State v. Haught, Unpublished Decision (10-23-2007)
State v. Haught, Unpublished Decision (10-23-2007)
Opinion of the Court
*Page 2FIRST ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR:
"DID THE TRIAL COURT COMMIT PREJUDICIAL ERROR WHEN IT DENIED DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO WITHDRAW HER PLEA OF `NO CONTEST'?"
SECOND ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR:
"DID THE TRIAL COURT CONTRARY TO LAW FIND DEFENDANT GUILTY?"
{¶ 2} Appellant met Jonathan Elick over the internet and the two began dating. On July 1, 2005, appellant left her Portage County home and moved in with Elick at a home in Pickaway County owned by Elick's parents. The wedding date was postponed when appellant's father fell ill. Sometime thereafter, Elick began to date other women and this upset appellant. Appellant confronted Elick and his paramour, and the ensuing fracas prompted Elick to evict appellant.
{¶ 3} On August 29, 2006, the Circleville Municipal Court issued a temporary protection order (TPO) and ordered appellant to stay at least one hundred fifty (150) feet from Elick. The TPO was served on appellant by 2:00 PM that day. At 4:40 PM, Circleville Police Officer Phillipp Roar was dispatched to the Elick residence after someone observed appellant leave a half-eaten pizza and a maternity brochure at the door. Officer Roar passed appellant on the way to the house, followed her to Berger Hospital and arrested her.1
{¶ 4} The August 30, 2006 criminal complaint alleged that appellant violated the TPO. Appellant pled no contest to the charge and the trial court sentenced her to serve one hundred eighty days in jail.2 *Page 3
{¶ 5} On October 2, 2006, appellant filed a motion to withdraw her prior no contest plea. After the hearing, the trial court overruled appellant's motion from the bench. A handwritten notation appeared at the bottom of the motion and appellant took the instant appeal. On December 20, 2006, we alerted the parties that a handwritten notation does not constitute a formal judgment and, thus, was neither final nor appealable. See State ex rel. White v. Junkin (1997),
{¶ 7} Indeed, to establish an abuse of discretion, the result must be so palpably and grossly violative of both fact and logic that it evidences not the exercise of will but perversity of will, not the exercise of judgment but the defiance of judgment, and not the exercise of reason but, instead, passion or bias. See Vaught v. Cleveland ClinicFound.,
{¶ 9} To begin, Crim.R. 32.1 provides:
*Page 5"A motion to withdraw a plea of guilty or no contest may be made only before sentence is imposed or imposition of sentence is suspended; but to correct manifest injustice the court after sentence may set aside the judgment of conviction and permit the defendant to withdraw his plea." (Emphasis added.)
In other words, Crim.R. 32.1 allows a post-sentence motion to withdraw a plea only to correct a manifest injustice. State v. Bell, Cuyahoga App. No. 87727,
The withdrawal of pleas occurs only in "extraordinary cases." SeeState v. Smith, Pickaway App. No. 05CA7,
{¶ 10} The Ohio Supreme Court defined "manifest injustice" as a clear or openly unjust act. See State ex rel. Schneider v. Kreiner (1998),
{¶ 11} Appellant argues that in pleading no contest, she was denied her right of allocution, was not informed of her right to counsel, did not waive her right to counsel and that the trial court failed to comply with Crim.R. 11(E). We disagree. Our review of the transcript reveals that: (1) the trial court informed appellant of the potential sentence(s) for a R.C.
{¶ 12} With respect to appellant's right to counsel, we note that appellant signed two separate documents that indicated that she understood her rights. The first document (Acknowledgment of Rights) stated, inter alia, "You have a right to hire an attorney of your choice OR you have the right to have an attorney assigned without cost if you are unable to employ one[.]" In the second document (Voluntary Plea of Guilty or No Contest) appellant again acknowledged that she has the right "[t]o have a lawyer represent me" and that she "waived" that and other rights. These documents are plainly worded and a layperson can understand them. We note that appellant has two college degrees.
