Ohio Court of Appeals, 2007

State v. Meese, Unpublished Decision (2-16-2007)

Ohio Court of Appeals · Decided February 16, 2007 · <italic>FARMER, J.</italic>

2007 Ohio 742

Cases that cite this one

11 later published cases cite this decision.

State v. Geiger (Ohio Ct. App. 2024)
State v. Bashlor, 07ca009199 (3-10-2008) (Ohio Ct. App. 2008)
State v. Reese, 06ca0066-M (5-14-2007) (Ohio Ct. App. 2007)
State v. Taylor, 06ca008964 (4-30-2007) (Ohio Ct. App. 2007)
State v. Williams, 06 Ca 008927 (4-23-2007) (Ohio Ct. App. 2007)
State v. O'neal, 06ca0056-M (5-14-2007) (Ohio Ct. App. 2007)
State v. Hultz, 06ca0032 (4-30-2007) (Ohio Ct. App. 2007)
State v. Bashlor, 06ca009009 (4-30-2007) (Ohio Ct. App. 2007)
State v. Nevedale, 06ca008999 (4-30-2007) (Ohio Ct. App. 2007)
State v. Miller, Unpublished Decision (3-26-2007) (Ohio Ct. App. 2007)
State v. Combs, 06ca008942 (5-7-2007) (Ohio Ct. App. 2007)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

OPINION *Page 2{¶ 1} On December 10, 2004, appellant, Robert Meese, was charged with telecommunications harassment in violation of R.C. 2917.21(A)(5). On August 26, 2005, appellant appeared in court to enter a no contest plea. By judgment entry filed October 10, 2005, the trial court sentenced appellant to sixty days in jail.

{¶ 2} Appellant filed an appeal and this matter is now before this court for consideration. Assignment of error is as follows:

I{¶ 3} "THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN SENTENCING THE APPELLANT WITHOUT COMPLYING WITH CRIMINAL RULE 11(E) AND WITHOUT ENTERING A FINDING OF GUILT ON THE RECORD."

I{¶ 4} Appellant claims the trial court failed to follow Crim.R. 11 and failed to enter a finding of guilty. We agree.

{¶ 5} Crim.R. 11 governs pleas. Subsection (E) states, "In misdemeanor cases involving petty offenses the court may refuse to accept a plea of guilty or no contest, and shall not accept such pleas without first informing the defendant of the effect of the plea of guilty, no contest, and not guilty."

{¶ 6} We have reviewed the record and find no explanation by the trial court to appellant regarding the effect of his no contest plea. We note appellant never actually entered a plea, as his defense counsel informed the trial court that his client wished to "enter a plea of no contest." August 26, 2005 T. at 2. The prosecutor then stated, "first I think before any pleas are made a withdrawal of the defendant's Motion to Dismiss due *Page 3 to the unconstitutionality of the statute." Id. The transcript is four pages long and does not include any other references to a plea. In an August 26, 2005 judgment entry, the trial court stated, "Defendant withdrew his motion to dismiss and said motion was granted. Defendant entered a `no contest' plea and case set for sentencing so that Prosecutor could notify the victim."

{¶ 7} Not only was Crim.R. 11(E) not complied with, appellant never entered a plea.

{¶ 8} In addition, the trial court never entered a finding of "guilty." The only reference to a guilty finding is contained in the trial court's October 10, 2005 judgment entry of sentence wherein the trial court stated, "Defendant has previously been found `GUILTY' of violation(s) of Sec. 2917.21A5." This statement does not reflect that in fact a guilty finding was ever made.

{¶ 9} Upon review, we find the trial court failed to follow Crim.R. 11 and failed to enter a finding.

{¶ 10} The sole assignment of error is granted. *Page 4 {¶ ll} The judgment of the New Philadelphia Municipal Court of Tuscarawas County, Ohio is reversed.

Farmer, J. Hoffman, P.J. and Edwards, J. concur.

*Page 5

JUDGMENT ENTRYFor the reasons stated in our accompanying Memorandum-Opinion, the judgment of the New Philadelphia Municipal Court of Tuscarawas County, Ohio is reversed and the matter is remanded to said court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. *Page 1

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.