CLEVELAND, Ohio — A group of Ohio criminal law professors is urging the state’s highest court to uphold the reduction of a murder conviction in the death of Cleveland firefighter Johnny Tetrick.

Leander Bissell, convicted of murder in 2023 for striking Tetrick with his car while speeding through an accident scene on Interstate 90, is now at the center of a legal debate over how Ohio defines the mental state of offenders — a debate that could have lasting consequences for criminal law.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Timothy McCormick, in a bench trial, determined Bissell had acted “knowingly” rather than the less-culpable standard of “recklessly,” leading him to convict Bissell of murder and sentence him to life in prison.

Now, that ruling risks setting a precedent that could defy

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