.

Bissell’s attorney, Timothy Sweeney, said nearly 30 other drivers before Bissell drove around the police cars that stopped traffic. The fact that so many prior drivers were able to get past the police cars without hitting someone shows he had reason to believe he could do the same.

“One out of 30 isn’t a high probability,” Sweeney said. “This is a recklessness case. I know it’s difficult for people to get their heads around this because it’s a tragic result, but it is a recklessness case at the worst.”

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