Case Title: State ex rel. Poulton v. Cottrill

Citation: 2016-Ohio-5789

Docket Number: 2015-1755

State: ohio

Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Date: 2016-09-14T00:00:00Z

Document:
[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it may be cited as State 
ex rel. Poulton v. Cottrill, Slip Opinion No. 2016-Ohio-5789.] 
 
 
 
 
 
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. 2016-OHIO-5789 
[THE STATE EX REL.] POULTON, APPELLANT, v. COTTRILL, JUDGE, APPELLEE. 
[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it 
may be cited as State ex rel. Poulton v. Cottrill, Slip Opinion No.  
2016-Ohio-5789.] 
Procedendo—Petition seeking writ requiring judge to rule on motion moot—Court 
of appeals’ dismissal of petition affirmed. 
(No. 2015-1755—Submitted July 12, 2016—Decided September 14, 2016.) 
APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Muskingum County, No. CT2015-0014, 
2015-Ohio-3857. 
_____________________ 
 
Per Curiam. 
{¶ 1} We affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Fifth District 
dismissing a petition for a writ of procedendo filed by appellant, Adam C. Poulton.  
Poulton seeks a writ requiring appellee, Judge Kelly J. Cottrill, to rule on his motion 
to vacate or set aside the judgment of his conviction.  However, as Judge Cottrill 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
 
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has ruled on his motion, Poulton’s petition for a writ of procedendo is moot, and 
the court of appeals correctly dismissed it. 
{¶ 2} To be entitled to a writ of procedendo, Poulton must show a clear legal 
right to require the court to proceed, a clear legal duty on the part of the court to 
proceed, and the lack of an adequate remedy in the ordinary course of the law.  State 
ex rel. Sherrills v. Cuyahoga Cty. Court of Common Pleas, 72 Ohio St.3d 461, 462, 
650 N.E.2d 899 (1995).  A writ of procedendo is proper when a court has refused 
to enter judgment or has unnecessarily delayed proceeding to judgment.  State ex 
rel. Crandall, Pheils & Wisniewski v. DeCessna, 73 Ohio St.3d 180, 184, 652 
N.E.2d 742 (1995).  Procedendo will not compel the performance of a duty that has 
already been performed.  State ex rel. Kreps v. Christiansen, 88 Ohio St.3d 313, 
318, 725 N.E.2d 663 (2000). 
{¶ 3} After filing his complaint, Poulton filed a memorandum arguing that 
the complaint was not moot.  The memorandum emphasized that although Judge 
Cottrill had ruled on his motion to vacate or set aside the judgment of his 
conviction, she had not issued findings of fact and conclusions of law.  However, 
because he did not provide a copy of the entry to the court of appeals, that court 
could not determine whether Judge Cottrill had issued findings of fact and 
conclusions of law.  Poulton filed another motion including a copy of the entry, but 
the court of appeals denied the motion. 
{¶ 4} Judge Cottrill did not refuse to enter judgment.  Rather, Poulton is 
dissatisfied with the entry that she issued.  A writ of procedendo is therefore 
inappropriate.  Moreover, Poulton had an adequate remedy in the ordinary course 
of the law by way of appeal of the entry.  State ex rel. Roberts v. Marsh, 142 Ohio 
St.3d 481, 2014-Ohio-5242, 33 N.E.3d 6, ¶ 4, 5 (appeal is an adequate alternative 
remedy precluding a writ of procedendo).  We therefore affirm the judgment of the 
court of appeals. 
January Term, 2016 
 
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{¶ 5} Poulton also filed in this court a motion for default judgment, 
asserting that Judge Cottrill failed to file a merit brief here.  We deny Poulton’s 
motion because Judge Cottrill did, in fact, timely file a merit brief in this court and, 
in any event, Poulton’s brief does not reasonably appear to sustain reversal.  See 
S.Ct.Prac.R. 16.07(B) (“If the appellee fails to file a merit brief within the time 
provided by S.Ct.Prac.R. 16.03 or as extended in accordance with S.Ct.Prac.R. 
3.03, the Supreme Court may accept the appellant’s statement of facts and issues 
as correct and reverse the judgment if the appellant’s brief reasonably appears to 
sustain reversal”). 
{¶ 6} Finally, Poulton requests oral argument.  Oral argument in a direct 
appeal is discretionary.  S.Ct.Prac.R. 17.02(A).  This case presents a 
straightforward application of the criteria for a writ of procedendo rather than a 
matter of great public importance, complex issues of law or fact, a substantial 
constitutional issue, or a conflict among the courts of appeals.  See State ex rel. 
Manley v. Walsh, 142 Ohio St.3d 384, 2014-Ohio-4563, 31 N.E.3d 608, ¶ 16, citing 
Appenzeller v. Miller, 136 Ohio St.3d 378, 2013-Ohio-3719, 996 N.E.2d 919, ¶ 4, 
and the cases cited therein.  We therefore deny Poulton’s motion for oral argument. 
Judgment affirmed 
and motions denied. 
O’CONNOR, C.J., and PFEIFER, O’DONNELL, LANZINGER, KENNEDY, 
FRENCH, and O’NEILL, JJ., concur. 
_________________ 
 
Adam C. Poulton, pro se. 
 
D. Michael Haddox, Muskingum County Prosecuting Attorney, and Gerald 
V. Anderson II, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee. 
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