[Cite as State v. Jama, 2024-Ohio-2657.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO

SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

WOOD COUNTY

State of Ohio Court of Appeals No. WD-23-057

 

Appellee Trial Court No. 2022CR0070

 

v.

Suleiman Abdullah Jama DECISION AND JUDGMENT

Appellant Decided: July 12, 2024

* * * * *

Paul A. Dobson, Wood County Prosecuting Attorney, and

David T. Harold, Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee.

Lawrence A. Gold, for appellant.

* * * * *

SULEK, P.J.

{¶ 1} Appellant, State of Ohio, appeals the judgment of the Wood County Court of 

Common Pleas dismissing this case for violation of appellee Suleiman Abdullah Jama’s 

statutory right to a speedy trial. For the following reasons, the trial court’s judgment is

reversed.
2.

Statement of the Case and Relevant Facts

{¶ 2} On February 17, 2022, the State secured an indictment against Jama 

charging him with: (1) aggravated trafficking in drugs; (2) aggravated possession of 

drugs; (3) illegal conveyance of drugs of abuse on to the grounds of a specified 

governmental facility; (4) possession of cocaine; (5) having weapons while under 

disability; (6) identity fraud; (7) forgery; and (8) tampering with records.

{¶ 3} Upon learning of the charges, Jama, who was incarcerated in the Ohio 

Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (“ODRC”), signed documents requesting a 

speedy disposition of the above counts under R.C. 2941.401. The request was signed by 

Jama on November 8, 2022, and filed by the ODRC on November 14, 2022.

{¶ 4} On January 30, 2023, Jama made a demand for discovery. The State 

responded the next day with discovery and a demand for reciprocal discovery. Jama 

never provided the State with reciprocal discovery; nor did he notify the State that he had 

no discovery to provide.

{¶ 5} On October 3, 2023, Jama filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that the State 

violated R.C. 2941.401 by failing to bring him to trial within 180 days. On October 18, 

2023, the State requested leave to file a delayed response, and the trial court granted the 

State until October 24, 2023, to submit its filing. On October 24, 2023, the State filed its 

response.

{¶ 6} On October 26, Jama filed a motion to strike the State’s response. In his

motion, Jama acknowledged that “[t]he prosecution requested Discovery on January 31, 
3.

2023,” and stated that “Defendant did not produce discovery because he did not have 

anything to produce.”

{¶ 7} On October 31, 2023, the trial court granted Jama’s motion to dismiss on 

speedy trial grounds. Finding that the 180-day speedy trial clock started to run on 

November 14, 2022, the court made an initial determination that Jama’s right to a speedy 

trial required that he be brought to trial by May 13, 2023. Factoring in that Jama had been 

granted a seven-day continuance on a previously scheduled pretrial conference, the trial 

court ultimately concluded that Jama’s right to a speedy trial required that he be brought 

to trial by May 20, 2023.

{¶ 8} In reaching its decision, the trial court rejected the State’s argument that all

the time after January 31, 2023, should have been charged against Jama because of his 

failure to respond to the State’s demand for reciprocal discovery.

Assignment of Error

{¶ 9} On appeal, the State asserts the following assignment of error:

I. The trial court erred when it did not employ the tolling 

mechanisms recognized by R.C. 2945.72 and find that Jama’s 

failure to respond to the State’s demand for reciprocal 

discovery, among other events, tolled the time period in 

which he was to be brought to trial under R.C. 2941.401. See 

State v. Hall, 2017-Ohio-2577, ¶ 20-26.
4.

Law and Analysis

{¶ 10} “A speedy trial claim involves a mixed question of law and fact.” State v. 

Hall, 2017-Ohio-2577, ¶ 18. Appellate courts “must accept as true any facts found by the 

trial court and supported by competent, credible evidence.” Id. Regarding legal issues, 

however, “we apply a de novo standard of review and thus freely review the trial court’s 

application of the law.” Id.

