Tokes v. Dept. of Rehab. & Corr.

2018 Ohio 4149
CourtOhio Court of Claims
DecidedSeptember 4, 2018
Docket2018-00846JD
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2018 Ohio 4149 (Tokes v. Dept. of Rehab. & Corr.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tokes v. Dept. of Rehab. & Corr., 2018 Ohio 4149 (Ohio Super. Ct. 2018).

Opinion

[Cite as Tokes v. Dept. of Rehab. & Corr., 2018-Ohio-4149.]

ESTATE OF REAGAN TOKES Case No. 2018-00846JD

Plaintiff Judge Patrick M. McGrath

v. DECISION

DEPARTMENT OF REHABILITATION AND CORRECTION

Defendant

{¶1} Before the court is a Civ.R. 12(B)(6) motion filed on June 15, 2018, by defendant Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC) wherein DRC moves the court to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint. Plaintiff Estate of Reagan Tokes (the Estate) opposes DRC’s Civ.R. 12(B)(6) motion. The matter is fully briefed and is before the court for decision.

I. Introduction {¶2} This wrongful-death case stems from the death of Reagan Tokes by Brian Golsby, who has been convicted in an Ohio common pleas court for murdering Tokes and sentenced to prison. DRC has stated in support of its present motion: “The kidnapping, assault and murder of Reagan Tokes was a horrible, evil, unspeakable act.” DRC’s Civ.R. 12(B)(6) motion raises whether the Estate’s complaint sets forth a claim upon which relief may be granted. The court is cognizant of the tragedy suffered by Reagan Tokes, Reagan Tokes’s family, and others who have been affected by the murder of Tokes.

II. Background {¶3} On May 21, 2018, the Estate, by its administrator Gregory Utter, brought a wrongful-death action under R.C. 2125.01 et seq. and a “survivor’s action” under Case No. 2018-00846JD -2- DECISION

R.C. 2305.21 against DRC. According to the Estate, Reagan Tokes “was murdered in Columbus, Ohio by Brian Golsby on February 8, 2017.” (Complaint, ¶ 3.) The Estate asserts in its complaint that DRC acted negligently following Golsby’s release from prison in November 2016 after Golsby served a six-year sentence for robbery and attempted rape. The Estate seeks a determination that DRC is liable for Tokes’s death. {¶4} According to the Estate, following Golsby’s release from prison, Golsby was on mandatory post-release control and, during this time, Golsby was subject to supervision and monitoring by the Ohio Adult Parole Authority (APA). The Estate asserts that, although Golsby was sanctioned twice in December 2016 for violating terms of his release and Golsby was later sanctioned for violating a term of his release in January 2017 (Complaint, ¶ 25-27), Golsby was not arrested or put under more restrictive conditions. And, according to the Estate, in late January 2017 and early February 2017, Golsby engaged in a “crime wave” in Columbus, Ohio, where he committed multiple crimes. With respect to Reagan Tokes, the Estate asserts that, on February 8, 2017, Golsby forcibly abducted Tokes after she left work and Golsby forced Tokes to withdraw money from ATMs. According to the Estate, the car containing Golsby and Tokes entered a metro park, where Golsby raped and murdered Tokes. The Estate asserts that Golsby was arrested, charged with several crimes relative to his actions against Tokes, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. (Complaint, ¶ 48-49.) The Estate seeks compensatory damages in an amount to be determined at trial, a trial by jury, and other relief as is just and proper. (Complaint.)

III. DRC’s motion to dismiss {¶5} On June 15, 2018, DRC moved the court to dismiss the Estate’s complaint pursuant to Civ.R. 12(B)(6), urging that, under R.C. 2743.02(A)(3), DRC is not liable for the performance of its public duties, and that general tort law principles preclude a finding that DRC should be held liable for the criminal acts of Golsby. Case No. 2018-00846JD -3- DECISION

{¶6} In opposition, the Estate has asserted that it has met its pleading burden under Civ.R. 8(A); that DRC was under a duty to exercise reasonable care to protect Tokes when DRC took charge of Golsby and DRC knew or should have known that Golsby was likely to cause physical harm to others if not controlled; that immunities contained in R.C. 2743.01(E)(1) are not applicable under the allegations in the complaint; and that a motion to dismiss should not be granted as the complaint’s allegations assert DRC’s failure to comply with obligations under R.C. 2967.26 that are not subject to sovereign immunity or “public duty” defense. And, according to the Estate, a motion to dismiss may not be granted on grounds that DRC was engaged in “law enforcement,” “licensing,” “supervision,” or “monitoring” for the reason that “these terms as determinants of immunity are void for vagueness.” The Estate contends that a motion to dismiss “should not be granted on the basis of a claim of governmental immunities as set forth in R.C. 2743.02(A)(3) and R.C. 2743.01(E)(1) for the reason that those immunities are unconstitutional in violation of Ohio Constitution Section 16, Article I” and that a motion to dismiss “should not be granted where the complaint alleges that the third party/offender was on post release control, where the defendant agency had established a curfew requirement, where the defendant agency had the power to violate the offender, and was negligent in not violating and arresting the offender for multiple curfew violations prior to the offender murdering the plaintiff [sic].” (Memorandum in Opposition, 16, 20.) {¶7} In reply, DRC maintains that Golsby was not released pursuant to R.C. 2967.26, as the Estate indicates in its response, and that there was no statutory duty to confine Golsby after he completed his sentence in 2016. DRC also maintains that the “public duty rule” applies to the performance and non-performance of a public duty and that the public duty rule contained in R.C. 2743.02(A)(3), including the definition of public duty in R.C. 2743.01(E), is constitutional. Case No. 2018-00846JD -4- DECISION

IV. Law and Analysis A. Standard of Review {¶8} Civ.R. 12(B)(6) permits a party to move a court to dismiss a complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. According to Civ.R. 12, every defense, in law or fact, to a claim for relief in any pleading, whether a claim, counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-party claim, “shall be asserted in the responsive pleading thereto if one is required, except that the following defenses may at the option of the pleader be made by motion: * * * (6) failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted * * *.” In State ex rel. Hanson v. Guernsey Cty. Bd. of Commrs., 65 Ohio St.3d 545, 548, 605 N.E.2d 378 (1992), the Supreme Court of Ohio explained that a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted “is procedural and tests the sufficiency of the complaint.” And in Coleman v. Columbus State Community College, 2015-Ohio-4685, 49 N.E.3d 832, ¶ 6 (10th Dist.), the Tenth District Court of Appeals stated:

In ruling on a motion to dismiss, pursuant to Civ.R. 12(B)(6), the court must construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, presume all factual allegations in the complaint are true, and make all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff. Mitchell v. Lawson Milk Co., 40 Ohio St.3d 190, 192, 532 N.E.2d 753 (1988). The dismissal of a complaint for failure to state a claim is proper when it appears, beyond doubt, that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts entitling him to relief. Celeste v. Wiseco Piston, 151 Ohio App.3d 554, 2003-Ohio-703, ¶ 12, 784 N.E.2d 1198 (11th Dist.).

Thus, by DRC’s Civ.R. 12(B)(6) motion, DRC asks the court to determine whether, after construing the Estate’s complaint in a light most favorable to the Estate, presuming that all factual allegations in the complaint are true, and making all reasonable inferences in favor of the Estate, it appears beyond doubt, that the Estate can prove no set of facts entitling it to relief. Case No. 2018-00846JD -5- DECISION

B.

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Bluebook (online)
2018 Ohio 4149, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tokes-v-dept-of-rehab-corr-ohioctcl-2018.