State v. Mitchell, Unpublished Decision (3-31-2006)
State v. Mitchell, Unpublished Decision (3-31-2006)
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 2} On May 10, 2005, Mitchell filed a petition for postconviction relief. This was his second petition for postconviction relief since his conviction for aggravated murder and aggravated burglary in 1998. On May 17, 2005, the state filed a motion to dismiss.
{¶ 3} The trial court granted that motion the next day. On appeal, Mitchell raises two assignments of error, contending that the trial court erred on substantive and due process grounds in granting the motion to dismiss.
{¶ 4} In his first assignment of error, Mitchell claims that he was denied due process because the court granted the state's motion to dismiss without giving him an opportunity to respond to the motion. As the state points out, however, the statutes governing postconviction relief do not provide for responsive pleadings from the petitioner and therefore do not require the trial court to wait for a response to a motion to dismiss. R.C.
{¶ 5} Mitchell also asserts that the civil and local rules of procedure require that he be given an opportunity to respond to the state's motion. Although the civil and local rules generally apply to postconviction proceedings, dismissals rendered under R.C.
{¶ 6} The state further contends that Mitchell failed to show good cause for the filing of a second petition. Pursuant to R.C.
{¶ 7} "(a) Either the petitioner shows that the petitioner was unavoidably prevented from discovery of the facts upon which the petitioner must rely to present the claim for relief, or, subsequent to the period prescribed in [R.C.
{¶ 8} The first assignment of error is overruled.
{¶ 9} In his second assignment of error, Mitchell claims that the trial court erred in sentencing him to a non-minimum sentence. Again, he relies on the United States Supreme Court's decision in Blakely v. Washington. As we discussed under the first assignment of error, Blakely does not apply retroactively, and Mitchell waived his right to appeal his sentence. Thus, the court properly concluded that Mitchell's petition set forth no substantive grounds for relief.
{¶ 10} The second assignment of error is overruled.
{¶ 11} The judgment of the trial court will be affirmed.
Brogan, J., and Glasser, J., concur.
(Hon. George Glasser, Retired from the Sixth Appellate District, Sitting by assignment of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio).
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