Title: In re Disqualification of Gehres

State: ohio

Issuer: Ohio Supreme Court

Document:

[Cite as In re Disqualification of Gehres, ___ Ohio St.3d ___, 2021-Ohio-250.] 
 
 
 
IN RE DISQUALIFICATION OF GEHRES. 
THE STATE OF OHIO v. FOLLEY. 
[Cite as In re Disqualification of Gehres, ___ Ohio St.3d ___, 2021-Ohio-250.] 
Judges—Affidavits of disqualification—R.C. 2701.03 and 2701.031—Document 
purporting to be affidavit not sworn to or affirmed before competent officer 
is not affidavit within meaning of R.C. 2701.03 and cannot be considered 
pursuant to that statute—Affiant otherwise failed to demonstrate bias or 
prejudice by judge—Disqualification denied. 
(No. 21-AP-008—Decided January 22, 2021.) 
ON AFFIDAVIT OF DISQUALIFICATION in Dayton Municipal Court 
Case No. 2019 CR 01878. 
____________ 
O’CONNOR, C.J. 
{¶ 1} Defendant Derek Folley has attempted to file an affidavit pursuant to 
R.C. 2701.03 and 2701.031 seeking to disqualify Judge Daniel G. Gehres from the 
above-referenced case. 
{¶ 2} According to online records, the above-referenced case number 
involving Mr. Folley is pending in the Montgomery County Court of Common 
Pleas.  Judge Gehres is a judge of the Dayton Municipal Court.  Because the case 
identified in Mr. Folley’s filing does not appear to be pending before Judge Gehres, 
Mr. Folley’s filing may be denied on that basis alone.  See, e.g., In re 
Disqualification of Krueger, 152 Ohio St.3d 1259, 2017-Ohio-9430, 98 N.E.3d 
279, ¶ 9. 
{¶ 3} In the event that Judge Gehres is assigned to one of Mr. Folley’s other 
cases, Mr. Folley’s filing must be denied for the following two independent reasons. 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
 
2
{¶ 4} First, R.C. 2701.03(A) authorizes a party or a party’s counsel in a 
pending case to file an affidavit of disqualification.  Under Ohio law, an affidavit 
“ ‘is a written declaration under oath.’ ” In re Disqualification of Donnelly, 134 
Ohio St.3d 1221, 2011-Ohio-7080, 982 N.E.2d 713, ¶ 2, quoting R.C. 2319.02.  To 
comply with R.C. 2701.03, “an affidavit must be confirmed by oath or affirmation 
of the party making it and be made before a person having authority to administer 
the oath or affirmation.”  Donnelly at ¶ 2.  Although Mr. Folley’s purported affidavit 
of disqualification includes the jurat of a notary, it does not show that Mr. Folley 
swore to or affirmed the written statements supporting his request for 
disqualification.  “A document purporting to be an affidavit that is not sworn to or 
affirmed before a competent officer is not an affidavit within the meaning of R.C. 
2701.03 and cannot be considered pursuant to that statute.”  In re Disqualification 
of Sheward, 134 Ohio St.3d 1210, 2011-Ohio-7078, 981 N.E.2d 874, ¶ 3; see also 
In re Capizzi, 155 Ohio St.3d 1206, 2018-Ohio-5256, 120 N.E.3d 2, ¶ 2.  Further, 
it does not appear that Mr. Folley incorporated his factual allegations supporting 
disqualification into his separate affidavit of indigence, which was properly 
notarized. 
{¶ 5} Second, Mr. Folley has failed to set forth sufficient grounds for 
disqualification.  Mr. Folley alleges that in a previous case, Judge Gehres found 
him in contempt of court without any evidence and that in the underlying matter, 
the judge violated his constitutional rights by allowing authorities to take a sample 
of his DNA.  But “in general, the fact that a judge found a litigant in contempt—or 
threatened contempt—does not mean that the judge has lost the ability to remain 
impartial.”  In re Yarbrough, 157 Ohio St.3d 1228, 2019-Ohio-4450, 134 N.E.3d 
1233, ¶ 7.  And “it is well settled that an affidavit of disqualification is not the 
mechanism for determining whether a judge has violated a party’s constitutional 
rights.”  In re Disqualification of Giesler, 135 Ohio St.3d 1201, 2011-Ohio-7083, 
985 N.E.2d 486, ¶ 10. 
January Term, 2021 
 
3
{¶ 6} The affidavit of disqualification is denied. 
________________________