Medina v. Papadelis

2 Ohio App. Unrep. 490
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 18, 1990
DocketCase No. 1810
StatusPublished

This text of 2 Ohio App. Unrep. 490 (Medina v. Papadelis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Medina v. Papadelis, 2 Ohio App. Unrep. 490 (Ohio Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

BAIRD, J.

This cause comes before the court upon the appeal of Nick N. Papadelis from his conviction in the Medina Municipal Court on twenty-seven counts of violations of the Medina City Housing Code. The charges included failure to maintain sanitary conditions and safe premises, and heating and electrical violations.

Appellant is the owner of the Walden Apartments, a multi-family rental property in Medina, Ohio. Pursuant to an inspection of the premises by a city building inspector, numerous notices of violations were issued to appellant with orders for correction. Upon subsequent reinspection, most of the required repairs had not been made, and appellant was charged with failure to correct the violations.

Jury trial was set to begin on March 7, 1989. Pursuant to a plea bargain agreement, several counts were dismissed and appellant entered a plea of no contest to the remaining twenty-seven counts. After hearing the evidence presented by the city, the trial court found appellant guilty on all counts. The court postponed imposition of sentence and referred the matter to the probation department for a presentencereport.Subsequently,appellantfiled a motion to withdraw his no contest plea. After a hearing on May 5,1989, the trial court denied the motion to withdraw the plea, and proceeded to impose sentence, one of the provisions of which was a term of six months of home incarceration to be served in a unit of his Walden Apartments.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR I

"Defendant was not given the benefit of his plea bargain in that he was not able to present all of his facts in mitigation; and he did not understand the effect of the plea."

Appellant claims that he was not given the opportunity to fully present facts in mitigation of sentence, as was agreed to in plea bargaining, and that the plea should therefore be vacated for breach of the plea bargain agreement. However, the record shows that both appellant and his counsel were afforded a full opportunity to present evidence and argue their cause before the court. Further, the court had reviewed all the documentary evidence appellant had presented in mitigation to the probation departmentduringitspresentence investigation. We therefore find no breach of the plea bargain agreement.

Appellant claims that he did not understand the effect of his plea in that he has difficulty understanding the English language, and that his plea was thus not knowingly and intelligently entered. The record reveals that appellant has lived in this country for almost thirty years, and has been in the business of buying, maintaining, and selling rental properties for nearly that long. Appellant has a long history of negotiating and executing complex business transactions, and was often involved in litigation stemming from these transactions. Appellant has on numerous occasions prosecuted claims on his own behalf without benefit of counsel. We therefore find no abuse of discretion in the trial court's denial of appellant's motion to withdraw his plea on that basis.

The first assignment of error is overruled.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR II

"The court failed to go into affirmative defenses and explain that such were being waived, therefore, the pleas were not knowingly or intelligently done."

Appellant's second assignment of error is without merit as a matter of law. A trial court is not required to explain affirmative defenses to a defendant before accepting a plea of guilty of no contest. The court is required to make certain that the defendant understands the nature of the charge against him, Crim. R. 11(C)(2)(a), but affirmative defenses are not elements of a charge. See State v. Reynolds (1988), 40 Ohio St. 3d 334.

Appellant relies on State v. Dickey (1984), 15 Ohio App. 3d 151, which held that it was reversible error for a court to accept a no contest plea to carrying a concealed weapon, R.C. 2923.12, without advising the defendant that that statute sets forth affirmative defenses to the charge. Though Dickey is not mentioned by the Supreme Court of Ohio in State v. Reynolds, supra, the court effectively overruled that case [492]*492in holding that the trial court is not required to advise a defendant of the affirmative defenses set forth in R.C. 2923.12 when accepting a guilty plea thereto, as these affirmative defenses are clearly not elements of the charge.

Appellant's second assignment of error is overruled.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR III

"Defendant appeared on May 5, 1989 for a motion to withdraw no contest plea and the court proceeded to sentence although no notice was given to the defendant."

No objection was raised to the trial court on this alleged error; therefore appellant has waived it for purposes of appeal. State v. Williams (1977), 51 Ohio St. 2d 112. Even if appellant had timely objected, there would be no merit in this argument. Crim. R. 11(B)(3) empowers the court to proceed immediately to sentencing upon acceptance of a no contest plea; there is no requirement of any further notice to a defendant entering such a plea.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR IV

"The prosecutor'sstatementwas insufficient to support a finding of guilty upon the defendant (sic) no contest plea."

We find the facts presented to the court in the complaints and the prosecutor's statement of the evidence in court to be sufficient to support the findings of guilty on all counts, pursuant to the requirements of R.C. 2937.07. See Cuyahoga Falls v. Bowers (1984), 9 Ohio St. 3d 148.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR VI

"Defendant should have been allowed 90 days to repair violations."

Appellant has waived his right to object to the order of the building inspector giving him eighteen days to complete all required repairs by failing to raise this issue to the local board of building appeals, a procedure that was available to him under local ordinance.

Further, appellant cannot now argue the reasonableness of the order, as this factual issue was waived when he entered his plea of no contest, Crim. R. 11(B)(2).

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR V

"It was improper to sentence the defendant to an in home arrest which was a place other than his home. It was error to sentence the defendant to one year incarceration."

The judgment entry of the trial court of May 5, 1989, reads:

"The Court hereby imposes sentence as follows:

"(1) The Defendant is fined $200.00 on each count for a total of $5,400.00;

"(2) The Defendant is ordered to serve a term of one year in the Medina County Jail;

"(3) The fine and six (6) months of the jail term are suspended upon the following conditions;

"(a) The Defendant shall be on probation to this Court for two (2) years;

"(b) The Defendant shall pay the costs of this proceeding within fourteen (14) days;

"(c) The Defendant shall make $5,400.00 of repairs to the Walden Apartments subject to the direction and supervision of the Building Department of the City of Medina. Said repairs to be completed by December 31, 1989, and copies of all receipts to be filed monthly with the Probation Department of this Court;

"(d) The Defendant shall serve a term of Six (6) months of home incarceration beginning June 1, 1989.

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Related

In Re Baker
248 N.E.2d 620 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1969)
State v. Dickey
473 N.E.2d 837 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1984)
State v. Baker
254 N.E.2d 363 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1969)
State v. Williams
364 N.E.2d 1364 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1977)
City of Cuyahoga Falls v. Bowers
459 N.E.2d 532 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1984)
State v. Reynolds
533 N.E.2d 342 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1988)
United States v. Murphy
108 F.R.D. 437 (E.D. New York, 1985)

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Bluebook (online)
2 Ohio App. Unrep. 490, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/medina-v-papadelis-ohioctapp-1990.