State v. Sherrills, Unpublished Decision (8-13-2001)
State v. Sherrills, Unpublished Decision (8-13-2001)
Opinion of the Court
On December 30, 1997, when two police officers responded to a burglary in progress, they saw Mr. Sherrills exiting a house and putting a television set into his car. When they approached him, he ran away. Through the questioning of Mr. Sherrills' girlfriend, who had reported the car stolen, the officers learned where he lived. When they arrived at the house, which was rented by his mother, they identified Mr. Sherrills as the perpetrator and arrested him. When asked if he wanted a jacket, he said "yes." Through his mother the officers obtained permission to go into his attic apartment where they found the jacket and gloves he was wearing during the burglary.
He was indicted for theft and burglary. Before trial, Mr. Sherrills riled a pro se motion to suppress the jacket and gloves. His lawyer argued the motion and the court denied it. Mr. Sherrills then pleaded guilty to burglary; the theft count was nolled. Before sentencing, Mr. Sherrills moved to withdraw his guilty plea, but the court denied the motion after hearing Mr. Sherrills' claims of innocence.
On appeal his counsel argued that the trial court erred in denying the motion to suppress and in failing to hold a hearing on the motion to withdraw guilty plea. Mr. Sherrills now argues that his appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to argue (1) the ineffectiveness of trial counsel in not filing the motion to suppress, (2) the lack of subject matter jurisdiction because no jury waiver was filed, and (3) violation of the ex post facto clause of the United States Constitution. These claims are meritless.
First, R.C.
Mr. Sherrills' ex post facto claim fails because he does not even identify which statute violates the clause, much less demonstrate the relationships among the passing of the statute, his proceedings and the crime charged. Cf. State v. Kelly (Nov. 18, 1999), Cuyahoga App. No. 74912, unreported, reopening disallowed (June 21, 2000), Motion No. 12367 — "cryptic phrases" are insufficient to fulfill the requirements of App.R. 26(B).
Finally, Mr. Sherrills' claims that his trial counsel was ineffective "for failure to file his/her own brief or motion for suppression for violation of appellants
The court denies the application to reopen.
FRANK D. CELEBREZZE, JR., J., and JAMES J. SWEENEY, J., CONCUR.
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