We were representing an 18 year old college student who admittedly punched a 16 year old who had been drinking and showed up to a college party and tried to start several fights. After walking away numerous times, our client could no longer ignore the provocation and punched the individual once in the face and fractured his jaw. Because of the fracture, the State charged him with Felonious Assault for causing serious physical harm to the victim. He gave a full confession to police. At trial, we convinced the Judge that he was overcharged, and that he didn’t knowingly cause serious harm by punching the victim one time. The Judge agreed, found him guilty of a misdemeanor assault and gave him a no jail and no fine.

Hiltner Trial Lawyers was hired to represent a client charged with Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated (OVI). We were able to get this charge reduced a to non-moving violation with no points on the client’s license and no license suspension.

A client was facing a charge of vehicular manslaughter charge in Massillon Municipal Court. After extensive negotiations with the prosecutor, our team convinced the prosecutor to dismiss the charge.

A client was charged with public intoxication – a fourth-degree misdemeanor – in Kent Municipal Court. Our team was successfully able to get the charge dismissed for our client.

A client was facing a felony theft charge in Stark County Common Pleas Court. After presenting evidence to the judge and prosecutor that the client previously plead guilty to a misdemeanor offense based on the same conduct, our team convinced the prosecutor to dismiss the felony case in its entirety.

A juvenile client was charged with Rape and Pandering Obscenity Involving a Minor. Our team was successfully able to argue that she was eligible for a diversion program for victims of human trafficking. After successful completion of the program, all of the juvenile’s charges were dismissed.

A MD/PhD student at a major university was accused of violating Title IX for allegedly assaulting another student. If proven true, he would have been expelled from school and wouldn’t become a doctor. Our team was hired less than 72 hours before the hearing. After cross-examining the other student and her witnesses, the hearing officer found no violation of the school’s policy. Our client will now be able to continue to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor.

We had the pleasure of representing a young man in trial accused of allegedly threatening the lives of his wife and 2 young children. At the time of this alleged threat, the two were going through a contentious divorce. This charge resulted in him not being able to see his children for the past 8 months while he fought this case. After a daylong jury trial and only 30 minutes of deliberations by the jury, the man was found NOT GUILTY by 6 women and 2 men in our community after hearing all the evidence. It was an honor to help tell his story.

Hiltner Trial Lawyers is often times hired before any criminal charges are filed. This allows us to investigate the allegation and prepare an early defense. In this case our client, a middle-aged man, was alleged to have reached out online to a person he thought to be a 15 year-old boy. Our client was alleged to have contacted this boy for sex. The young man video-taped this conversation and when our client showed up to the meeting stop videotaped our client to shame him and question him as to why he was meeting an underage boy. The young man posted this video to YouTube which then caught the eye of the FBI. As a result, the FBI raided our client’s home and interrogated him about the incident. Our client confessed to the FBI. The man then called Hiltner Trial Lawyers to represent him although formal charges had not yet been filed. Our attorneys conducted a thorough investigation and learned that the “15 year-old boy”, was actually a 23 year old young man/aspiring social media star who was luring older men using social media aps claiming he was a young boy, filming them when they show up, and then posting the videos to his own social media platforms for “likes” and “followers”. The fact that the “boy” was actually an adult male made our client’s conduct not illegal at all, when the FBI was informed of this fact they refused to press any charges. Case closed.

Hiltner Trial Lawyers handles everything from cases as serious as murder to minor traffic misdemeanors.  We treat even the small cases as if our lives and livelihood depend on it.  Here we represented a professional delivery driver for a large company who was accused of not stopping for a school bus and passing it while children were deboarding.  To many, this wouldn’t be a major charge and most would just pay the fine.  However, our client’s livelihood depended on an acquittal, as she’d be fired from her job if convicted. Our lawyers tried the case and after less than a 15 minute trial, the Judge stopped the trial half way and found our client Not Guilty.

A young man was charged with an OVI. A Motion to Suppress was filed by Hiltner Trial Lawyers. Hiltner Trial Lawyers showed up the morning of the Hearing with the young Man. Instead of proceeding with the hearing the State amended the OVI to a Physical Control. 

