State ex rel. Daniels v. Russo

123 N.E.3d 1011, 2018 Ohio 5194, 156 Ohio St. 3d 143
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 26, 2018
DocketNo. 2017-0028
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 123 N.E.3d 1011 (State ex rel. Daniels v. Russo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Daniels v. Russo, 123 N.E.3d 1011, 2018 Ohio 5194, 156 Ohio St. 3d 143 (Ohio 2018).

Opinion

Per Curiam.

*144{¶ 1} Appellant, Dexter J. Daniels, appeals the judgment of the Eighth District Court of Appeals denying the petition for writs of mandamus and/or procedendo that he filed against appellee, Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge John J. Russo. We affirm the court of appeals' judgment.

Background

{¶ 2} In April 1989, Daniels was indicted on multiple counts of aggravated murder with capital specifications, among other crimes. He entered into a plea agreement in which he agreed to plead guilty to two counts of aggravated murder with felony-murder specifications and two counts of aggravated burglary with felony-murder specifications. In exchange, the state agreed to dismiss the remaining counts and not pursue the death penalty.

{¶ 3} Three documents in the record are at issue in this appeal. The first is the trial court's entry memorializing Daniels's guilty pleas and its entry of a nolle prosequi as to the remaining counts. The second is the court's sentencing entry. And the third is a "Certified Copy of Sentence."

{¶ 4} On March 30, 2016, Daniels filed a motion in the trial court for a final, appealable order, arguing that the sentencing entry in his case violated Crim.R. 32 and the "one document" rule enunciated in State v. Baker , 119 Ohio St.3d 197, 2008-Ohio-3330, 893 N.E.2d 163. Judge Russo denied the motion in April 2016, finding that Daniels's "conviction became a final order at the time the conviction and sentencing [judgment entries] were journalized."

{¶ 5} On May 20, 2016, Daniels filed an original action in the Eighth District Court of Appeals seeking writs of mandamus and/or procedendo. Here again, his primary claim was based on the alleged absence of a final, appealable order under Crim.R. 32 and Baker . (Alternatively, he asserted that his sentencing entry was not final because it did not include the weighing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances as required by R.C. 2929.03(F) and that he was never informed of his appellate rights at sentencing, but his merit brief in *1013this appeal does not discuss those issues.) Daniels and Judge Russo filed cross-motions for summary judgment.

{¶ 6} On December 7, 2016, the court of appeals granted summary judgment in favor of Judge Russo and denied the writs. Daniels timely appealed.

*145Legal analysis

{¶ 7} To be entitled to a writ of mandamus or procedendo, Daniels must establish that (1) he has a clear legal right to the relief requested, (2) Judge Russo is under a clear legal duty to perform the requested acts, and (3) Daniels has no plain and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of the law. State ex rel. Rankin v. Adult Parole Auth. , 98 Ohio St.3d 476, 2003-Ohio-2061, 786 N.E.2d 1286, ¶ 6 ; State ex rel. Yeaples v. Gall , 141 Ohio St.3d 234, 2014-Ohio-4724, 23 N.E.3d 1077, ¶ 20.

{¶ 8} The court of appeals denied the writs, holding that Daniels's sentencing entry satisfied the final-appealable-order requirements that existed at the time of his sentencing in 1989. The court rejected Daniels's argument that the one-document rule announced in Baker should apply retroactively, citing State v. Griffin , 138 Ohio St.3d 108, 2013-Ohio-5481, 4 N.E.3d 989, ¶ 49, for the proposition that "res judicata bars litigation of this issue where the court issued a final, appealable order pursuant to the law that existed at that time." 2016-Ohio-8060, 2016 WL 7157993, ¶ 7. In our view, however, the questions whether Daniels's sentencing entry was final and appealable under the law as it existed in 1989 and whether Baker applies retroactively need not be reached.

{¶ 9} Daniels is not entitled to a writ of mandamus or procedendo, because he had an adequate remedy in the ordinary course of the law in the form of a direct appeal from Judge Russo's April 2016 entry denying Daniels's motion for a new sentencing entry. The question whether the denial of a motion for a revised sentencing entry is appealable depends on whether the denial is a "final order." "The final-order requirement comes from the Ohio Constitution, which provides that courts of appeals 'shall have such jurisdiction as may be provided by law' to review 'final orders' rendered by inferior courts." In re D.H. , 152 Ohio St.3d 310, 2018-Ohio-17, 95 N.E.3d 389, ¶ 5, quoting Ohio Constitution, Article IV, Section 3 (B)(2).

{¶ 10} Jurisdiction is "provided by law" primarily through two statutes. Id. R.C. 2501.02 provides that courts of appeals have jurisdiction "upon an appeal upon questions of law to review, affirm, modify, set aside, or reverse judgments or final orders of courts of record inferior to the court of appeals within the district." And R.C. 2505.02 identifies seven types of final orders, including an order that "affects a substantial right in an action that in effect determines the action and prevents a judgment," R.C. 2505.02(B)(1).

{¶ 11} A "substantial right" is a right "that the United States Constitution, the Ohio Constitution, a statute, the common law, or a rule of procedure entitles a person to enforce or protect." R.C. 2505.02(A)(1).

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Bluebook (online)
123 N.E.3d 1011, 2018 Ohio 5194, 156 Ohio St. 3d 143, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-daniels-v-russo-ohio-2018.