Opinion
No. 100521
11-25-2014
STATE OF OHIO PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE v. MAURICE FREEMAN DEFENDANT-APPELLANT
FOR APPELLANT Maurice Freeman, pro se Inmate No. 431-957 Lake Erie Correctional Institution P.O. Box 8000 Conneaut, Ohio 44030 ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Timothy J. McGinty Cuyahoga County Prosecutor By: Joseph J. Ricotta Assistant County Prosecutor 8th Floor Justice Center 1200 Ontario Street Cleveland, Ohio 44113
JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION JUDGMENT: APPLICATION DENIED Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas
Case No. CR-01-410924
Application for Reopening
Motion No. 477646
FOR APPELLANT
Maurice Freeman, pro se
Inmate No. 431-957
Lake Erie Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 8000
Conneaut, Ohio 44030
ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Timothy J. McGinty
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor
By: Joseph J. Ricotta
Assistant County Prosecutor
8th Floor Justice Center
1200 Ontario Street
Cleveland, Ohio 44113
FRANK D. CELEBREZZE, JR., J.:
{¶1} Maurice Freeman has filed an application for reopening pursuant to App.R. 26(B). Freeman is attempting to reopen the appellate judgment, rendered in State v. Freeman, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 100521, 2014-Ohio-1732, that reversed the imposition of three-years mandatory postrelease control, but remanded for the limited purpose of imposing discretionary postrelease control pursuant to R.C. 2967.28(C). We decline to reopen Freeman's appeal.
{¶2} App.R. 26(B)(2)(b) requires that Freeman establish "a showing of good cause for untimely filing if the application is filed more than 90 days after journalization of the appellate judgment" that is subject to reopening. The Supreme Court of Ohio, with regard to the 90-day deadline provided by App.R. 26(B)(2)(b), has established that
[w]e now reject [the applicant's] claims that those excuses gave good cause to miss the 90-day deadline in App.R. 26(B). * * * Consistent enforcement of the rule's deadline by the appellate courts in Ohio protects on the one hand the state's legitimate interest in the finality of its judgments and ensures on the other hand that any claims of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel are promptly examined and resolved.(Emphasis added.) State v. Gumm, 103 Ohio St.3d 162, 2004-Ohio-4755, 814 N.E.2d 861, ¶ 7. See also State v. Lamar, 102 Ohio St.3d 467, 2004-Ohio-3976, 812 N.E.2d 970; State v. Cooey, 73 Ohio St.3d 411, 653 N.E.2d 252 (1995); State v. Reddick, 72 Ohio St.3d 88, 647 N.E.2d 784 (1995).
Ohio and other states "may erect reasonable procedural requirements for triggering the right to an adjudication," Logan v. Zimmerman Brush Co. (1982), 455 U.S. 422, 437, 102 S.Ct. 1148, 71 L.Ed.2d 265, and that is what Ohio has done by creating a 90-day deadline for the filing of applications to reopen. * * * The 90-day requirement in the rule is "applicable to all appellants," State v. Winstead (1996), 74 Ohio St.3d 277, 278, 658 N.E.2d 722, and [the applicant] offers no sound reason why he — unlike so many other Ohio criminal defendants — could not comply with that fundamental aspect of the rule.
{¶3} Herein, Freeman is attempting to reopen the appellate judgment that was journalized on April 24, 2014. The application for reopening was not filed until August 15, 2014, more than 90 days after journalization of the appellate judgment in Freeman, supra. In an attempt to establish good cause for the untimely filing of his application for reopening, Freeman argues that
[a]ppellant is late because he was transferred to another correctional facility on May 28, 2014. During the transfer several legal documents were lost and have not been recovered, and appellant has experienced difficulties in preparing this application because of the lost [sic] of these documents during his institutional transfer.
{¶4} Freeman has failed to establish a showing of good cause for the untimely filing of his application for reopening. A claim of lost or misplaced legal documents does not establish good cause for the untimely filing of an application for reopening. State v. Qunnie, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 72580, 2000 Ohio App. LEXIS 6223 (Dec. 21, 2000). In addition, ready access to the prison library, limited access to legal material, prison riots, and prison lockdowns have been repeatedly rejected as good cause for the untimely filing of an App.R. 26(B) application for reopening. State v. Kinder, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 94722, 2012-Ohio-1339. Also, counsel cannot be expected to argue their own ineffectiveness on appeal. Lamar, supra; State v. Davis, 86 Ohio St.3d 212, 714 N.E.2d 384 (1999). Finally, lack of legal training and ignorance of the law does not establish good cause for failure to seek timely relief pursuant to App.R. 26(B). Reddick, supra. See also State v. Klein, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 58389, 1991 Ohio App. LEXIS 1346 (Mar. 28, 1991), reopening disallowed, (Mar. 15, 1994), Motion No. 249260, aff'd, 69 Ohio St.3d 1481, 634 N.E.2d 1027 (1994); State v. Trammell, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 67834, 1995 Ohio App. LEXIS 2962 (July 13, 1995), reopening disallowed, (Apr. 22, 1996), Motion No. 270493; State v. Travis, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 56825, 1990 Ohio App. LEXIS 1356 (Apr. 5, 1990), reopening disallowed, (Nov. 2, 1994), Motion No. 251073, aff'd, 72 Ohio St.3d 317, 649 N.E.2d 1226 (1995); State v. Gaston, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 79626, 2007-Ohio-155; State v. Torres, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 86530, 2007-Ohio-9.
{¶5} Accordingly, the application for reopening is denied. FRANK D. CELEBREZZE, JUDGE MARY J. BOYLE, A.J., and
MARY EILEEN KILBANE, J., CONCUR