A young man was charged with an OVI. After negotiations the State agreed to amend the OVI to a Physical Control, which resulted in zero points on his driver’s license.

A woman was charged with violating a protection order, a felony of the fifth degree. After reviewing the evidence, Hiltner requested that she be admitted into the Intervention In Lieu of Conviction (IILC) program. (A program where the women would have the opportunity to obtain a dismissal for her charge after completing court-ordered treatment.) The Judge was hesitant to allow the woman to enter the program. However, after Hiltner presented his arguments the Judge allowed the women into the program. If the client successfully completes all requirement of the program for one year all charges against her will be dismissed.

A young man was charged with Domestic Violence a misdemeanor of the 1st degree. After fully prepping for trial, Hiltner showed up with the young man the morning of trial. Instead of proceeding to trial the State dismissed the charges. 

A young woman was charged with two felony counts of aggravated possession of drugs. A preliminary hearing was scheduled to determine whether there was enough evidence to send to the grand jury. Hiltner, fully prepped for the hearing and showed up the morning of the hearing with the young woman. Instead of proceeding with the hearing the State dismissed all of the charges and all evidence of the arrest was sealed. 

A 63 year old woman in poor physical health was involved in a traffic accident while driving her disabled husband from dinner at about 7pm this past summer. Both cars were totaled by the force of the impact. The arresting officers mistook her disorientation from the accident for intoxication and charged her with causing the accident and a DUI. Our client admitted she was at fault for the accident, but maintained for the last six months that she was not intoxicated and hadn’t been drinking. We were honored that she put her trust in us to tell her story to the jury. The officers testified that she failed the field sobriety tests, had slurred speech, red-bloodshot-glassy eyes, strongly smelled of alcohol, and refused the breathalyzer test. Hiltner explained to the jury that in order for them to find our client guilty, they’d have to believe that a loving spouse who retired to take care of her severely ill husband, would put his life in danger by drinking and driving. The jury agreed with us and she was not only found not guilty of the DUI, but also not guilty of causing the accident entirely.

A young man was charged with tampering with evidence, a felony of the third degree, and possession of cocaine a felony of the fifth degree.  The man was facing up to a total of 4 years in prison. Hiltner was able to get the tampering with evidence charged dismissed and the felony possession of cocaine reduced to a misdemeanor attempt. The young man was sentenced to community control with no time in jail or prison.

A 40-year-old Delaware County, Ohio man was charged with assaulting, raping, and kidnapping his wife in 2005. Hiltner was brought in to help try the case by local counsel.  This case was originally dismissed in 2005, only to be reopened 11 years later in 2016. These charges rested on the word of the alleged-victim wife and local police officers. If convicted, Hiltner’s client could have faced over 30 years in prison. Hiltner faced a potential roadblock with a jury of 9 women and only 3 men. During the four-day trial, Hiltner presented evidence of witness dishonesty and faulty investigation and advocated passionately for his client. This ultimately led the jury to find Not Guilty verdicts on all felony charges. Out of the 30 years in prison he was facing, he received ZERO.

Hiltner Trial Lawyers was hired after a 21 year old man with no criminal record was arrested for Drug Trafficking in the vicinity of a Juvenile, a 2nd degree felony carrying a minimum sentence of 3 years in prison, after a package containing drugs arrived at his house from California. After unsealing the search warrant affidavit and exposing a critical flaw in the search of the package, and filing a Motion to Suppress, our client was permitted to enter into the Court’s Drug Diversion program and pleaded to a lesser felony possession charge.  If our client successfully completes all drug testing requirement for one year, all charges against him will be dismissed and he will have no criminal record whatsoever.

A young male was the passenger in another man’s car.  The driver of the car stopped at a home to pick up a package.  Moments later the DEA and local law enforcement arrested the men and charged them with 1st Degree Felony Aggravated Drug Trafficking, with a Major Drug Offender Specification (MDO).  The package contained 16 pounds of meth from California.  The young passenger, with no criminal record whatsoever, if convicted, would have to serve a mandatory 11 years in State prison.  Hiltner Trial Lawyers was hired.  After unsealing the search warrant affidavits, filing a detailed Motion to Suppress exposing several flaws in the State’s case, and showing to the State the complete lack of any evidence against our client, all charges were dismissed by the State.

