State v. Craig
State v. Craig
Opinion of the Court
*651{¶ 1} In this opinion, we address an issue that was not addressed by the Supreme Court of Ohio in its recent decision in State v. Jackson ,
{¶ 2} In this case, Steven Allen Craig was indicted on one count of rape and two counts of felonious assault. Craig pleaded not guilty to all counts, and the case proceeded to a jury trial. The jury returned guilty verdicts on the felonious-assault counts, but was unable to reach a verdict on the rape count. The trial court sentenced Craig on the felonious-assault counts and declared a mistrial on the rape count. The rape charge was not dismissed and remains pending. This appeal followed.
{¶ 3} Our jurisdiction is limited to the review of final orders and judgments. Ohio Constitution, Article IV, Section 3 (B)(2); R.C. 2505.03. In Jackson , the Supreme Court of Ohio held that a dismissal without prejudice of a count in a multicount indictment does not prevent the judgment of conviction on the remaining counts from being a final, appealable order. Jackson at ¶ 9. The court further held that "a judgment of conviction is a final, appealable order if it complies with Crim.R. 32(C) and State v. Lester ,
{¶ 4} In Jackson , the defendant was convicted after a jury trial of some, but not all, of the counts in the indictment. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on two counts of kidnapping, but found the defendant guilty of grand theft and aggravated robbery. The trial court imposed sentence on the theft and robbery counts, and declared a mistrial on the kidnapping counts. On the state's motion, the court dismissed the kidnapping counts without prejudice. On appeal, the Eighth District held that the dismissal without prejudice rendered the judgment a nonfinal order, and sua sponte dismissed Jackson's appeal for lack of a final, appealable order. State v. Jackson , 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 103035,
{¶ 5} The Supreme Court reversed, holding that a dismissal without prejudice of a count in a multicount indictment does not prevent the judgment of conviction on the remaining counts from being a final, appealable order where the judgment complied with Crim.R. 32(C) and Lester at ¶ 14. Jackson ,
{¶ 6} The court in Jackson noted that allowing a dismissal without prejudice to prevent an order in a criminal action from being a final, appealable order would effectively stay appellate review of convictions on charges for which the defendant had been found guilty and sentenced until the state either sought a new indictment or the statute of limitations for the dismissed counts expired. Id. at ¶ 15. As this court has explained, "A conditional dismissal in a criminal matter would allow a prosecutor to keep a defendant perpetually indicted, without any idea concerning, or control over, when the matter would be resolved." State ex rel. Flynt v. Dinkelacker ,
{¶ 7} Here, like Jackson , the trial court declared a mistrial on a count upon which the jury could not reach a verdict and sentenced the defendant on the counts upon which the jury returned guilty verdicts. Unlike Jackson, however, this charge remains pending. It has not been dismissed or otherwise resolved in any way. The granting of a mistrial "has long been held not to be a final appealable order 'for the basic reason that it is not a judgment or order in favor of either of the parties which gives finality to the case.' " State v. Nixon , 5th Dist. Richland No. 2016 CA 0008,
{¶ 8} A long line of cases from Ohio courts, including this one, have held that an order in a criminal case is not final where the trial court fails to dispose of all the charges that are brought against the defendant in an action. See State v. Pippin , 1st Dist. Hamilton No. C-150061,
{¶ 9} Recently, this court in State v. Pippin , dismissed an appeal for lack of jurisdiction. We stated, "Importantly, however, the trial court neglected to dispose of four other charges against Mr. Pippin. A long line of authority tells us that a trial court's entry is not a 'final order' where the court fails to dispose of all the charges *653in an action against a criminal defendant." Pippin at ¶ 1. We recognized that "[a] 'hanging charge' prevents the conviction from being a final order under R.C. 2505.02(B) because it does not determine the action, i.e., resolve the case." Id. at ¶ 6, quoting State v. Johnson , 4th Dist. Scioto No. 14CA3660,
{¶ 10} We find that Jackson does not alter this conclusion. We join other Ohio courts that have held that in a criminal case involving a multicount indictment, a trial court's order that fails to dispose of a count on which the jury failed to reach a verdict is not a final, appealable order. See State v. Purdin , 4th Dist. Adams No. 11CA909,
{¶ 11} Moreover, the concern expressed in Jackson that the state might allow a defendant to languish without appellate review of his conviction is not present where a count remains pending following the declaration of a mistrial upon the jury's inability to reach a verdict on the count. Constitutional speedy-trial standards of reasonableness apply to a retrial following a mistrial because of a hung jury. State v. Fanning ,
{¶ 12} In this case, the trial court's failure to dispose of the rape count upon which the jury failed to reach a verdict prevented the judgment of conviction on the other counts from being a final, appealable order. Without a final order, we lack jurisdiction. Therefore, we dismiss the appeal.
