On September 17, 2018, 48-year-old Monolito Merriman checked himself into a teaching hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, after an incident with a store clerk in a nearby suburb.
Merriman had a history of mental illness and was having a mental-health episode. He told a psychiatrist that he wanted to harm three police officers and a judge whom he felt were a threat to him. His plan included following these people to their homes and disguising his identity. He said the officers were picking on him, and that the judge, whom he did not name, had presided over his girlfriend’s drug case.
Initially, Merriman was uncooperative with the medical staff, who determined he was having a bipolar episode.
After Merriman made these statements to the psychiatrist and several medical students, the health-care workers discussed whether to breach patient confidentiality and notify the officers and the judge. They agreed to do so and told Merriman of their decision. Merriman became compliant with his treatment plan and began taking his medication. Two weeks later, his mental health had improved. He was no longer talking or acting aggressively, and a doctor would later testify that she felt comfortable discharging him in early October.
Officers arrested Merriman on October 2, 2018, charging him with four counts of retaliation against a public official. The indictment said the threats occurred on or about October 1. His bond was initially set at $500,000 and later raised to $1 million.
Merriman’s trial in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas began on December 2, 2019, with Judge Frederick McDonald presiding.
Dr. Susan Kimmel, a psychiatrist, testified that she and others who treated Merriman had concerns about his statements about harming the officers, the judge, and family members. That led to a discussion about whether to breach doctor-patient confidentiality, and Kimmel said the healthcare team decided this action was necessary.
Kimmel testified that she called the three officers named by Merriman but only spoke with one of them. She testified that Merriman never named the judge but that a medical-school student figured out her name based on other information provided by Merriman.
Kimmel also testified that Merriman responded well to his medication. After two weeks, she said, he was “like a new man.”
Detective John Graves, one of the officers named by Merriman, testified that he did not know Merriman. The two other officers didn’t testify. Neither did the judge.
The jury convicted Merriman on all four counts on December 4, 2019, and Judge McDonald sentenced him to three years in prison and four years of post-release control.
Merriman appealed, arguing there had been insufficient evidence to support his conviction. His appellate attorney, Thomas Rein, wrote: “The State’s case against Appellant is essentially that Appellant spoke words to medical professionals while he was being treated for his mental issues.”
The appeal said that Merriman was about to be released when he was arrested. Kimmel had determined that Merriman had received the maximum benefit of his in-patient treatment.
“Here, the jury simply lost its way as to the conviction of Appellant,” the appeal said. “The State elicited testimony which included Appellant’s words while he was in a distressed mental state. This was certainly potent enough to improperly sway the jury.”
A three-judge panel in Ohio’s Eighth District Court of Appeals agreed, vacating Merriman’s conviction based on insufficient evidence on April 22, 2021. In the 2-1 ruling, the court wrote that Merriman was in the middle of a mental-health crisis at the time he made the threats. His initial threats didn’t mention any names, and it was only during his continued treatment that his threats became more specific. “We determine that Merriman confided and made the statements to therapists and treating physicians for treatment purposes,” the court said.
Merriman was released from prison on May 12, 2021, and the state dismissed the case on September 17, 2021.
On December 6, 2024, Merriman filed a lawsuit against the state of Ohio, seeking to be declared a “wrongfully imprisoned individual.” The state opposed the motion, stating that Merriman could not prove “actual innocence.”
The two sides settled on February 26, 2026, three weeks before the start of a bench trial on the lawsuit. The state agreed that Merriman met the definition of a wrongfully imprisoned individual and also agreed to pay him $99,000. A judge approved the settlement on May 27, 2026. The Ohio Board of Claims approved the payment on July 13, 2026.
– Ken Otterbourg
Posting Date: 07-31-2026