A middle-aged Ohio man was charged with sending a picture of his genitals to a “15 year-old girl” in West Virginia using his computer.  The “15 year old girl” was actually an officer posing as a young girl.  The case took place in West Virginia.  Hiltner was hired, as he’s licensed in both state and federal court in West Virginia.  The man faced a sentence of anywhere from 0-5 years in Prison and up to a $25,000 fine.  Also, if convicted, the man would have to register for life as a sex offender.  After less than one month on the case, Hiltner found a crucial flaw in the State’s case and all charges had to be dismissed against the man.

Hiltner represented a young doctor on an allegation that the man had been drinking and driving.  If convicted, the young doctor could have suffered serious career repercussions.  During the stop, the man admitted to having several drinks, performed all field sobriety tests, and was arrested.  At the station, the doctor refused to submit to an alcohol test.  At trial, the trooper admitted, after Hiltner showed him his own video of the stop, that all of the tests he administered to the doctor were not done in compliance with his training.  Again, after being confronted with the video, the trooper admitted that the young doctor actually passed most of the field sobriety tests.  Hiltner put on no witnesses or testimony.   The Court reached a Not Guilty finding instantly.

A young professional was pulled over in the early morning hours for a report of an intoxicated driver.  Several vehicles had reported the vehicle due to reckless driving to authorities before she was finally stopped.  During the stop, the woman admitted to drinking several drinks.  She also failed all field sobriety tests.  She had also just been convicted of an OVI/DUI less than 6 months prior to this stop.  She was facing a minimum of 30 days in jail, losing her children, job, etc. Hiltner worked up the case and found several crucial weaknesses in the State’s case.  Less than one month after Hiltner was hired all charges were dismissed against the woman except for a minor traffic infraction which resulted in a small fine.

Hiltner was retained to represent a man who had caught his fiancé in a compromising position in their home with another person.  The man allegedly strangled his fiancé and assaulted her.  Due to the seriousness of the allegations, he was charged with Domestic Violence.  The case could have massive consequences for the man, as he was on felony probation.  After revealing  numerous weaknesses in the Prosecutor’s case, they dismissed all charges against the man.

We were trusted with a domestic violence case between a mother and her mentally ill daughter.  The Daughter allegedly pulled a gun on her mother during a mental break from reality and the police were called to control the daughter while she could be helped for her mental condition.  Instead, the Prosecutors and police decided to charge the daughter with Domestic violence and take her to jail, not to the hospital.  After several months of negotiations and a pending trial looming, the Prosecutors dismissed all charges against the daughter and listening to Hiltner who was adamant that this was a medical emergency, not a crime.

Hiltner had the privilege of representing a 25 year old young professional, pursuing his Master’s degree, who was also a high school wrestling and football coach.  The young man was charged with an OVI (DUI), and his future and freedom depended on the outcome of this charge.  The prosecutor would only offer a minor reduction, with no guaranteed sentence.  If convicted, he would have likely received anywhere from 30-180 days in jail, lost his coaching job, and be kicked out of his Master’s degree program.  The only option was a jury trial. Hiltner had to tell a compelling and sensitive story as the key defense to the case was that the young man, an African American, was racially profiled and treated unfairly by the white state trooper.  Hiltner sold this argument to an all-white jury in a rural Ohio farming county.  After a 10 hour trial, the jury took just over an hour to find the young man NOT GUILTY.

Young business professional and well-respected member of the community was stopped and cited for an OVI (DUI).  His career, livelihood, and reputation hung on the outcome of this case, so Hiltner was trusted to handle it.  After months of negotiations and a pending Motion to Suppress and Motion to Dismiss filed by Hiltner, the Prosecutor agreed to amend the OVI charge to a minor misdemeanor charge of Failure to Control a vehicle for a minimal fine.

