Opinion
No. 97565
02-26-2013
STATE OF OHIO PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE v. PAUL BONNEAU DEFENDANT-APPELLANT
APPELLANT Paul Bonneau ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Timothy J. McGinty Cuyahoga County Prosecutor By: Mark J. Mahoney Assistant County Prosecutor
JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION
JUDGMENT:
APPLICATION DENIED
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court
Case No. CR-545066
Application for Reopening
Motion No. 457802
APPELLANT Paul Bonneau
ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Timothy J. McGinty
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor
By: Mark J. Mahoney
Assistant County Prosecutor
KATHLEEN ANN KEOUGH, J.:
{¶1} On August 20, 2012, the applicant, Paul Bonneau, pursuant to App.R. 26(B), applied to reopen this court's judgment in State v. Bonneau, 8th Dist. No. 97565, 2012-Ohio-3258, which affirmed Bonneau's convictions for three counts of gross sexual imposition and one count of kidnapping. Bonneau states that his appellate counsel was ineffective because he did not raise issues that Bonneau wanted raised on appeal. However, Bonneau does not state what those issues are, much less argue them.
{¶2} App.R. 26(B)(2)(c) requires that an application to reopen have "[o]ne or more assignments of error that were not considered on the merits * * *." Thus, the failure to state any assignments of error is a sufficient reason for denying an application to reopen. State v. Saunders, 8th Dist. No. 96643, 2010-Ohio-4586; and State v. Jackson, 8th Dist. No. 88345, 2007-Ohio-5431. Without any proposed assignments of error it is impossible to determine if a genuine issue exists as to whether the applicant was deprived of the effective assistance of appellate counsel, as required by App.R. 26(B)(5).
{¶3} Moreover, the lack of counsel, the lack of money for counsel, and the lack of legal knowledge do not exempt an applicant from fulfilling the requirements for an App.R. 26(B) application to reopen. In State v. Lamar, 102 Ohio St.3d 467, 2004-Ohio-3976, 812 N.E.2d 970, ¶9, the Supreme Court of Ohio noted that many Ohio criminal defendants comply with the fundamental aspects of the rule despite lack of resources. Therefore, an applicant may not plead lack of an attorney, lack of effort or imagination, or ignorance of the law in failing to comply with the requirements of the rule.
{¶4} Accordingly, this court denies the application to reopen. _______________
KATHLEEN ANN KEOUGH, JUDGE
MARY J. BOYLE, P.J., and
PATRICIA ANN BLACKMON, J., CONCUR