State v. Kramer, Unpublished Decision (2-2-2007)
State v. Kramer, Unpublished Decision (2-2-2007)
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 2} On September 5, 1985, appellant was arrested on four counts of rape and one count of gross sexual imposition. The Portage County Grand Jury returned an indictment charging him with four counts of rape, aggravated felonies of the first degree, in violation of R.C.
{¶ 3} On April 18, 1986, the trial court held a hearing and found appellant competent to stand trial. At the hearing, appellant filed a motion to dismiss all charges for violations of R.C.
{¶ 4} No ruling was made on appellant's motion, thus, he filed a complaint for a writ of habeas corpus in this court. This court denied his request and found habeas corpus was not a proper remedy since he had an adequate remedy by way of direct appeal. On August 11, 1986, the trial court overruled the motion to dismiss.
{¶ 5} Appellant withdrew his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. A jury trial was held on October 21, 1986. Appellant was found guilty of two counts of rape and one count of gross sexual imposition.
{¶ 6} Pursuant to its December 17, 1986 judgment entry, the trial court sentenced appellant to five years for one count of rape, and ten years for the other rape charge, to be served consecutively. Appellant was also sentenced to two years for the gross sexual imposition count, to be served concurrently with the two rape counts.
{¶ 7} It was from the foregoing judgment that appellant filed a timely notice of appeal with this court asserting four assignments of error. He challenged his conviction on speedy trial grounds; the trial court's delay in ruling on his motion to discharge; manifest weight of the evidence; and the trial court's decision denying his motion for a mistrial. This court affirmed the judgment of the trial court. State v.Kramer (Aug. 12, 1988), 11th Dist. No. 1779, 1988 Ohio App. LEXIS 3323.
{¶ 8} On November 3, 2004, appellant filed an application for DNA testing. Appellee, the state of Ohio, filed a response in opposition to appellant's application on December 6, 2004. On March 23, 2005, appellant filed a "Criminal Rule 47 Motion For Status And Condition To Proceed With Application For DNA Testing." The trial court did not rule on appellant's application. Thus, it is considered overruled. State exrel. The V Cos. v. Marshall (1998),
{¶ 9} On September 28, 2005, appellant filed a document titled, "Wrongfully Imprisoned [Section]
{¶ 10} On October 19, 2005, appellant filed a document titled, "Writ of Mandamus Invoking Privileges and Rights Pursuant to Wrongfully Imprisonment [Section] 2743.48." The trial court construed the filing as a petition for postconviction relief. In his petition, appellant raised three separate claims, including ineffective assistance of counsel, aBrady violation, and actual innocence. Appellant did not provide any evidential material in support of his petition for postconviction relief. Appellee filed a response to appellant's petition on March 20, 2006. Appellant filed a reply on April 3, 2006.
{¶ 11} Pursuant to its May 10, 2006 judgment entry, the trial court denied appellant's untimely petition for postconviction relief without a hearing. It is from that judgment that appellant filed the instant appeal, asserting the following assignments of error:
{¶ 12} "[1.] Ineffective assistance of [t]rial [c]ounsel in failure to bring forth witnesses Tim Moore, Cris Detrict, and [C]urtis Anderson for the [s]tate's exculpatory evidence and actual innocence claim.
{¶ 13} "[2.] Denial of [appellant's due process rights to a fair trial because the [prosecuting [attorney had in its possession evidence that, if known to defense, would have prevented the conviction by Tim Moore's testimony.
{¶ 14} "[3.] The [p]rosecutor withheld possible DNA, not used at trial as [d]octor's [r]eports of May 10th and May 22nd, 1985.
{¶ 15} "[4.] Failing to request the removal of a [j]uror as the [p]rosecutor knew of the relationship between #9 Harry Sadler and Lala Wersler [appellant's] [m]other-[i]n-[l]aw.
{¶ 16} "[5.] State's failure to investigate Tim Moore as the perpetrator to provide exculpatory evidence and actual innocence claim exonerating [appellant] as [w]rongfully [i]mprisonment [Section] 2743.48."
{¶ 17} Appellant's five assignments of error are interrelated, as they presume that his petition for postconviction relief was timely filed. For the following reasons, we agree with the trial court that appellant's petition was untimely, and thus, properly denied without a hearing.
{¶ 18} R.C.
{¶ 19} R.C.
{¶ 20} Section 3 of Senate Bill 4, amending R.C.
{¶ 21} In the case at bar, appellant was sentenced on December 17, 1986, prior to the effective date of the amended R.C.
{¶ 22} A trial court may consider an untimely petition only under certain, narrow circumstances. R.C.
{¶ 23} "(A) Whether a hearing is or is not held on a petition filed pursuant to section
{¶ 24} "(1 ) Both of the following apply:
{¶ 25} "(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
{¶ 26} "(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 * * *.
{¶ 27} "(2) The petitioner was convicted of a felony, the petitioner is an inmate for whom DNA testing was performed * * * and analyzed in the context of and upon consideration of all available admissible evidence related to the inmate's case * * * and the results of the DNA testing establish, by clear and convincing evidence, actual innocence of that felony offense * * *."
{¶ 28} Here, appellant failed to meet the requirements of R.C.
{¶ 29} With respect to his first assignment of error, dealing with the ineffective assistance of trial counsel, appellant fails to present any credible explanation of how the alleged failure to subpoena witnesses for the defense prejudiced him. In his second and fourth assignments of error, appellant cites to the trial transcript which evidences that those assignments should have been raised in his direct appeal. SeeState v. Steffen (1994),
{¶ 30} Because appellant's petition for postconviction relief was untimely and failed to set forth the requisite facts, the trial court did not err in dismissing it.
{¶ 31} For the foregoing reasons, appellant's assignments of error are not well-taken. The judgment of the Portage County Court of Common Pleas is affirmed.
CYNTHIA WESTCOTT RICE, J., concurs,
DIANE V. GRENDELL, J., concurs in judgment only.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- State of Ohio v. Irvin F. Kramer
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Unpublished