Justia.com Opinion Summary: Terrance House filed complaints for writs of mandamus and procedendo to compel a court of common pleas judge to issue final, appealable orders on the judge's denial of Hough's motion for the judge to recuse herself and his motion to supplement his petition for postconviction relief. The court of appeals denied the claims. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) Hough was not entitled to a final, appealable order on the judge's denial of his motion to recuse herself because the court of appeals lacked jurisdiction to review those decisions; and (2) the judge had no duty to issue findings of fact and conclusions of law in denying Hough's motion to supplement his previously denied, untimely, successive petition for postconviction relief.
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[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it may be cited as
State ex rel. Hough v. Saffold, Slip Opinion No. 2012-Ohio-28.]
NOTICE
This slip opinion is subject to formal revision before it is published in
an advance sheet of the Ohio Official Reports. Readers are requested
to promptly notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of Ohio,
65 South Front Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215, of any typographical or
other formal errors in the opinion, in order that corrections may be
made before the opinion is published.
SLIP OPINION NO. 2012-OHIO-28
THE STATE EX REL. HOUGH, APPELLANT, v. SAFFOLD, JUDGE, APPELLEE.
[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it
may be cited as State ex rel. Hough v. Saffold,
Slip Opinion No. 2012-Ohio-28.]
Mandamus—Procedendo—Court has no duty to issue final, appealable order on
denial of motion for recusal—Court has no duty to issue findings of fact
and conclusions of law in denying untimely successive petition for
postconviction relief—Writs denied.
(No. 2011-1430—Submitted January 3, 2012—Decided January 10, 2012.)
APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Cuyahoga County,
No. 96468, 2011-Ohio-3477.
__________________
Per Curiam.
{¶ 1} We affirm the judgment of the court of appeals denying the claims
of appellant, Terrance Hough, for writs of mandamus and procedendo to compel
appellee, Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland
Saffold, to issue final, appealable orders on her October 7, 2010 denial of
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO
Hough’s motion for the judge to recuse herself and his motion to supplement his
petition for postconviction relief.
{¶ 2} Hough is not entitled to a final, appealable order on the judge’s
denial of his motion to recuse herself because a court of appeals lacks jurisdiction
to review these decisions. See Beer v. Griffith (1978), 54 Ohio St.2d 440, 441442, 8 O.O.3d 438, 377 N.E.2d 775 (“Since only the Chief Justice or [the Chief’s]
designee may hear disqualification matters, the Court of Appeals was without
authority to pass upon disqualification or to void the judgment of the trial court
upon that basis”); Goddard v. Children’s Hosp. Med. Ctr. (2000), 141 Ohio
App.3d 467, 473, 751 N.E.2d 1062; State v. Ramos (1993), 88 Ohio App.3d 394,
398, 623 N.E.2d 1336.
{¶ 3} Moreover, as Judge Saffold now contends, the Chief Justice has
since granted Hough’s affidavit to disqualify her, so his claim is now moot.
{¶ 4} Finally, contrary to Hough’s assertions, Judge Saffold had no duty
to issue findings of fact and conclusions of law in denying Hough’s motion to
supplement
his
previously
denied,
untimely,
successive
petition
for
postconviction relief. See State ex rel. James v. Coyne, 114 Ohio St.3d 45, 2007Ohio-2716, 867 N.E.2d 837, ¶ 5 (court has no duty to issue findings of fact and
conclusions of law when it dismisses an untimely petition for postconviction
relief); see also State v. Jones, Mahoning App. No. 07 MA 81, 2008-Ohio-1536,
¶ 16-18 (amended petition for postconviction relief filed after court had ruled on
petition held to be an improper successive petition).
Judgment affirmed.
O’CONNOR, C.J., and PFEIFER, LUNDBERG STRATTON, O’DONNELL,
LANZINGER, CUPP, and MCGEE BROWN, JJ., concur.
__________________
Terrance Hough, pro se.
2
January Term, 2012
William D. Mason, Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney, and James E.
Moss, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee.
______________________
3
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