Title: State ex rel. Jackson v. Calabrese

State: ohio

Issuer: Ohio Supreme Court

Document:

[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it may be cited as 
State ex rel. Jackson v. Calabrese, Slip Opinion No. 2015-Ohio-2918.] 
  
 
 
 
 
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. 2015-OHIO-2918 
THE STATE EX REL. JACKSON, APPELLANT, v. CALABRESE, JUDGE, APPELLEE. 
[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it 
may be cited as State ex rel. Jackson v. Calabrese, Slip Opinion  
No. 2015-Ohio-2918.] 
Mandamus—R.C. 2969.25(C)—Failure to document balance of inmate account 
for six months preceding filing of petition—Judgment denying writ 
affirmed. 
(No. 2014-1608—Submitted April 14, 2015—Decided July 23, 2015.) 
APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Cuyahoga County, No. 101556, 
2014-Ohio-3827. 
_____________________ 
Per Curiam. 
{¶ 1} We affirm the Eighth District Court of Appeals’ granting the 
appellee’s motion for summary judgment in an action filed by appellant, 
Lawrence Jackson, for a writ of mandamus to compel appellee, Judge Deena R. 
Calabrese, of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, to journalize a 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
 
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decision denying a motion to suppress.  The court of appeals’ judgment was 
proper because the complaint failed to satisfy the requirements of R.C. 
2969.25(C) and because the action is moot. 
{¶ 2} In his complaint, Jackson claimed that he filed a motion to suppress 
in his criminal action on June 28, 2011.  Judge Calabrese overruled the motion in 
open court on September 29, 2011, and indicated that she would journalize an 
entry on the same day. 
{¶ 3} Jackson alleged that the entry was never filed and that he has a right 
to have the oral decision reduced to writing.  He also requested that the entry set 
forth Judge Calabrese’s findings of fact and conclusions of law. 
{¶ 4} Jackson filed this mandamus action on June 20, 2014, in the Eighth 
District Court of Appeals.  Judge Calabrese filed a motion for summary judgment.  
The court of appeals granted the judge’s motion on September 4, 2014.  Jackson 
appealed to this court. 
{¶ 5} We affirm for two reasons.  First, the court of appeals correctly 
found that Jackson failed to comply with R.C. 2969.25(C).  That statute requires 
that an inmate who seeks a waiver of the prepayment of filing fees shall also file a 
statement, certified by the institutional cashier, setting forth the balance of his 
inmate account for the six months previous to the filing of the complaint.  Jackson 
did not file the statement.  “ ‘The requirements of R.C. 2969.25 are mandatory, 
and failure to comply with them subjects an inmate’s action to dismissal.’ ” Boles 
v. Knab, 129 Ohio St.3d 222, 2011-Ohio-2859, 951 N.E.2d 389, ¶ 1, quoting State 
ex rel. White v. Bechtel, 99 Ohio St.3d 11, 2003-Ohio-2262, 788 N.E.2d 634, ¶ 5; 
State ex rel. McGrath v. McDonnell, 126 Ohio St.3d 511, 2010-Ohio-4726, 935 
N.E.2d 830, ¶ 1.  Moreover, even though Jackson attempted to amend his 
complaint to include the statement, the statute does not permit delayed statements.  
R.C. 2969.25(C); Boles at ¶ 2; Fuqua v. Williams, 100 Ohio St.3d 211, 2003-
Ohio-5533, 797 N.E.2d 982, ¶ 9. 
January Term, 2015 
 
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{¶ 6} Second, the court of appeals properly granted summary judgment 
because Judge Calabrese had, in fact, filed an entry on the motion to suppress.  
The entry sufficiently journalized Judge Calabrese’s decision overruling 
Jackson’s motion and therefore rendered Jackson’s action in mandamus moot. 
Judgment affirmed. 
O’CONNOR, C.J., and PFEIFER, O’DONNELL, LANZINGER, KENNEDY, 
FRENCH, and O’NEILL, JJ., concur. 
_____________________ 
 
Lawrence B. Jackson, pro se. 
 
Timothy McGinty, Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney, and James E. 
Moss, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee. 
_____________________