Appeal dismissed.
Mock, P.J., concurs.
Miller, J., concurs separately.
Concurring Opinion
{¶ 13} The majority opinion accurately cites and follows established precedent from Ohio appellate courts prohibiting a convicted criminal defendant from appealing while other charges remain pending. The rule sometimes results, as it does here, in the defendant being sent to prison, but not being permitted to appeal the convictions for which he is serving time. A particularly egregious example of such a scenario had a defendant serve over 14 years before the Supreme Court of Ohio ordered the trial court to resolve the "hanging charge." See State ex rel. McIntyre v. Summit Cty. Court of Common Pleas ,
{¶ 14} I have previously expressed concerns regarding systemic issues that can harm a defendant's right to meaningful appellate review. State v. McKenna , 1st Dist. Hamilton No. C-160683,
{¶ 15} "[T]he Due Process Clause does provide some minimum guarantee of a prompt appeal to [criminal] defendants." United States v. Smith,
{¶ 16} The first factor, length of delay, is applied on a case-by-case basis. Id. at 209. There is a general agreement that a delay of more than one year is presumptively prejudicial to a defendant. United States v. Westcott , S.D.Ohio No. 3:06-po-097,
{¶ 17} The reason for the delay is the second factor. Here, every continuance for the retrial has been at Craig's request, and Craig has waived the computation of time. This factor weighs decisively against Craig. Craig has voluntarily delayed his retrial on the "hanging charge" while pursuing his appeal. Had he instead insisted on the retrial occurring timely, he likely would have been retried by now, and possibly would have a final order from which to appeal. His waiver applies to his due-process right to a prompt appeal. Accordingly, his due-process rights have not been violated. There is no occasion to visit the remaining factors.
{¶ 18} Having conducted the Smith analysis, I concur with the result.
{¶ 19} I, nevertheless, wish to express the unfortunateness of the result. Both the defendant and the state want this appeal to be heard. In the context of this case, judicial economy would be better served by affording an opportunity to appeal. As the law exists now, there could be two trials before there is an appeal, perhaps a remand for a new trial if there was error in the initial convictions, potentially followed by a third trial and second appeal. If this appeal was allowed to go forward, then any error that might have occurred below could be avoided at the second trial-not a third. The judicial economy of *655the current system further decreases if there are additional hung juries. Moreover, the appetite of the parties for a retrial on the "hanging charge" might be satiated by resolution of this appeal. If we were to affirm the current convictions, then maybe the parties would decide to resolve the hanging charge by agreement.
{¶ 20} The Commission on the Rules of Practice and Procedure should consider whether the Rules of Criminal Procedure should be amended to include a provision equivalent to Civ.R. 54(B), which affords the ability to appeal the resolution of some claims. This would afford the parties and the trial court the discretion to permit appeals from final judgments of conviction when there are "hanging charges" as the circumstances may demand.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STATE of Ohio, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Steven Allen CRAIG, Defendant-Appellant.
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- APPELLATE JURISDICTION - FINAL ORDER: In a criminal action involving a multicount indictment, the trial court's failure to dispose of a count on which the jury fails to reach a verdict is not a final, appealable order. [But see SEPARATE CONCURRENCE: the due process clause provides some minimum guarantee to a prompt appeal under the particular facts of this case, the defendant's due process right has not been violated.]