I'm Bethany Bruner and I cover Franklin County's court systems – Municipal, Common Pleas and Juvenile – as well as the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
Cases where there's an interest in central Ohio but happen elsewhere also end up in my wheelhouse. This includes the ongoing New Jersey case against Sean Higgins, the driver accused of killing former Columbus Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew.
I've worked at The Dispatch for a little more than eight years so far.
What my day looks like
My day-to-day involves looking at a variety of court dockets, or schedules, online to see what cases of interest may have something set. I attend hearings, read motions and other documents, talk to attorneys and use all that information
to write stories that take complicated legal concepts and make them digestible, hopefully.
What you've read by me lately
Some of my biggest stories in recent months include the second trial of former Franklin County Sheriff's deputy Jason Meade and whether the county prosecutor's office now handling the case presents a conflict of interest.
I've also written stories about the increase of artificial intelligence in child pornography investigations and assisted in covering the case of 16 Vinton County children found living in conditions described as "deplorable."
What I'm working on next
Stories that I'm continuing to follow and intend to cover moving forward include what is happening in Vinton County, the criminal case against Michael McKee – the man accused of killing Monique and Spencer Tepe – and many other local cases of interest.
Have an idea?
If you have an idea about a story relating to the courts or think there's a court case we should be following, feel free to send them my way at bbruner@dispatch.com. I can't promise we'll be able to write about everything but I can guarantee I'll look at your ideas!
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Cases in Franklin County and beyond fall under Bethany Bruner's umbrella
