State v. Dunn, Unpublished Decision (2-26-2007)
State v. Dunn, Unpublished Decision (2-26-2007)
Opinion of the Court
we find that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to either reconsider its own valid final judgment entered on September 5, 2003, or properly consider Dunn's motion for resentencing as a petition for postconviction relief, we find that the court's May 23, 2006 judgment resentencing Dunn is a nullity. In his second assignment of error, Dunn contends that the Foster court's severance remedy, permitting resentencing under the amended statute, violates the ex-post facto and due process clauses of the United States Constitution. Because our resolution of Dunn's first assignment of error renders his second assignment of error moot, we do not address it. Accordingly, we sustain Dunn's first assignment of error, decline to address his second assignment of error, reverse the trial court's May 23, 2006 judgment, and remand this cause to the trial court with instructions to vacate its May 23, 2006 entry and reinstate its September 5, 2003 entry.
{¶ 3} On August 11, 2003, the court issued a sentencing entry sentencing Dunn to an eleven-month term of incarceration for trafficking in marijuana; a two-year term of incarceration for money laundering; a seventeen-month term of incarceration for complicity to trafficking; and a four-year term of incarceration for possession of drugs. The court ordered Dunn to serve his terms consecutively for a total of eight years and four months incarceration. Then, on September 5, 2003, the court issued an amended sentencing entry. The amended entry conformed to the August 11, 2003 entry in all material respects, except that the amended entry further specified that the court found Dunn guilty of the offenses to which he pled no contest.
{¶ 4} Dunn directly appealed the court's September 5, 2003 judgment entry to this court, alleging that the trial court erred in overruling his motion to suppress evidence and in failing to disclose the identity of confidential informants. We overruled both of his assignments of error and affirmed the trial court's judgment. State v. Dunn, Washington App. No. 03CA47,
{¶ 5} Dunn later filed a pro se application to reopen his direct appeal pursuant to App.R. 26(B), which we denied. The Ohio Supreme Court again denied discretionary review. State v. Dunn,
{¶ 6} On April 6, 2006, Dunn's trial counsel moved the court to schedule a resentencing hearing, "pursuant to the requirements of the Ohio Supreme Court in State . Foster, *Page 4
[
{¶ 7} At the outset of the hearing, the court noted the Supreme Court's recent decision in Foster, and stated: "Okay, I want to make it clear, that even though he wasn't on direct appeal and doesn't come within the direct dictates of the Supreme Court decision, I believe they held the sentencing — previous sentencing statute unconstitutional, and those sentences void, but I believe they left it — those that are serving the sentences, they didn't specifically address the issue, but I think he has the absolute right to petition." The state confirmed that it had no objection to the court's determination, and the court proceeded to resentence Dunn to: (1) an eleven month term of incarceration for trafficking in marijuana; (2) a three year term of incarceration for money laundering, increasing his sentence for that offense by one year; (3) a seventeen month term of incarceration for complicity to trafficking; and (4) a five year term of incarceration for possession of drugs, increasing his sentence for that offense by one year. Again, the court ordered Dunn to serve his sentences consecutively.
{¶ 8} On May 23, 2006, the court issued a sentencing entry conforming to its oral pronouncement. Dunn now appeals raising the following assignments of error: I. "TRIAL COURT ERRED IN RE-SENTENCING APPELLANT UNDER THE GUISE OF FOSTER WHERE HIS CASE WAS FINAL BEFOREFOSTER WAS DECIDED." II. FOSTER SEVERANCE REMEDY PERMITTING RE-SENTENCING UNDER STATUTE, WHICH WAS NOT IN EXISTENCE AT TIME OF THE CHARGED *Page 5 OFFENSE, VIOLATES EX-POST FACTO AND DUE PROCESS CLAUSES OF THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION."
