State v. Rankin

2024 Ohio 5369

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Rankin, 2024-Ohio-5369.]

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

STATE OF OHIO, CASE NO. 2024-A-0075

Plaintiff-Appellee, Criminal Appeal from the - vs - County Court, Eastern District

JEANNA RANKIN, Trial Court No. 2024 CRB 00008 E Defendant-Appellant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Decided: November 12, 2024 Judgment: Appeal dismissed

Colleen M. O’Toole, Ashtabula County Prosecutor, 25 West Jefferson Street, Jefferson, OH 44047 (For Plaintiff-Appellee).

Jeanna Rankin, pro se, 185 Hadley Road, Greenville, PA 16125 (Defendant-Appellant).

JOHN J. EKLUND, J.

{¶1} Appellant, Jeanna Rankin, pro se, appeals from a September 9, 2024

judgment of the Ashtabula County Municipal Court, Eastern District.

{¶2} On January 17, 2024, complaints for criminal trespass, a fourth degree

misdemeanor, and telecommunications harassment, a first degree misdemeanor, were

filed against appellant. In the September 9, 2024 entry, the trial court dismissed both

counts pursuant to Crim.R. 48(A). Appellant appeals from that entry.

{¶3} According to Section 3(B)(2), Article IV of the Ohio Constitution, a court of

appeals is limited to the review of final orders from lower courts. R.C. 2505.02(B) sets forth seven categories of "final orders," and if a trial court's judgment satisfies any of one

of them, it will be considered a "final order" which can be immediately appealed and

reviewed by an appellate court. Germ v. Fuerst, 2003-Ohio-6241, ¶ 3 (11th Dist.).

{¶4} Crim.R. 48(A) provides that "[t]he state may by leave of court and in open

court file an entry of dismissal of an indictment, information, or complaint and the

prosecution shall thereupon terminate." This type of dismissal does not fall under any of

the categories in R.C. 2505.02 and is not considered to be a final appealable order. State

v. Barna, 2021-Ohio-3794, ¶ 2 (11th Dist.). As a result of this type of dismissal, a

defendant is simply placed in the same position the he or she was in prior to the charges

being filed. State v. Williams, 2011-Ohio-6412, ¶ 11 (9th Dist.).

{¶5} Here, the trial court dismissed the charges pursuant to Crim.R. 48(A).

Therefore, appellant was placed in the same position she was in prior to appellee’s filing

of criminal charges.

{¶6} For the foregoing reasons, this appeal is hereby dismissed for lack of a final

appealable order.

MATT LYNCH, J.,

ROBERT J. PATTON, J.,

concur.

Case No. 2024-A-0075