{¶ 11} R.C. 2941.401 states:

When a person has entered upon a term of imprisonment in a 

correctional institution of this state, and when during the 

continuance of the term of imprisonment there is pending in 

this state any untried indictment, information, or complaint 

against the prisoner, the prisoner shall be brought to trial 

within one hundred eighty days after the prisoner causes to be 

delivered to the prosecuting attorney and the appropriate 

court in which the matter is pending, written notice of the 

place of the prisoner's imprisonment and a request for a final 

disposition to be made of the matter, except that for good 

cause shown in open court, with the prisoner or the prisoner's 

counsel present, the court may grant any necessary or 

reasonable continuance. 

...

If the action is not brought to trial within the time provided, 

subject to continuance allowed pursuant to this section, no 

court any longer has jurisdiction thereof, the indictment, 

information, or complaint is void, and the court shall enter an 

order dismissing the action with prejudice.

“A prisoner satisfies the ‘causes to be delivered’ requirement in R.C. 2941.401 by 

providing written notice of his imprisonment and a request for final disposition to the 
5.

warden of the institution where he is incarcerated.” State v. Williams, 2023-Ohio-3647, ¶ 

18.

{¶ 12} Because R.C. 2941.401 contains no language prohibiting the application of 

the tolling events set forth in R.C. 2945.72, this court has ruled that the tolling provisions 

of R.C. 2945.72 apply to the 180-day speedy trial time limit set forth in R.C. 2941.401. 

Hall at ¶ 21, citing State v. Roberts, 2004-Ohio-5509 (6th Dist.). 

{¶ 13} R.C. 2945.72(D) states: “The time within which an accused must be 

brought to trial, or, in the case of felony, to preliminary hearing and trial, may be 

extended [by] [a]ny period of delay occasioned by the neglect or improper act of the 

accused.” “The failure of a criminal defendant to respond within a reasonable time to a 

prosecution request for reciprocal discovery constitutes neglect that tolls the running of 

speedy-trial time pursuant to R.C. 2945.72(D).” State v. Palmer, 2007-Ohio-374, syllabus 

paragraph one; see also Hall at ¶ 26.

{¶ 14} This court recently determined that “30 days is a reasonable time to 

respond to a discovery request,” and, thus, the speedy trial clock is tolled beginning on 

the 31st day. State v. Holz, 2023-Ohio-4005, ¶ 25 (6th Dist.), citing State v. Runner, 

2022-Ohio-4756, ¶ 41 (7th Dist.) (holding that the defendant’s failure to timely respond 

to the State’s request for discovery “tolled the speedy trial clock on the thirty-first day 

after the State’s request was filed”) and State v. Sanders, 2019-Ohio-1524, ¶ 24 (8th 

Dist.) (noting that the Eighth District Court of Appeals “has generally considered 30 days 
6.

to be a ‘reasonable’ response time when applying R.C. 2945.72”). (Additional citations 

omitted.)

{¶ 15} Where a defendant has no discovery to provide, he must respond to the 

discovery request by notifying the State of that fact. See Runner at ¶ 40 (holding that 

defense counsel’s written request for supplemental discovery, coupled with the State’s 

subsequent demand for discovery, imposed an obligation on the defendant pursuant to 

Crim.R. 16(H) to provide reciprocal discovery to the State, or in the alternative, to notify 

the State that no discovery was forthcoming, within a reasonable time). “The tolling of 

statutory speedy-trial time based on a defendant’s neglect in failing to respond within a 

reasonable time to a prosecution request for discovery is not dependent upon the filing of 

a motion to compel discovery by the prosecution.” Palmer at syllabus paragraph two.

Further, the State “need not show that it was prejudiced by [the defendant’s] failure to 

promptly respond to its reciprocal discovery request in order to be entitled to an extension 

of speedy-trial time.” Id. at ¶ 21.

