Paul Mastriacovo

I have been an attorney since 1978.  I have worked as a criminal defense lawyer, an assistant prosecuting attorney, and a private attorney handling civil litigation cases in state and federal courts.  I was the interim Stark County Ohio Prosecuting Attorney in 2003.  I have been trial counsel for the prosecution or defense in over 70 homicide cases, including numerous capital murder cases.  I have been appellate counsel in cases before the Ohio and U.S. Supreme Courts.  I have taught at Kent State University since 1982.  The courses I currently teach are Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Court Functions, Seminar:  Advanced Criminal and Legal Issues, and Seminar:  Understanding Criminal Law Through Fiction.  My law degree and practical experience as a trial lawyer afford me the unique qualifications to teach these courses.  I also write on legal, political, and other issues in a monthly column for the Canton Repository newspaper and serve as one of 4 mediators for the Stark County Court of Common Pleas. In addition to my teaching duties at Kent State University, I have advised Individual Honors Work for students and directed the research and writing of an Honors Student's thesis.  I have mentored students involved in the Political Science Department Columbus Program.  I advise students on all criminal justice and KSU issues, but I am approached frequently to advise those students who desire to attend law school.  I have been nominated for an Outstanding Teaching Award on more than one occasion and I have received several Graduate's Applause Certificate of Achievement Awards.  I have taught lawyers at numerous legal seminars around the state of Ohio on such subjects as Ohio's Open Meetings and Public Records laws, Legal Ethics, Evidence, Criminal Procedure, and trial tactics and procedures.