The Major Trial Unit is a dedicated, elite group of trial attorneys who prosecute the most heinous crimes. We believe that families of murder victims and victims of rape deserve the best our office has to offer. We prosecute those who:

• Commit homicide and sexual assaults
• Commit sexual and physical abuse against children 
• Prey on children through the Internet or engage in child pornography
• Commit crimes against the elderly

We also prosecute violent and repeat juvenile offenders through both the juvenile and adult courts.

We work with both federal and local law enforcement to arrest and imprison gang members for their crimes against the community.
 
The assistant prosecutors of the Major Trial Unit are assigned to one of four Sections in the unit:
 
The General Section handles all Homicides and Rapes committed against victims who are 13 years of age or older. The homicide cases are Aggravated Murder, murder, manslaughter and reckless homicides. These include death penalty cases. 
 
The Child Victim Section handles cases of physical and sexual abuse against children. Often these are the most difficult cases because of the child’s age and the defendant’s vile criminal acts.

• This Section also handles the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children (OICAC). Prosecutor Bill Mason is the Chairman of the OICAC Task Force. OICAC is dedicated to the apprehension and prosecution of internet child predators and internet safety. Undercover law enforcement officials go online pretending to be young children to arrest sexual predators. Mason has a 100% conviction rate.

The Vertical Section reviews all Cuyahoga County juvenile cases for the most serious violent offenders. The prosecutors request juvenile court bind these delinquents over to the Justice Center to be tried as adults.

• This vertical prosecution from the juvenile to adult system ensures that the same prosecutor will handle the case throughout each stage throughout the criminal justice system. Victims and their families benefit from having one prosecutor handle the case.

The Elder Protection Section handles crimes committed against adults age 65 and older. The prosecution of elder abuse, elder neglect and financial exploitation of senior citizens is the focus of this specialized unit.

• This section has been responsible for developing a state-of-the-art training curriculum for front-line law enforcement and prosecutors in Ohio entitled Elder Protection and Law Enforcement: Best Practices in the Identification, Investigation and Effective Prosecution of Offenses Against Seniors. To date over 1000 law enforcement officers and prosecutors have been trained in the Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland, Akron, Toledo, Youngstown, and Columbus) using our comprehensive training materials. With the creation of the Elder Protection Unit, Bill Mason is committed to protecting our senior population and taking a proactive approach to combating elder abuse.