Hiltner was hired to represent a step-father and mother in a charge that the step-father committed an act of domestic violence against his 10 year old son.  The step-father was facing 6 months in jail.  The step-father had been the child’s real father since birth, raised him, provided for him, and considers him his son.  In turn, the son refers to his step-father simply as “Dad”.  However, the child’s biological father saw a bruise on the child’s eye during a scheduled visitation and turned the matter over to the police.  The bruise under the child’s eye was a result of the 10 year old’s 6 year old’s brother’s head hitting him in the face, the 10 year old stated that was the cause, and the child’s birth mother and step-father stated as much as they witnessed the accident.  However, the biological father filed for temporary custody, removed the child from his home and essentially stole custody of his son from our client based on false allegations.  Through thorough preparation of the case, including witness statements, subpoenas, and expert opinions, Hiltner was able to convince the prosecution to dismiss all charges on the day of trial, with prejudice, meaning the father could never be charged for the incident again.

A young college female was stopped for an OVI near her college campus.  The young woman was pursuing a career field in college where if she was convicted of the charge it would severely limit her job prospects.  After extended negotiations with the Prosecutor, the Prosecutor agreed to allow the young woman to plead no contest to the minor misdemeanor headlight violation for a minimum fine.

Hiltner took on the task of representing a middle-aged African American man on charges of allegedly violating a protection order that a 16 year old white female had against him.  There were several hurdles to overcome with the jury.  What happened in the past where a teenage girl requested and received  a protection order against a man 35 years older than her?  Was this the all-to-overexaggerated scenario where an older African American man was preying on a young white girl?  This was a tough case to sell to a jury of 4 women, all white, and 4 men, 3 of whom were white as well.  The State’s teenage female witnesses all testified with absolute certainty that my client was walking fast towards the young white woman and got within five feet of her, and that the alleged victim was running from him and hysterical.  However, through Hiltner’s intense cross-examination, all of the witnesses volunteered that they were “very suspicious” and “leary” of Hiltner’s client, just from looking at him.  One even went so far as to say she thought our man was breaking into her car because he was merely walking in the direction of her car.  Another young female said she took one look at our client and sprinted to the building she was going to.  Hiltner’s client was walking in broad daylight, wearing business casual clothes, and in a predominantly African American neighborhood.  However, from the moment these young suburban women saw Hiltner’s client they saw a criminal, and Hiltner convinced the jury that their admitted prejudice affected how they viewed the rest of the alleged incident.  In fact, the truth came out that Hiltner’s client, had no idea the protected woman was at the building down the street, never got within 150 feet of her to even be able to identify her, and was simply getting his haircut at his neighborhood barbershop.  After a full day of testimony, it only took the jury 20 minutes to clear Hiltner’s client of all charges, and unanimously found him NOT GUILTY.

Hiltner had the pleasure of representing a middle-aged, blue collar man in an OVI (DUI) case over a two day period. The man had 2 prior convictions for OVI, both in the late 1980’s.  The man faced up to 6 months in jail if convicted. The video evidence looked terrible for our client, as he appeared to be unstable on his feet and driving in an erratic manner. However, Hiltner convinced the jury that the investigation was sloppy and that finding his client guilty on this investigation would make us all less free. Hiltner also convinced the jury that the poor driving and coordination were symptoms of a medical emergency, not intoxication.  After two days of deliberations, the jury came back convinced that the State didn’t meet it’s burden. After the trial, the jury said they wouldn’t want to have their liberty taken away based on such poor evidence.  They also asked for business cards from Hiltner…

Hiltner sought to set a new personal record this week, three not guilty verdicts in three days; however, he was never given the opportunity.  Due to Hiltner’s extensive investigation and trial preparation for each of his three clients in three different cases, all charges were dismissed prior to trial.  In fact, the day before each client’s jury trial the State dismissed all charges against all clients.  The thought of going against a time and time again proven trial attorney intimidated the State into surrendering.  Three more happy clients.

