State ex rel. Garcia v. Baldwin

2023 Ohio 1636, 226 N.E.3d 911, 172 Ohio St. 3d 626
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedMay 18, 2023
Docket2023-0134
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 2023 Ohio 1636 (State ex rel. Garcia v. Baldwin) 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. Garcia v. Baldwin, 2023 Ohio 1636, 226 N.E.3d 911, 172 Ohio St. 3d 626 (Ohio 2023).

Opinion

[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it may be cited as State ex rel. Garcia v. Baldwin, Slip Opinion No. 2023-Ohio-1636.]

NOTICE This slip opinion is subject to formal revision before it is published in an advance sheet of the Ohio Official Reports. Readers are requested to promptly notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of Ohio, 65 South Front Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215, of any typographical or other formal errors in the opinion, in order that corrections may be made before the opinion is published.

SLIP OPINION NO. 2023-OHIO-1636 THE STATE EX REL . GARCIA, APPELLANT, v. BALDWIN, SHERIFF, APPELLEE. [Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it may be cited as State ex rel. Garcia v. Baldwin, Slip Opinion No. 2023-Ohio-1636.] Habeas corpus—Bond revocation—Pretrial release on bail—R.C. 2937.40—R.C. 2937.222—Crim.R. 46—Habeas corpus is not the proper action by which to challenge a trial court’s denial of bail under R.C. 2937.222, because R.C. 2937.222(D)(1) provides the detainee with adequate remedy in ordinary course of law by way of direct appeal from trial court’s order denying detainee’s request for release on bail—Judgment affirmed. (No. 2023-0134—Submitted March 21, 2023—Decided May 18, 2023.) APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Franklin County, No. 22AP-91, 2022-Ohio-4534. __________________ SUPREME COURT OF OHIO

Per Curiam. {¶ 1} Appellant, Chris M. Garcia, is being held without bail in the custody of appellee, Franklin County Sheriff Dallas Baldwin, pending trial for rape, kidnapping, and other felony charges. Garcia had been free on bail after the posting of a $750,000 surety bond but was taken into custody after the surety filed a bond surrender. Garcia appeals the Tenth District Court of Appeals’ judgment dismissing his complaint for a writ of habeas corpus seeking release from custody on bail on reasonable conditions of bond. We affirm because habeas corpus is not the proper action by which to challenge the trial court’s denial of bail in this case. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND {¶ 2} In November 2019, the Franklin County Grand Jury indicted Garcia (Franklin C.P. case No. 19-CR-05931) on three counts of rape and one count of kidnapping with a firearm specification—all first-degree felony offenses. Garcia pleaded not guilty to the charges, and bail was set at $750,000 surety and $10,000 recognizance subject to certain conditions, including that Garcia have no contact with the victim or witnesses. Garcia was released from custody after Allegheny Casualty Company, through a power of attorney given to Andy Callif Bail Bonds, posted a $750,000 surety bond with the Franklin County clerk of courts and Garcia executed a $10,000 recognizance bond. In August 2020, Garcia was indicted by the Franklin County Grand Jury (Franklin C.P. case No. 20-CR-003653) on two counts of trafficking in drugs and one count of tampering with evidence—all third- degree felony offenses that were allegedly committed on the same date as the offenses charged in the 2019 indictment. Garcia pleaded not guilty to the new charges and was released on a $5,000 recognizance bond, subject to special conditions. The trial court consolidated the two cases for trial. {¶ 3} Between November 25, 2019, when Garcia was released on bail, and June 1, 2021, Garcia personally appeared in court for all required hearings. Garcia contends that he complied with all the special conditions of his release. But on June

2 January Term, 2023

1, 2021, Andy Callif Bail Bonds filed a “bond surrender” in Garcia’s 2019 criminal case, alleging that Garcia had “failed to comply with [the] terms [and] conditions of [his] bond,” but it contained no additional details. The trial court issued a capias for Garcia’s arrest, and the sheriff took him into custody. Garcia’s arrest discharged the surety bond under R.C. 2937.40, which states:

(A) Bail of any type that is deposited under sections 2937.22 to 2937.45 of the Revised Code or Criminal Rule 46 by a person other than the accused shall be discharged and released, and sureties on recognizances shall be released in any of the following ways: (1) When a surety on a recognizance or the depositor of cash or securities as bail for an accused desires to surrender the accused before the appearance date, the surety is discharged from further responsibility or the deposit is redeemed in either of the following ways: *** (b) When, on the written request of the surety or depositor, the clerk of the court to which recognizance is returnable or in which deposit is made issues to the sheriff a warrant for the arrest of the accused and the sheriff indicates on the return that he holds the accused in his jail.

{¶ 4} Garcia’s attorney immediately filed a motion for a bond hearing. The trial court held a bond hearing on June 10, 2021. The prosecutor asked the court to “revoke the bond” because Garcia was “a substantial flight risk, ” reminding the court that it had set the previous bond at $750,000 because of telephone calls in which Garcia “at the very beginning of this case does talk about fleeing to Mexico.” The prosecutor argued that the flight-risk concern had “only increased by the

3 SUPREME COURT OF OHIO

bondsmen no longer being willing to stand by [the $750,000] bond.” The prosecutor did not, however, present any evidence at the hearing, including any testimony from the bail bondsman regarding the reasons for the bond surrender. {¶ 5} At the close of the hearing, the trial-court judge expressed that she was “troubled by the bond surrender” and was therefore going to “revoke [Garcia’s] bond.” In a processing sheet entered on the docket, the court noted: “Bond revoked for [Garcia’s] failure to comply with its terms.” Accordingly, the sheriff detained Garcia without bail pending trial on the indicted offenses. {¶ 6} Garcia filed another request for a bond hearing, which the court convened on December 14, 2021. At that hearing, Garcia asked the court to set a new bail amount. Garcia argued that he had not violated any of the conditions of his previous bail, that he had strong family ties to the Columbus area, and that he had “absolutely no contacts in Mexico, no family in Mexico,” such that any flight- risk concerns were unwarranted. The prosecutor countered that the state has a strong case against Garcia on “very serious” charges that he brutally raped his victim. The prosecutor also shed light on why the bail bondsman had surrendered the bond, representing to the court that Garcia had sought the address of the victim’s advocate attorney and that the bondsman had “concerns for the threats involving that.” Considering the concerns that Garcia may flee and the safety of the victim and the victim’s advocate attorney, the prosecutor asked the court to either deny bail or reinstate the previously imposed bail amount, which required a $750,000 surety bond. The prosecutor did not present any evidence at the hearing. {¶ 7} At the close of the hearing, the trial-court judge denied Garcia’s request for bail. Alluding to the prosecutor’s argument at the June 2021 bond hearing, the trial-court judge stated that the state “apparently has telephone recordings—jail calls indicating that—it’s their belief Mr. Garcia has discussed fleeing the community.” She further noted that there was an “issue of attempting to obstruct a criminal justice process and/or tamper with some evidence or

4 January Term, 2023

information that may relate to the[ ] pending matters”—an apparent reference to the allegation that Garcia had tried to obtain the address of the victim’s advocate attorney. The judge said that the court was “mindful of [Garcia’s] family ties” and his lack of a criminal record prior to the charged offenses, but she also noted that Garcia faced “significant exposure in terms of a mandatory prison sentence” if convicted.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2023 Ohio 1636, 226 N.E.3d 911, 172 Ohio St. 3d 626, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-garcia-v-baldwin-ohio-2023.