Bedford Hts. v. Reynolds

Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided August 20, 2026·No. 116015·Published

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO

EIGHTH APPELLATE DISTRICT COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA

CITY OF BEDFORD HEIGHTS, :

Plaintiff-Appellee, :

No. 116015

v. :

DAVID A. REYNOLDS III, :

Defendant-Appellant. :

JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION

JUDGMENT: AFFIRMED

RELEASED AND JOURNALIZED: August 20, 2026

Criminal Appeal from the Bedford Municipal Court Case No. 25TRD04634A

Appearances:

Shorain L. McGhee, Bedford Heights Prosecutor, for appellee.

David A. Reynolds III, pro se.

MARY J. BOYLE, J.:

Defendant-appellant David A. Reynolds III (“Reynolds”), pro se, appeals his traffic conviction for failing to stop at a stop sign following a bench trial in the Bedford Heights Municipal Court. He raises the following assignments of error for review:

Assignment of Error I: The trial court erred, and violated [Reynolds’s] rights secured by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 10 of the Ohio Constitution, by refusing to require the Prosecutor to identify the factual basis of the charges and by construing the Complaint’s stop-time as the time of the alleged offenses, thereby depriving me of constitutionally required notice of cause of the accusations and permitting the State to proceed on a legally and physically impossible theory.

Assignment of Error II: The trial court erred by denying [Reynolds’s] acquittal motion and entering a conviction on a charge the State failed to prove as pleaded, despite the State’s sole witness admitting that [Reynolds] could not have committed the offense at the time and location alleged in the sworn complaint.

Assignment of Error III: The trial court erred by denying [Reynolds] a meaningful opportunity to obtain a complete and definite record of the charges and evidence against [Reynolds], including by refusing to compel a compliant bill of particulars, by permitting incomplete disclosure of the video evidence, and by entering judgment on a materially deficient and incomplete record.

Assignment of Error IV: The trial court deprived [Reynolds] of a fair trial and violated due process abandoning judicial neutrality, applying inconsistent standards to the parties and the evidence, and making prejudicial comments and extra-record observations that reflected bias and tainted the verdict.

For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.

I. Facts and Procedural History On June 9, 2025, Reynolds was issued a traffic citation for failing to stop at a stop sign in violation of Bedford Heights Codified Ordinances § 331.19 (“BHO”) and for failing to have the rear license plate illuminated in violation of BHO § 337.04(b).

Reynolds pled not guilty and proceeded pro se. He then filed a motion for a bill of particulars. After the trial court granted Reynolds’s motion, plaintiff-

appellee the City of Bedford Heights (“the City”) provided Reynolds with a bill of particulars. Reynolds then filed a motion for a more definite bill of particulars, as well as a motion to dismiss the complaint. The trial court denied both motions, and the case was set for trial.

In the meantime, Reynolds filed a petition for a writ of prohibition and mandamus with this court claiming that he was unable to prepare a meaningful defense without a more definite bill of particulars, specifically arguing that the City failed to provide the date, time, and location of the violation. He requested an extraordinary writ that (1) prohibits the respondent judge from exercising judicial power over the underlying case based on the defective complaint and withholding of essential factual information, or (2) compels the respondents to provide the essential factual information supporting the traffic citation.

This court, sua sponte, dismissed Reynolds’s petition stating that “‘[s]ua sponte dismissal without notice is warranted when a complaint is frivolous or the claimant obviously cannot prevail on the facts alleged in the complaint.’” State ex rel. David A. Reynolds III v. Bedford Hts., 25CA115614 (8th Dist. Sept. 29, 2025) (order No. 588252), quoting State ex rel. Scott v. Cleveland, 2006-Ohio-6573, ¶ 14. This court further stated:

In this matter, [Reynolds] was issued a traffic citation in the city of Bedford Heights, within the jurisdiction of the Bedford Heights Municipal Court. Contrary to the [Reynolds]’s assertion, the citation is legible, lists the nature of the charges and the numerical designations of the applicable ordinances, and sets forth the date, time, and location of the traffic stop. Cleveland v. Austin, 55 Ohio App.2d 215, 220 (8th Dist. 1978) (A traffic ticket “will satisfy legal requirements, if it apprises a defendant of the nature of the charge together with a citation of the statute or ordinance involved.”).

Pursuant to R.C. 1901.20(A)(1), the respondent judge has jurisdiction over this matter. See also Traf.R. 3(A). Further, the extraordinary writs of prohibition and mandamus cannot be used to control judicial discretion. Berthelot v. Dezso, 86 Ohio St.3d 257, 259 (1999). To the extent [Reynolds] challenges the trial court’s pretrial judgments, the scope of the complaint, or the adequacy of the information provided by the prosecution prior to trial, he has an adequate remedy at law by way of appeal once a final order is issued. For these reasons, we find the request for extraordinary relief is frivolous and subject to immediate dismissal. Writ dismissed. Alternative writ denied as moot.

Id. at ¶ 2-3. Thereafter, a bench trial ensued.

At trial, Bedford Heights Police Officer Samuel Pelsnik (“Officer Pelsnik”) testified that on the evening of June 9, 2025, while on duty, he observed Reynolds fail to stop at a stop sign at the corner of Vickie Lane and South Lane in Bedford Heights, Ohio. He explained that he was parked on South Lane monitoring traffic traveling north and south on Vickie Lane when he observed Reynolds traveling northbound on Vickie Lane. Reynolds did not stop at the stop sign. Officer Pelsnik caught up to Reynolds’s vehicle, activated his overhead lights, and pulled Reynolds over on Rockside Road, which is just north of South Lane. When he approached the vehicle, he also observed that there was no illumination over Reynolds’s license plate.

During Officer Pelsnik’s testimony, he identified Reynolds as the driver of the vehicle he pulled over and cited on June 9, 2025. He explained that his police department equips officers with body cameras, but the department does not have dashcam video, which is why the traffic violation is not on camera. Officer

Pelsnik testified that during the traffic stop, he activated his bodycam when he approached the vehicle and interacted with Reynolds but turned it off when he returned to his police vehicle to complete the citation. (The City’s exhibit No. 1.)

The video was played for the court. The video captures Officer Pelsnik informing Reynolds that he was pulled over because he failed to stop at a stop sign at South Lane and Vickie Lane. Reynolds informs Officer Pelsnik that he does not have his driver’s license on him but confirms that the car he is driving is his vehicle. Officer Pelsnik then states that because this is Reynolds’s vehicle, he does not need his driver’s license. He returns to his vehicle to issue the citation.

Officer Pelsnik reactivated his bodycam when he presented Reynolds with the citation. (The City’s exhibit No. 1.)

On cross-examination, Officer Pelsnik confirmed that the bodycam video indicates that he first interacted with Reynolds at 10:57 p.m.; however, the citation indicates that the violation occurred at 10:59 p.m.

On redirect, Officer Pelsnik explained that when issuing a citation, the computer populates the time at the moment the citation is entered into the computer, not when the violation was committed.

Reynolds moved for dismissal pursuant to Crim.R. 29, arguing that the City was “conflating an alleged offense with the actual traffic stop.” (Trial tr. 25.) His motion was denied by the trial court.

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