State v. Smith, Unpublished Decision (2-28-2003)
State v. Smith, Unpublished Decision (2-28-2003)
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 2} Appellant was originally indicted by the Portage County Grand Jury for attempted murder, a violation of R.C.
{¶ 3} On November 6, 2000, approximately six years after entering his guilty plea, appellant, pro se, moved the trial court to issue an order of "Clarification and Summary Judgment Entry of Conviction of Amended Indictment" pursuant to R.C.
{¶ 4} On July 5, 2001, approximately eight weeks after this court dismissed appellant's untimely appeal, appellant filed another motion for "Verification Journal Entry of Conviction of Amended Indictment" with the trial court. On July 6, 2001, the trial court denied appellant's motion finding that: "This Court, on December 7, 2000, previously overruled Defendant's Motion for Verification Journal Entry of Conviction of Amended Indictment and therefore no further action is required on the Defendant's Motion of July 5, 2001." On August 6, 2001, appellant filed a timely notice of appeal. However, in keeping with the tortured procedural history of this case, appellant's appeal was again dismissed by this court for failure to prosecute on November 5, 2001. Following appellant's pro se motion for reconsideration, this court agreed to reinstate the present appeal on January 8, 2002. Appellant now asserts the following assignment of error for our review:
{¶ 5} "[1.] The trial court abused its discretion in overruling appellant's Motion for Verification Journal Entry of Conviction of Amended Indictment."
{¶ 6} Before proceeding, it is important to note that the language contained in the trial court's judgment entry indicates that the trial court did not consider the actual merits of appellant's motion in reaching its decision. As a result, this court is not required to address the underlying merits of appellant's motion on appeal. The narrow focus of our review centers upon whether the trial court's refusal to rule upon appellant's current motion was proper.
{¶ 7} As the trial court's decision suggests the application of res judicata, a substantive comparison of appellant's motions is required.
{¶ 8} A comparison of the November 6, 2000 and July 5, 2001 motions reveals that the requests for relief and accompanying memorandums in support are verbatim the same. While a slight change in the title of the motion has been made, the overall content has remained the same. Under the doctrine of res judicata, a final judgment of conviction "bars a convicted defendant who was represented by counsel from raising and litigating in any proceeding, except an appeal from judgment, any defense or any claimed lack of due process that was raised or could have been raised by the defendant at the trial which resulted in that judgment or conviction or on an appeal from that judgment." State v. Perry (1967),
{¶ 9} The underlying merits of appellant's motion were originally addressed and ruled upon by the trial court on December 7, 2000. Appellant attempted to appeal that decision in February of 2001. As previously mentioned, this court dismissed that appeal as untimely. Furthermore, appellant has made no attempts to cure the deficiencies of that appeal. Appellant's attempt to re-introduce the original issue before the trial court and now this court is barred by the doctrine of res judicata.
{¶ 10} "Pro se litigants are bound by the same rules and procedures as those litigants who retain counsel. They are not to be accorded greater rights and must accept the results of their own mistakes and errors." Meyers v. First Natl. Bank of Cincinnati (1981),
{¶ 11} Based on the foregoing reasons, we hold that the trial court properly rejected appellant's motion under the doctrine of res judicata. Appellant's sole assignment of error is without merit. The decision of the trial court in this matter is hereby affirmed.
DONALD R. FORD, P.J., and JUDITH A. CHRISTLEY, J., concur.
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