State ex rel. Wright v. Ohio Adult Parole Authority

661 N.E.2d 728, 75 Ohio St. 3d 82, 1996 Ohio LEXIS 174
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 4, 1996
DocketNo. 94-1222
StatusPublished
Cited by98 cases

This text of 661 N.E.2d 728 (State ex rel. Wright v. Ohio Adult Parole Authority) 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. Wright v. Ohio Adult Parole Authority, 661 N.E.2d 728, 75 Ohio St. 3d 82, 1996 Ohio LEXIS 174 (Ohio 1996).

Opinions

Alice Robie Resnick, J.

The sole substantive issue presented by this appeal is whether the exclusionary rule applies to parole revocation proceedings.

I

However, before reaching the exclusionary rule issue, we will consider a matter which has not been raised by the parties — whether the order appealed from was a final appealable order.

Under Section 2(B)(2)(a), Article IV of the Ohio Constitution, appeals may be taken to the Supreme Court as a matter of right in cases originating in the courts of appeals, including actions on extraordinary writs. R.C. 2505.03 restricts the appellate jurisdiction of any court, including the Supreme Court, to the review of final orders, judgments or decrees. R.C. 2505.02 defines a “final order” as inter alia, “[a]n order that affects a substantial right * * * which in effect determines the action * * The order appealed from here appears to fit this definition because it affects a substantial right and determined at least one of appellee’s claims. Furthermore, since the order obligated the APA to hold a new parole revocation hearing, the order determined the action as to appellee’s argument concerning the exclusionary rule.

[85]*85However, an order of a court is a final appealable order only if the requirements of both R.C. 2505.02 and, if applicable, Civ.R. 54(B), are met. Chef Italiano v. Kent State Univ. (1989), 44 Ohio St.3d 86, 541 N.E.2d 64, syllabus.

Civ.R. 54(B) provides:

“When more than one claim for relief is presented in an action whether as a claim, counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-party claim, and whether arising out of the same or separate transactions * * *, the court may enter final judgment as to one or more but fewer than all of the claims * * * only upon an express determination that there is no just reason for delay. In the absence of a determination that there is no just reason for delay, any order or other form of decision, however designated, which adjudicates fewer than all the claims * * *, shall not terminate the action as to any of the claims or parties, and the order or other form of decision is subject to revision at any time before the entry of judgment adjudicating all the claims and the rights and liabilities of all the parties.”

Issues of fact raised by the pleadings in mandamus actions “must be tried, and further proceedings thereon had, in the same manner as in civil actions.” R.C. 2731.09. Civ.R. 54(B) applies to pertinent civil actions and is not clearly inapplicable to mandamus proceedings. See Civ.R. 1(C)(7). The applicability of Civ.R. 54(B) is bolstered when one considers that Section 1 of Loc.App.R. 11 of the Court of Appeals for Franklin County expressly provides that mandamus actions filed there “shall proceed as any civil action under the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure.” Consequently, the mere fact that a proceeding involves the extraordinary writ of mandamus does not make Civ.R. 54(B) inapplicable. The same policies underlying Civ.R. 54(B) (in particular the policy of preventing piecemeal litigation) in ordinary civil actions also apply to mandamus actions filed in the court of appeals. Therefore, we hold that Civ.R. 54(B) applies in determining the appealability to the Supreme Court of orders in original actions, such as mandamus, entered by a court of appeals.

Once applicable, Civ.R. 54(B) must be followed, by its terms, when a case involves multiple claims and/or multiple parties. An order adjudicating one or more but fewer than all the claims or the rights and liabilities of fewer than all the parties must meet the requirements of R.C. 2505.02 and Civ.R. 54(B) in order to be final and appealable. Noble v. Colwell (1989), 44 Ohio St.3d 92, 540 N.E.2d 1381, syllabus. This case does not involve multiple parties; however, because it may involve multiple claims, we must consider the application of Civ.R. 54(B), given our conclusion above that Civ.R. 54(B) applies.

Appellee, in his complaint at the court of appeals seeking reinstatement of his parole and release from prison, styled his two arguments as. two “claims for relief’: (1) the APA failed to give him a final parole hearing within a reasonable [86]*86time, in violation of R.C. 2967.15(A), and (2) the APA erroneously relied on the evidence obtained by Fisher and the police in their illegal searches of his residence in the parole revocation determination. The court of appeals granted a limited writ of mandamus without discussing the first argument. For our Civ.R. 54(B) analysis, we must determine if appellee’s arguments were two distinct “claims for relief’ in Civ.R. 54(B) parlance. If appellee did present two distinct claims for relief, we must examine the way the court of appeals handled them to determine if it was necessary for the court to include Civ.R. 54(B) language, indicating that “there is no just reason for delay” in order to make the order appealable.

Civ.R. 54(B) is based on Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b), see Staff Notes to Civ.R. 54(B)— therefore, we look for guidance to authorities interpreting the federal rule. If claims are factually separate and independent, multiple claims are clearly present. 10 Wright, Miller & Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure (2 Ed.1983) 63, Section 2657. Two legal theories that require proof of substantially different facts are considered separate claims for purposes of Civ.R. 54(B). See N.A.A.C.P. v. Am. Family Mut. Ins. Co. (C.A.7, 1992), 978 F.2d 287, 292. Civ.R. 54(B) was amended, effective July 1,1992, to expressly state that it does apply to multiple claims that arise out of the same transaction, as well as separate transactions (just as Fed.R.Civ.P. 54[b] has been construed to apply). See Staff Note to July 1,1992 Amendment to Civ.R. 54(B).

In examining appellee’s two grounds for relief argued in the mandamus action, it becomes apparent that appellee raised two separate claims for relief for Civ.R. 54(B) purposes. The claims are based on substantially different facts, and distinctly separate legal theories are implicated, ie., the first claim involved compliance with R.C. 2967.15(A) and the second claim involved application of the exclusionary rule.

Because of the nature of appellee’s first claim and the manner of resolution of the second claim by the appellate court, we find that the failure to specifically address the R.C. 2967.15(A) claim, and the absence of Civ.R. 54(B) language, do not deprive this court of jurisdiction to hear this appeal in the unique circumstances of this case. A thorough review of the relevant circumstances makes apparent that the court of appeals, in the way it resolved this case, implicitly rejected appellee’s first claim for relief.

Both of appellee’s “claims for relief’ had the same goal — appellee sought outright release from prison and reinstatement of his parole. The court of appeals granted a limited writ ordering the APA to hold a new parole hearing, but refused to grant appellee the full relief requested. If the court of appeals had accepted appellee’s argument concerning the failure of the APA to hold a timely hearing, the new hearing would not have been an option. In that case, the [87]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
661 N.E.2d 728, 75 Ohio St. 3d 82, 1996 Ohio LEXIS 174, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-wright-v-ohio-adult-parole-authority-ohio-1996.