{¶ 13} With respect to appellant's claim that the trial court failed to comply with Crim.R. 11, subsection (E) provides, "[i]n 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 . . . no contest . . . " Specifically, a court must advise a defendant that a no contest plea is not an admission of *Page 7
guilt, but is an admission of the truth of the facts alleged in the complaint and that the plea cannot be used in subsequent civil or criminal proceedings. Id. at (B)(2). In the "Voluntary Plea of Guilty or No Contest" form, appellant acknowledged that she understood that she admitted to the facts in the complaint. We concede, however, that neither form precisely explains the difference between a guilty plea and a no contest plea, nor did the transcript indicate that the trial court informed appellant that such plea could not be used against her in a subsequent civil or criminal proceedings. Thus, to this extent, we agree that the trial court failed to fully comply with Crim.R. 11. However, as the Assistant Law Director aptly notes, strict compliance with Crim.R. 11 is not required. Rather, "substantial compliance" is required.State v. Singleton,
{¶ 14} Once again, the precise question is whether appellant will be subject to a "manifest injustice" if not permitted to withdraw her plea. We find nothing in the record to suggest that the trial court's failure to fully inform appellant about the effect of her no contest plea prejudiced her.
{¶ 15} Appellant further contends that "manifest injustice" has occurred because insufficient facts support her conviction. We disagree. The August 29, 2006 TPO ordered appellant to stay at least 150 feet from Jonathan Elick and not to enter his *Page 8
residence, stalk or harass him. The criminal complaint alleged that appellant received the TPO at 2:00 PM. Approximately two hours later, she chose to visit Elick's home. A neighbor reported seeing appellant there "nude," in a car, and "changing clothes." Appellant admitted to these facts when she entered her no contest plea. Appellant drove to Elick's home "hoping to catch him" before he left for the gym. Nothing appears in appellant's testimony to bolster her claim that she suffered a manifest injustice. Appellant conceded that she received the TPO, but nevertheless visited Elick's home. She claimed that she did so to retrieve personal belongings, but, the TPO provides that appellant's personal property could be retrieved only in the presence of law enforcement officers. Appellant also stated that Elick sold drugs (steroids) and abused her, but neither claim involves the issue of whether she violated the TPO or whether she will suffer a manifest injustice if her no contest plea is permitted to stand. Interestingly, appellant stated several times during the hearing that she was not sure if the TPO was "valid," which suggests that she was somehow excused from compliance with its terms. If appellant believed the TPO may have been invalid, however, her remedy was to request the trial court to vacate the order, not to simply ignore the court's directive. Court orders must be obeyed. See Holm v. Smilowitz ((1992),
{¶ 16} Additionally, when a trial court considers a post-sentence motion to withdraw guilty plea, the court must assess *Page 9
the credibility of the movant's assertions. See Richardson, supra at ¶ 11; State v. Yost, Meigs App. No. 03CA13,
{¶ 17} For these reasons, appellant has not persuaded us that a manifest injustice will exist if her no contest plea is permitted to stand. Consequently, appellant cannot establish that the trial court's denial of her motion to withdraw her plea constitutes abuse of discretion.
{¶ 18} Accordingly, having reviewed the assignments of error, and finding merit in neither, we hereby overrule appellant's assignments of error and affirm the trial court s judgment.5
*Page 10JUDGMENT AFFIRMED.
The Court finds there were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
It is ordered that a special mandate issue out of this Court directing the Circleville Municipal Court to carry this judgment into execution.
If a stay of execution of sentence and release upon bail has been previously granted, 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 the proceedings in that court. The stay as herein continued will terminate at the expiration of the sixty day period.
The stay will also terminate if appellant fails to file a notice of appeal with the Ohio Supreme Court in the forty-five day 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 the expiration of said sixty days, the stay will terminate as of the date of such dismissal.
A certified copy of this entry shall constitute that mandate pursuant to Rule 27 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure. Exceptions.
McFarland, P.J., Abele, J. Kline, J.: Concur in Judgment Opinion
Reference
- Full Case Name
- State of Ohio v. Leah J. Haught
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Unpublished