Summary
The Ohio Fourth District Court of Appeals dismissed Marinda Perrill’s appeal for lack of jurisdiction because the trial court’s judgment did not resolve all five counts in the indictment. The court determined that the unresolved fourth count of trafficking in cocaine prevented the judgment from being a final appealable order.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the court of appeals had jurisdiction to review the appeal when the trial court's judgment resolved only four of the five counts in the indictment.
- Whether an unresolved or hanging charge prevents a criminal conviction from being a final appealable order.
Holdings
- A criminal judgment of conviction is not a final appealable order when a count of the indictment remains unresolved; because count 4 remained pending, the court of appeals lacked jurisdiction.
Key quotations
“A failure to properly terminate these so-called “ ‘hanging charge[s]’ 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.” (¶ 26)
“Because Perrill’s no contest plea is not a final appealable order, we dismiss her appeal for lack of jurisdiction.” (¶ 28)
Factual background
The State reindicted Perrill on five cocaine-related counts after dismissing the original case without prejudice. Perrill pleaded no contest to counts 1, 2, 3, and 5, and the trial court convicted and sentenced her on those counts. The trial court's judgment did not address count 4, and the record contained no indication that count 4 had been dismissed or otherwise resolved.
Procedural history
The State initially charged Perrill with five criminal counts. After the original case was dismissed without prejudice, the State reindicted her on the same five counts. Perrill pleaded no contest to four counts, and the trial court entered convictions and sentence on those four counts, but the record did not show that the remaining trafficking count had been dismissed, nolle prossed, or otherwise resolved. The court of appeals therefore dismissed the appeal as taken from a nonfinal order.