{¶ 10} In Foster, the Ohio Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of Ohio's sentencing statutes in light of the United States Supreme Court's holdings in Blakely v. Washington (2004),
{¶ 11} The parties agree that Dunn's case was not on direct review when the Ohio Supreme Court decided Foster and that, consequently,Foster has no application here. The record clearly reflects that Dunn's conviction and sentence were already final because the court rendered a judgment of conviction, Dunn exhausted all available appeals, and the time for filing a petition for certiorari elapsed. See, Griffith v.Kentucky (1987),
{¶ 12} Dunn's motion asks the court to reconsider the sentence it imposed upon him in its September 5, 2003 judgment entry. The Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure do not provide for motions for reconsideration after a final judgment in a trial court. Pitts v. Dept. of Transportation
(1981),
{¶ 13} Further, the parties agree, and we find, that no other procedural remedy confers jurisdiction upon the court to resentence Dunn. Dunn acknowledges that his motion requesting resentencing was akin to a petition for postconviction relief because he filed it after his direct appeal and sought vacation or modification of his sentence on the ground that the sentence violated his constitutional rights. R.C.
{¶ 14} "[A] postconviction proceeding is not an appeal of a criminal conviction but, rather, a collateral civil attack on the judgment."State v. Calhoun (1999),
{¶ 15} Further, R.C.
(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 division (A)(2) of section
2953.21 of the Revised Code or to the filing of an earlier petition, the United States Supreme Court recognized a new federal or state right that applies retroactively to persons in the petitioner's situation, and the petition asserts a claim based on that right.(b) The petitioner shows by clear and convincing evidence that, but for constitutional error at trial, no reasonable factfinder would have found the petitioner guilty of the offense of which the petitioner was convicted or, if the claim challenges a sentence of death that, but for constitutional error at the sentencing hearing, no reasonable factfinder would have found the petitioner eligible for the death sentence.
{¶ 16} A court has no jurisdiction to entertain an untimely petition for postconviction relief unless the petitioner makes the showings required by R.C.
{¶ 17} This court has previously recognized that because the United States Supreme Court's decisions in Apprendi, Blakely, Booker, and their subsequent Ohio counterpart, Foster, did not create any new constitutional rights that apply retroactively to cases that are not on direct review, they cannot satisfy the first condition of R.C.
{¶ 18} Even if we were to assume, arguendo, that Dunn satisfied the first condition of R.C.
{¶ 19} To the extent that the trial court could construe Dunn's motion for resentencing as a petition for postconviction relief, it was neither timely filed, nor did it satisfy the statutory requirements for the filing of a delay petition for postconviction relief. Therefore, the trial court lacked jurisdiction to consider it as a petition for postconviction relief. Gibson, supra.
{¶ 20} Because the trial court lacked jurisdiction to either reconsider its own valid final judgment entered on September 5, 2003, or properly consider Dunn's motion for resentencing as a petition for postconviction relief, we find that the court's May 23, 2006 *Page 10 judgment resentencing Dunn is a nullity. Because our resolution of Dunn's first assignment of error renders his second assignment of error moot, we do not address it. See, App.R. 12(A)(1)(c). Accordingly, we sustain Dunn's first assignment of error, find Dunn's second assignment of error moot, reverse the trial court's May 23, 2006 judgment, and remand this cause to the trial court with instructions to vacate its May 23, 2006 entry and reinstate its September 5, 2003 entry. JUDGMENTREVERSED AND CAUSE REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS. *Page 11
The Court finds there were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
It is ordered that a special mandate issue out of this Court directing the Washington County Court of Common Pleas to carry this judgment into execution.
If a stay of execution of sentence and release upon bail has been previously granted by the trial court or this court, it is continued for a period of sixty days upon the bail previously posted. The purpose of said stay is to allow appellant to file with the Ohio Supreme Court an application for a stay during the pendency of proceedings in that court. The stay as herein continued will terminate in any event at the expiration of the sixty day period.
The stay shall terminate earlier if the appellant fails to file a notice of appeal with the Ohio Supreme Court in the forty-five day appeal period pursuant to Rule II, Sec.2 of the Rules of Practice of the Ohio Supreme Court. Additionally, if the Ohio Supreme Court dismisses the appeal prior to expiration of said sixty days, the stay will terminate as of the date of such dismissal.
A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to Rule 27 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure. Exceptions.
*Page 1McFarland, P.J. and Harsha, J.: Concur in Judgment Only.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- State of Ohio v. Norman Dunn
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Unpublished