State v. Kovach

2024 Ohio 1531

• Court: Ohio Court of Appeals
• Decided: April 22, 2024
• Docket: 2024-G-0017
• Status: Published

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Kovach, 2024-Ohio-1531.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO ELEVENTH APPELLATE DISTRICT GEAUGA COUNTY

STATE OF OHIO, CASE NO. 2024-G-0017

Plaintiff-Appellee, Criminal Appeal from the - vs - Court of Common Pleas

STACEY KOVACH, Trial Court No. 2018 C 000136 Defendant-Appellant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Decided: April 22, 2024 Judgment: Appeal dismissed

James R. Flaiz, Geauga County Prosecutor, Courthouse Annex, 231 Main Street, Suite 3A, Chardon, OH 44024 (For Plaintiff-Appellee).

Stacey Kovach, pro se, 1829 East 55th Street, Cleveland, OH 44103 (Defendant- Appellant).

JOHN J. EKLUND, J.

{¶1} On March 12, 2024, Appellant, Stacey Kovach, filed her notice of appeal

with this court. She appeals the trial court’s February 13, 2024 judgment denying her

motion for reconsideration of her motion to waive court costs. On March 14, 2024,

Appellee, the State of Ohio, moved to dismiss the appeal. Appellant did not file a brief in

opposition to the motion. For the following reasons, the State’s motion to dismiss is

granted. {¶2} The State has offered two arguments in support of its motion to dismiss.

First, the State asserts a judgment entry denying a defendant’s motion to waive court

costs is not a final appealable order. We disagree. This court has held that a trial court’s

denying a motion to waive court costs is a final appealable order. State v. Goodman,

11th Dist. Trumbull No. 2017-T-0068, 2018-Ohio-3015, ¶ 7; see also State v. Braden,

2019-Ohio-4204, 158 Ohio St. 3d 462, 145 N.E.3d 235 (remanding the case to the court

of appeals to consider, on the merits, whether the trial court erred in denying the

appellant’s motion to waive court costs).

{¶3} The State next argues that dismissal is appropriate because Appellant did

not timely file her notice of appeal. We agree.

{¶4} App.R. 4(A)(1) provides: “* * * [A] party who wishes to appeal from an order

that is final upon its entry shall file the notice of appeal required by App.R. 3 within 30

days of that entry.”

{¶5} Appellant filed her notice of appeal thirty days after the trial court denied her

motion for reconsideration. However, it is well established that a trial court cannot

reconsider a valid final judgment in a criminal case. State ex rel. Hansen v. Reed, 63

Ohio St.3d 597, 599, 589 N.E.2d 1324 (1992), citing Brook Park v. Necak, 30 Ohio App.3d

118, 120, 506 N.E.2d 936 (8th Dist.1986). “A motion for reconsideration of a final

judgment in the trial court is a nullity.” State v. Cozzone, 2018-Ohio-2249, 114 N.E.3d

601, ¶ 34 (11th Dist.) citing Pitts v. Ohio Dept. of Transp., 67 Ohio St.2d 378, 379, 423

N.E.2d 1105 (1981). “A purported judgment ruling on a motion for reconsideration is

likewise a nullity.” Id. The trial court therefore did not have authority to rule on the motion

for reconsideration and that judgment is considered void.

Case No. 2024-G-0017 {¶6} Appellant should have directly appealed the trial court’s judgment denying

her motion to waive court costs. That judgment was filed on January 10, 2024. This

appeal is rendered untimely because she filed her notice of appeal on March 12, 2024,

more than thirty days after the trial court’s January 10, 2024 judgment.

{¶7} The State’s motion to dismiss is granted. This appeal is hereby dismissed.

All pending motions are overruled as moot.

EUGENE A. LUCCI, P.J.,

MATT LYNCH, J.,

concur.

Case No. 2024-G-0017