Ohio v. Anderson, Unpublished Decision (11-3-1999)
Ohio v. Anderson, Unpublished Decision (11-3-1999)
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
Appellant, the State of Ohio, appeals the decision of the Court of Common Pleas, Fairfield County, Juvenile Division, dismissing a ten-count complaint against Appellee Sterling Anderson alleging that he contributed to the delinquency of a minor. The relevant procedural facts in this matter are as follows. On January 24, 1997, the state charged appellee with one count of contributing to the unruliness and/or delinquency of a minor ("Juvenile Complaint 1"). The complaint alleged a continuous course of conduct commencing October 11, 1996. Appellee received service of Juvenile Complaint 1 on February 17, 1997. On April 18, 1997, the state filed its bill of particulars. Soon thereafter, the state became aware that the minor, Mahala Eyman, was making additional allegations of sexual conduct with appellee, facts which were not part of the bill of particulars. Therefore, on April 22, 1997, the state dismissed Juvenile Complaint 1 without prejudice and began preparations to re-file. On January 30, 1998, the Fairfield County Grand Jury indicted appellee on four felony counts of sexual battery and fourteen misdemeanor counts of contributing to the unruliness and/or delinquency of a minor ("the indictment"). Appellee received his summons on this second prosecution on February 2, 1998. On March 30, 1998, appellee filed a motion to sever the felony and misdemeanor counts, which the trial court granted, despite the state's objection, on April 28, 1998. The fourteen misdemeanor counts in the indictment were thus transferred to the Juvenile Division for disposition. However, the state chose to dismiss said misdemeanor counts without prejudice on July 1, 1998. Meanwhile, the Common Pleas court began a jury trial on the felony sexual battery charges in the indictment on September 14, 1998. On September 22, 1998, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty on all four felony counts. On October 6, 1998, the state again filed a complaint in the Juvenile Division, this time alleging ten counts of contributing to the unruliness and/or delinquency of a minor ("Juvenile Complaint 2"). Appellee received his summons regarding this action on October 15, 1998. On December 4, 1998, appellee filed a motion to dismiss on speedy trial grounds, inter alia. The trial court heard oral arguments regarding the motion and issued a judgment entry of dismissal in favor of appellee on February 4, 1999. The state timely appealed and herein raises the following assignment of error:I. THE DECISION OF THE JUVENILE COURT DISMISSING THE COMPLAINT FOR STATUTORY SPEEDY TRIAL VIOLATIONS WAS CONTRARY TO LAW AND AN ABUSE OF DISCRETION.
As an appellate court, we must give great deference to the factual findings of a trial court. However, we must independently determine, as a matter of law, whether the trial court erred in applying the substantive law to the facts of the case. State v. Williams (1994),
February 2, 1998 (service of summons of indictment) to March 30, 1998 (Defendant's motion to sever) 56 days
April 28, 1998 (Entry severing counts) to May 29, 1998 (Defendant's motion for evaluation) 31 days
October 15, 1998 (Service of Defendant of Juvenile Comp. 2) to December 4, 1998 (Defendant's various motions) 50 days
The State argues that the State has used one hundred thirty seven (137) days out of a possible 270 days in which to try the Defendant.
State's Trial Memorandum Contra at 7.
The state now makes the additional argument on appeal that even if the 90-day rule is applicable, counts seven through ten of Juvenile Complaint 2 allege completely new time periods, and therefore the time requirements for a trial on said counts would commence on October 15, 1998. Thus, argues the state, the speedy trial time for counts seven through ten had not expired when appellee filed his motion for dismissal on December 4, 1998. Initially, we question whether the record actually supports the state's position. Both the indictment and counts seven to ten of Juvenile Complaint 2 contain allegations of appellee aiding and abetting the minor child to become unruly between the months of June 1996 and January 1997. Nevertheless, this Court "need not consider an error which a party complaining of the trial court's judgment could have called, but did not call, to the trial court's attention at a time when such error could have been avoided or corrected by the trial court." State v. Williams (1977),
For the reasons stated in the foregoing, the decision of the Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division, Fairfield County, Ohio is affirmed.
By: Wise, P.J. Farmer, J., and Edwards, J., concur.
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