Nelson v. State

2009 Ohio 3231, 183 Ohio App. 3d 83
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 30, 2009
DocketNo. 08AP-1086
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 2009 Ohio 3231 (Nelson v. State) 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
Nelson v. State, 2009 Ohio 3231, 183 Ohio App. 3d 83 (Ohio Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

Bryant, Judge.

{¶ 1} Plaintiff-appellant, Seth Nelson, appeals from a judgment of the Court of Claims of Ohio sua sponte dismissing plaintiffs R.C. 2743.48 claim for wrongful imprisonment. Because the Court of Claims erred in finding it lacked jurisdiction over plaintiffs case, we reverse.

I. Procedural History

{¶ 2} On September 5, 2008, plaintiff filed a claim for wrongful imprisonment with the Court of Claims pursuant to R.C. 2743.48. According to the allegations in his complaint, plaintiffs imprisonment arose out of a racially charged incident on November 25, 1994. Plaintiff was one of three African-American males traveling with a Caucasian female when two white males in a pickup truck began to closely tailgate plaintiffs vehicle and to make racist comments. At a stoplight, plaintiff and his companions confronted the other men. The passenger in the truck was punched twice and then cut across his neck as he reached down for a beer bottle to use as a weapon.

{¶ 3} Because of the incident, plaintiff was indicted on December 22, 1994, on one count of attempted murder. Pursuant to a jury trial, he was found not guilty of attempted murder, but guilty of felonious assault. Plaintiff was sentenced to five to 15 years in prison.

{¶ 4} On August 6, 1996, in State v. Nelson (1996), 122 Ohio App.3d 309, 701 N.E.2d 747, plaintiffs conviction was reversed, the appellate court holding that the trial court erred in instructing the jury that felonious assault is a lesser included offense of attempted murder. The state appealed the decision, but the Ohio Supreme Court in State v. Nelson (1998), 82 Ohio St.3d 1207, 693 N.E.2d [85]*85804, dismissed the appeal as having been improvidently allowed. Incarcerated throughout the appeals process, plaintiff was imprisoned for this offense from November 24,1994, through May 29,1998.

{¶ 5} Plaintiff was reindicted on May 26, 1998, on two counts of felonious assault. At his arraignment, plaintiff pleaded not guilty and soon afterward filed a motion to dismiss the indictment on due process, speedy trial, and double jeopardy grounds. After the trial court denied plaintiffs motion, plaintiff timely requested in writing that the trial court issue written findings of fact setting forth its reasons for denying his motion to dismiss on speedy trial grounds. The trial court denied the request, and plaintiff eventually entered a plea of no contest to one count of felonious assault; the other count was dismissed. The trial court sentenced plaintiff to five to 15 years in prison.

{¶ 6} Plaintiff appealed, arguing that the trial court had erred in failing to dismiss the indictment on double jeopardy and speedy trial grounds. Although his double jeopardy claim was overruled, the appellate court remanded the case to the trial court to correct its error in failing to issue findings of fact and conclusions of law on its decision to deny plaintiffs speedy trial claim. State v. Nelson (Jan. 12, 2000), 5th Dist. No. 1999AP 02 0007, 2000 WL 94585. Upon remand, the trial court ordered both parties to submit proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law. The parties complied with the order, and the trial court adopted the prosecution’s findings of fact and conclusions of law, once more ruling that a retrial did not violate plaintiffs speedy trial rights. Plaintiff again was sentenced to five to 15 years of incarceration.

{¶ 7} Plaintiff again appealed, and the appellate court reversed the trial court’s decision, ruling that plaintiffs speedy trial rights were violated. State v. Nelson (Sept. 27, 2001), 5th Dist. No. 2001AP 02 0016, 2001 WL 1913811. Upon remand, the charge pending against plaintiff was dismissed on October 30, 2001.

{¶ 8} Plaintiff then began the process of recovering damages from the state based on a claim of wrongful imprisonment. He first filed suit in the Tuscarawas County Court of Common Pleas, seeking a preliminary factual determination of wrongful imprisonment pursuant to R.C. 2305.02. On August 15, 2008, that court granted plaintiffs motion for summary judgment, declaring plaintiff to be a wrongfully imprisoned individual under R.C. 2743.48(A)(1) through (5).

{¶ 9} In reaching its conclusion, the court examined every element of R.C. 2743.48(A)(1) through (5) and specifically found that plaintiff had satisfied each statutory requirement. With regard to R.C. 2743.48(A)(5), the court found that plaintiff “was released because of errors in procedure.” The court did not determine whether plaintiff was innocent of the accusations against him.

[86]*86{¶ 10} Having obtained a judgment that he was wrongfully imprisoned, plaintiff filed an action for damages against the state in the Court of Claims pursuant to R.C. 2748.48. The state filed an answer that admitted plaintiff had been wrongfully imprisoned and was entitled to damages. The Court of Claims, however, sua sponte dismissed plaintiffs case on November 19, 2008. The court interpreted R.C. 2305.02 to permit a common pleas court to make a finding of wrongful imprisonment only upon a determination that the offenses the individual was found guilty of either were not committed by him or were not committed by anyone. In the absence of such a determination, the Court of Claims determined that it could not exercise jurisdiction over plaintiffs claim.

II. Assignments of Error

{¶ 11} Plaintiff appeals, assigning two errors:

1. The Court of Claims erred in holding that R.C. § 2305.02’s grant of exclusive, original jurisdiction to the common pleas court to issue declaratory judgments pursuant to R.C. § 2743.48(a)(l-4) precludes it from issuing declaratory judgment pursuant to R.C. § 2743.48(a)(l-5), as amended.
2. The Court of Claims erred by violating R.C. 2743.48(e)(1), thereby invading the province of the common pleas court.

{¶ 12} Because plaintiffs assigned errors are interrelated, we address them jointly. Together they contend that the Court of Claims erred when it, in effect, set aside the Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court’s determination that plaintiff is a wrongfully imprisoned person. The issue the Court of Claims tangled with arises out of an amendment to R.C. 2743.48(A) and its relationship to R.C. 2305.02.

{¶ 13} Sub.S.B. No. 149, effective April 9, 2003, amended R.C. 2743.48(A) to expand the criteria under which a person may be considered “wrongfully imprisoned.” The statute previously required a person seeking status as a wrongfully imprisoned individual to prove either that he or she did not commit the offense or that no other person committed it. To satisfy the requirement, a petitioner was required to affirmatively establish his or her innocence. McDermott v. State, 5th Dist. No. 2004-CA-00178, 2004-Ohio-5560, 2004 WL 2348520, ¶ 13, quoting State ex rel. Tubbs Jones v. Suster (1998), 84 Ohio St.3d 70, 72, 701 N.E.2d 1002.

{¶ 14} Under the revised statute, a person can satisfy R.C.

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Related

Johnston v. State
2014 Ohio 1452 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2014)
Bundy v. State
2013 Ohio 5619 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2013)
Nelson v. State
2010 Ohio 1777 (Ohio Court of Claims, 2010)
McClain v. State
929 N.E.2d 1099 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
2009 Ohio 3231, 183 Ohio App. 3d 83, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nelson-v-state-ohioctapp-2009.