Hiltner was trusted to represent a recovering heroin addict and father of 2 young children. The client was legally prescribed an opiate withdrawal drug, took his recommended dose (which he had been on and clean for 2 years). The day of the incident, our client took his dose, became sleepy while driving with his 8 year old son and quickly pulled over and his son ran for help. Shortly after, our client was in the hospital bed confused about what happened when an officer walked up to him and charged him with OVI and Child Endangering. He was facing up to 1 year in jail if convicted of both charges. Hiltner argued passionately that our client had an unpredictable reaction to the drug, and was not abusing his medication.  Hiltner brought in an addiction expert to assist the jury in understanding our case.

The State described our client as a drug abuser who endangered his child. Hiltner told the jury he was proud that his client was a success story and not an obituary. After a full day jury trial, the jury came back in under an hour NOT GUILTY on both charges.

In Tuscarawas County, a father of three was charged with two counts of domestic violence, one count for allegedly striking his daughter, and one count for allegedly threatening his wife.  Max Hiltner was brought in to represent the father.  After extensive plea negotiations with the State and exposing several weaknesses in their case, the client pleaded to a misdemeanor of disorderly conduct.

n Huron County, A young businessman was arrested for an OVI after being stopped after lunch and admitting to drinking one beer several hours before.  With his career at stake, the man turned to Hiltner Trial Lawyers.  After exposing the errors in the officer’s stop of the client and his testing of the client, the client pleaded only to a speeding violation.

In Stark County, a 30-year federal employee nearing retirement was close to losing everything after his estranged wife accused him of domestic violence.  After extensive preparation, on the day of trial the prosecutor offered a greatly reduced charge of Disorderly Conduct and a fine.

In Columbiana County, two middle-aged brothers and their elderly father were charged with various felonies alleging they operated an illegal bingo hall and gambling house out of their family bar.  Max Hiltner was hired by one of the brothers when State prosecutors dug in and trial seemed imminent.  Shortly after being retained, Hiltner saw that his client’s Constitutional rights were violated during questioning by the officers. As a result, all charges were dismissed against the whole family.

In Stark County, Max Hiltner and Laura Mills successfully defended a Stark County woman charged with the murder of her husband. Hiltner, who also holds the position of “Of Counsel” for a very old and reputable firm in Canton, Mills, Mills, Fiely & Lucas (MMFL), where he manages all of the firm’s criminal defense practice.  The jury trial lasted approximately two weeks and resulted in a hung jury.

In Cuyahoga County, a young professional was charged with his second OVI offense within the last six years, which would have cost the man his job and a substantial amount of his freedom.  Max Hiltner was retained and after filing a lengthy motion to suppress which greatly harmed the State’s case, the client pleaded only to failing to control his vehicle.

In Canton, Ohio, a hard-working young father was falsely accused by his ex-wife of assaulting her, and he was charged with domestic violence.  If convicted, he stood to lose his job, custody over his son, and his reputation.  At a jury trial, Hiltner cross examined the supposedly neutral “eye witness” and it was brought to light through phone records that the defendant’s ex-wife had staged the whole incident and planted witnesses in an attempt to gain full-custody of their child.  After less than five minutes of deliberating, the jury found the client NOT GUILTY of all charges.

In Summit County, a young man was charged with domestic violence for allegedly beating up his ex-girlfriend.  Max Hiltner represented the defendant and the case had to be tried to a jury.  After putting on the stand an eye witness that was tracked down by Hiltner who testified that the defendant never touched the alleged victim, the decision for the jury was easy.  In less than ten minutes, the jury found the young man NOT GUILTY.

In Summit County, the defendant was charged with domestic violence for allegedly beating his girlfriend.  Interestingly, the alleged victim then signed a sworn statement days later claiming she made the whole story up and that the defendant never touched her, and that she was drunk and was mad at him because he broke up with her.  The prosecutors then charged the woman with filing a false police report, so she went back to her original story that the defendant had assaulted her.  Max Hiltner represented the defendant, and the case had to be tried to a jury.  During cross examination of the alleged victim, she admitted that she was on federal probation for stealing 200k from the federal government and that if she didn’t change her story and was convicted of filing a false police report her probation officer told her she’d go to prison for 12 years.  It didn’t take long for the jury to see the truth, after five minutes of deliberating, the jury found the defendant NOT GUILTY.