{¶ 16} In this case, Jama delivered his written notice and request for final 

disposition on November 8, 2022, when he signed his request for speedy disposition and 

triggered the request’s being sent to the Wood County Clerk’s Office. Thus, November 8, 

2022, was the starting date for the 180-day time period under R.C. 2941.401.

{¶ 17} As noted above, the State made its demand for reciprocal discovery on 

January 31, 2023. It was not until October 26, 2023, that Jama indicated to the State for 

the first time that he had not produced any discovery “because he did not have anything 
7.

to produce.” Jama’s speedy trial clock, therefore, was tolled for a period of 237 days --

from March 3, 2023 (the thirty-first day following the State’s demand for reciprocal 

discovery) until October 26, 2023, when Jama informed the State that he had no 

discovery to provide.1

{¶ 18} Utilizing the November 8, 2022, starting date -- and without taking into 

account any additional tolling events that may have taken place before March 3, 2023 --

leaves the state with 65 days to bring Jama to trial.

{¶ 19} In an effort to avoid this conclusion, Jama attempts to distinguish Palmer, 

Holz, and Hall on factual grounds, stating in summary:

Unlike Palmer, Appellee’s Counsel never gave the 

impression that they may have additional discovery to turn 

over. Unlike Hall, Appellee did not enter a plea only to 

address the statute of limitations on appeal. And unlike Holz, 

discovery was demanded, and during the 180-day period that 

time was running, Appellee had only waived time, for one 

week, from April 10-17, 2023.[

2

]

None of these minor factual distinctions, even assuming their accuracy, in any way

affects the applicability of the cited law to the facts of this case.

1

In this decision, we make no determination as to whether other tolling events may have

occurred during the pendency of Jama’s case.

2 We note that Jama incorrectly states that the defendant in Holz never filed a discovery 

request. See Holz, 2023-Ohio-4005. ¶ 4 (providing that “[o]n September 6, 2019, the state 

filed a demand for discovery and a response to Holz’s discovery request”).
8.

{¶ 20} Next, Jama argues that our reliance on Hall, Palmer, and Holz “would have 

deleterious effects on the practice of criminal law, where [as here] a failure to respond to 

the State of Ohio’s motion had no material impact on the outcome of the case.” In 

making this argument, Jama fails to cite any authority in support of his suggestion that a 

defendant’s duty somehow changes where a defendant’s failure to comply with the rules 

has minimal, or even no, impact in a case.

{¶ 21} Citing State v. Sadeghi, 2016-Ohio-744, ¶ 17 (9th Dist.), Jama next urges 

this court to conclude that “one should not be forced to turn over something they do not 

have, and that failure to do so should not be the basis for error.” As noted by the State, 

however, Jama was never asked to provide something that he did not possess; instead, he

was merely required to inform the State that he had nothing to provide it in reciprocal 

discovery to restart his speedy trial clock.

{¶ 22} For the foregoing reasons, the State’s assignment of error is found welltaken.

Conclusion

{¶ 23} Because Jama’s speedy trial right was not violated, the trial court erred 

dismissing this case. Accordingly, the judgment of the Wood County Court of Common 

Pleas is reversed, and the matter is remanded to the trial court for additional proceedings 

consistent with this opinion. Jama is to pay the costs of appeal pursuant to App.R. 24.

Judgment reversed

and remanded.
9.

State of Ohio

v. Suleiman Abdullah Jama

C.A. No. WD-23-057

A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to App.R. 27. 

See also 6th Dist.Loc.App.R. 4.

Thomas J. Osowik, J. ____________________________

 JUDGE

Myron C. Duhart, J. 

____________________________

Charles E. Sulek, P.J. JUDGE

CONCUR. 

____________________________

 JUDGE

This decision is subject to further editing by the Supreme Court of

Ohio’s Reporter of Decisions. Parties interested in viewing the final reported

version are advised to visit the Ohio Supreme Court’s web site at:

http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/ROD/docs/.