In re Crow

135 N.E.2d 903, 73 Ohio Law. Abs. 421, 1955 Ohio App. LEXIS 674
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided December 17, 1955·No. No. 138·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

OPINION

By GRIFFITH, J.

On February 5, 1955, charges were preferred against J. Harvey Crow in the Common Pleas Court of Champaign County, which charges were prepared by four attorneys theretofore appointed by the Common Pleas Judge as a committee to investigate and, if there is probable cause, to submit and prosecute the same. Three members of the committee were from Champaign County, and the fourth was from the neighboring County of Madison.

The complaint was for misconduct and unprofessional conduct in office involving moral turpitude and was supported by 11 specifications. On February 14th, a copy of these charges, certified by the Clerk, was served upon appellant at his office at 1409 N. B. C. Building, Cleveland, by registered mail; also on February 14, 1955, the Sheriff of Cuyahoga County served J. Harvey Crow by personally handing to him a true and certified copy of the charges for disbarment.

On February 23rd, the case was assigned for trial by order entered on the journal. Time fixed was April 18, 1955. Appellant was notified of the date fixed. On April 16th, appellant filed the following motion;

“Now comes J. Harvey Crow for the purpose of this motion, and for no other purpose and not intending to submit to the jurisdiction of this court and without submitting himself to the jurisdiction of this court; and not intending to enter an appearance in this cause but appearing especially for this motion, moves the court to set aside the summons issued herein against him, and to quash the service of summons made on him and the return of the Sheriff thereon for the following reasons.
“1. That the venue of said action is not in Champaign County.
“2. That the legal residence of said J. Harvey Crow at the time of filing said petition was and now is in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
“3. That said J. Harvey Crow maintained an office for the practice of law and at the time of filing said petition did and for a long time [423]*423prior thereto did maintain an office in Cuyahoga County, Ohio for the practice of law.
“4. That service of summons was made upon said J. Harvey Crow at his office 1409 N. B. C. Building, Cleveland, Ohio, by the sheriff of Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
“5. That this is an action in personam and personal service is necessary.
“6. That said action must be maintained in the county that personal service can be made.
“7. That no personal service was made in Champaign County, Ohio.
“8. That the venue of said action is in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
“9. That the statutes of Ohio do not provide for service in a foreign county in this action.
“That said motion will be heard upon Affidavits hereto attached to said motion and others that might be filed with the permission of said court.
J. Harvey Crow
Reed M. Winegardner
Attorneys for J. Harvey Crow”

At the time of the filing of the motion, appellant filed affidavits and brief. The affidavit of the Clerk of the Board of Elections of Cuyahoga County was to the effect that the appellant was an elector of Cuyahoga County on February 5, 1955.

The affidavit of Max E. Gustin, an attorney at Cuyahoga County, was to the effect that the appellant has offices at 1409 N. B. C. Building and had had the same for ten years past, and the affidavit of the appellant himself was to the effect that for a long period of time prior to February 5, 1955, he had been a resident and voter of Cuyahoga County.

The Committee prepared a brief and filed it on Monday morning, April 18th and also filed affidavits of the Common Pleas Judge, the Probate Judge, and the Prosecuting Attorney of Champaign County, the substance of which affidavits was to the effect that the appellant is presently practicing law in Champaign County and has numerous cases pending in each court.

When the Court convened at 9:30 A. M., on April 18th, appellant did not appear but was represented by Attorneys Reed M. Winegardner and Frank L. Nevius, who argued the motion to quash.

After consideration thereof, the court overruled this motion. Motion then was made for a continuance, and the same was overruled. Numerous motions were made by counsel for the appellant testing the preliminary matters of jurisdiction, venue and service, continuances of trial, etc.

On Tuesday morning, April 19th, the appellant appeared in person at the trial and demurred to the first specification which, after consideration thereof, was sustained by the Court, but various motions were overruled.

Trial was carried on during April 19th and 20th, then adjourned to [424]*424May 9th; it then carried through May 13th and, at the close of that day, the Court found the appellant guilty on specifications 2, part of 4, all of 5 and 7, announcing its decision at about 5:00 P. M. of that day.

In this appeal, there are 34 errors assigned, the first of which reads:

“The Court erred in overruling the motion filed by J. Harvey Crow to quash the service of summons made upon the said J. Harvey Crow, he having appeared especially for said motion.”

The motion goes to the matter of venue. It asserts that the venue of this action is not in Champaign County since the appellant, at the time of the filing of the charges, was a resident of Cuyahoga County and practicing law there.

Venue means the county in which the action is brought for trial This proceeding is brought pursuant to §4705.02 R. C., which reads:

“The Supreme Court, court of appeals, or court of common pleas may suspend or remove an attorney at law from office or may give private or public reprimand to him as the nature of the offense may warrant, for misconduct or unprofessional conduct in office involving moral turpitude, or for conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude. Such suspension or removal shall operate as a suspension or removal in all the courts of the state. The clerk of court upon such suspension or removal shall send a copy thereof to the supreme court, the court of appeals, and to the federal court of the district in which said attorney resided at the time of trial for such action as is warranted. Judges of such state courts are required to cause proceedings to be instituted against an attorney, when it comes to the knowledge of any judge, or when brought to his knowledge by the bar association of the county in which such attorney practices that he may be guilty of any of the causes for suspension, removal or reprimand.”

While the statute does not state where the proceedings shall be filed, we do know, from a reading of the record, that the actions of misconduct alleged occurred in Champaign County; that the appellant on February 5, 1955, was a resident of Cuyahoga County and, further, that he was on that date, a practicing attorney in Champaign County representing clients having numerous cases pending in the Courts of that county.

We find and hold that the proper place of the trial of this case was in Champaign County.

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In re Crow, 135 N.E.2d 903, 73 Ohio Law. Abs. 421, 1955 Ohio App. LEXIS 674 (Ohio Ct. App. 1955).

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Related

Orlow v. Vilas
274 N.E.2d 783 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1971)
In re Disbarment of Crow
181 F. Supp. 718 (N.D. Ohio, 1959)