Craig v. Amos

2026 Ohio 129
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 14, 2026
Docket25-COA-019
StatusPublished

This text of 2026 Ohio 129 (Craig v. Amos) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Craig v. Amos, 2026 Ohio 129 (Ohio Ct. App. 2026).

Opinion

[Cite as Craig v. Amos, 2026-Ohio-129.]

COURT OF APPEALS ASHLAND COUNTY, OHIO FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

FREDDIE CRAIG, Case No. 25-COA-019

Plaintiff - Appellant Opinion And Judgment Entry

-vs- Appeal from the Ashland County Court of Common Pleas, Case No. 23-CIV-093 JOYCE AMOS, et al., Judgment: Affirmed Defendant – Appellee Date of Judgment Entry: January 14, 2026

BEFORE: Craig R. Baldwin; Robert G. Montgomery; Kevin W. Popham, Judges

APPEARANCES: W. JEFFREY MOORE, for Plaintiff-Appellant; PATRICK M. ROCHE and KURT D. ANDERSON, for Defendant-Appellee Joyce Amos and JOHN D. LATCHNEY and W. BRADFORD LONGBRAKE, for Defendant-Appellee Jerry Snay.

Montgomery, J.

{¶1} Plaintiff-Appellant, Freddie Craig, appeals from the decision of the Ashland

County Court of Common Pleas granting Defendant-Appellee’s, Joyce Amos, Motion for

Judgment on the Pleadings, and granting Defendant Appellee’s, Police Chief Jerry Snay,

Motion for Summary Judgment. For the reasons below, we AFFIRM.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

{¶2} This matter originally came before the Ashland County Court of Common

Pleas upon Plaintiff-Appellant Freddie Craig’s (“Appellant”) Complaint against several Defendants including Joyce Amos (“Amos”) and Police Chief Jerry Snay (“Chief Snay”),

the Mifflin Police Department, the Village of Mifflin, and Mifflin Township. On June 29,

2023, Appellant filed an amended complaint. It alleges that on or about January 6, 2021,

Amos and Chief Snay, among others, caused the Appellant to be charged with Menacing

by Stalking, a misdemeanor of the first degree with the possibility of jail time. Appellant

alleges that Defendants did knowingly arrest, jail, and maliciously prosecute Appellant

without sufficient probable cause or reasonable suspicion. On June 7, 2022, the Court

dismissed the charges against Appellant. The specific claims against the Defendants

include malicious prosecution, abuse of process, false light, invasion of privacy,

intentional infliction of emotional distress, and civil conspiracy. On October 5, 2023,

Appellant voluntarily dismissed without prejudice Mifflin Police Department.

{¶3} On November 30, 2023, Amos filed a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings

pursuant to Civ.R. 12(C). The Magistrate found that Appellant can prove no set of facts

that would entitle him to relief because Amos enjoyed an absolute privilege from civil

liability. Said privilege barred all claims against Amos as set forth in the Complaint. On

February 9, 2024, Appellant filed objections to the magistrate’s decision. On March 28,

2024, the trial court issued a judgment adopting the magistrate’s decision in part, finding

that the absolute privilege applied to bar Appellant’s claim against Amos for malicious

prosecution. The trial judge requested supplemental briefing as to whether the absolute

privilege doctrine barred Appellant’s remaining claims. On May 23, 2024, the trial court

ruled that absolute privilege barred the remaining claims and dismissed the Amended

Complaint against Amos in its entirety. {¶4} On February 21, 2025, Chief Snay filed a Motion for Summary Judgment

and a few days later filed the Affidavit of Prosecutor Michael Brown and Chief Snay’s

Affidavit. Later, Chief Snay’s and Appellant’s depositions were filed. Thereafter, on

May 21, 2025, the magistrate issued a decision granting Chief Snay’s Motion for summary

judgment on all claims. Appellant filed objections to the magistrate’s decision and on

June 24, 2025, the trial court adopted the magistrate’s decision. On July 24, 2025,

Appellant filed a notice of appeal stating that he appeals “from the attached judgement

entry issued on June 24, 2025 ….” The Notice of Appeal attaches that order, which

granted summary judgment to Snay. The Notice also attaches the trial court’s order of

May 23, 2024, dismissing “the remaining claims” of [Appellant] against Amos based on

absolute privilege. The Notice of Appeal does not mention or attach the trial court’s order

of March 28, 2024, dismissing Appellant’s claim of malicious prosecution against Amos.

{¶5} On September 15, 2025, Appellant’s Brief was filed. Appellant has not

asserted any error, nor presented any argument, regarding the trial court’s granting of

summary judgment to Snay regarding Appellant’s claims for abuse of process, false light,

invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, or conspiracy. Indeed, the

sole claim discussed in Appellant’s Brief regarding Defendant Snay is malicious

prosecution.

{¶6} On August 24, 2025, Appellant voluntarily dismissed without prejudice

Mifflin Township, and on December 4, 2025, Appellant voluntarily dismissed without

prejudice the Village of Mifflin. The two remaining Defendants on appeal are (1) Amos

and (2) Chief Snay. Amos served as a village council member for the Village of Mifflin and Chief Snay was the Police Chief for the Village of Mifflin and was the investigating

officer on the matter.1 Appellant timely filed an appeal.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

{¶7} Appellant has resided in the Village of Mifflin since 1999, was on the Board

of Public Affairs from 2002 through 2021 and even served as a council member for the

Village. Appellant served as a council member with Amos in 2021. Appellant also owned

a vacant piece of property with a garage on it next to the Amos residence. The record

reveals a long history of personal conflict between Amos and Appellant that seemed to

escalate during the 2021-2022 time-period. The conflict was allegedly due to a property

line issue and the alley located near their respective properties. During Chief Snay’s

deposition, he testified to a variety of Amos’ complaints about Appellant’s behavior

towards her, some of which she captured on video. Appellant acknowledged he had

several encounters with Amos over the years, encounters which she characterized as

harassing or threatening.

{¶8} Throughout 2021 until January 20, 2022, Attorney Michael Brown served as

the Village Solicitor and Prosecutor for the Village of Mifflin. In late 2021, Chief Snay

went to Prosecutor Brown regarding Amos’ complaints. Chief Snay met with Prosecutor

Brown at his law office with another attorney present. Chief Snay presented the known

facts and circumstances, including the written reports of complaints from Amos and a few

videos Amos retained. Chief Snay took no position as to whether Appellant should or

should not be prosecuted.

1 Appellant’s second assignment of error includes the Village of Mifflin. However, because Appellant dismissed the Village without prejudice on December 4, 2025, the Village is not a proper party to this appeal. {¶9} Prosecutor Brown advised Chief Snay that, in the exercise of his

independent professional legal judgment, and based upon the information and

documentation presented, probable cause existed to charge Appellant with menacing by

stalking. Thereafter, before Appellant was arrested, Prosecutor Brown directed Chief

Snay to sign the charge. In an Affidavit, Prosecutor Brown averred that had he not

believed there was probable cause to support a menacing by stalking charge against

Appellant, he would not have directed Chief Snay to sign the charge. On January 5, 2022,

Chief Snay and another officer went to Appellant’s home, arrested him, and he stayed

overnight in jail. On January 8, 2022, Appellant gave an interview to the Ashland Source

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2026 Ohio 129, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/craig-v-amos-ohioctapp-2026.