[Cite as State v. Jordan, 2020-Ohio-1018.]

STATE OF OHIO ) IN THE COURT OF APPEALS 

 )ss: NINTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT 

COUNTY OF SUMMIT ) 

STATE OF OHIO 

 Appellee 

 v. 

ROBERT E. JORDAN, JR. 

 Appellant 

C.A. No. 29403 

APPEAL FROM JUDGMENT 

ENTERED IN THE 

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS 

COUNTY OF SUMMIT, OHIO 

CASE No. CR-2014-06-1798-A 

DECISION AND JOURNAL ENTRY 

Dated: March 18, 2020 

 

HENSAL, Judge. 

{¶1} Robert Jordan appeals from the judgment of the Summit County Court of 

Common Pleas, denying his motion to vacate a void judgment. This Court affirms. 

I. 

{¶2} This Court previously set forth the procedural background of this case as follows: 

On June 30, 2014, the Summit County Grand Jury indicted Jordan and several 

codefendants on a myriad of charges related to the murder of Shawn Dotson. 

After pleading not guilty to the charges at arraignment, Jordan filed a motion to 

sever his trial from one of his co-defendants. The trial court denied the motion. 

Jordan subsequently appeared for a change-of-plea hearing and pleaded guilty to 

one count of murder with a firearm specification as well as one count of 

aggravated burglary. The remaining charges were dismissed pursuant to the 

agreement. In accordance with the joint recommendation by the parties in the 

plea agreement, the trial court sentenced Jordan to a total sentence of 18 years to 

life. 

State v. Jordan, 9th Dist. Summit No. 27690, 2015-Ohio-4354, ¶ 2. Mr. Jordan then moved to 

file a delayed appeal, which this Court granted. Id. at ¶ 3. On appeal, he argued that his guilty 
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plea was not knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily made. Id. at ¶ 4. This Court disagreed, 

and affirmed the decision of the trial court. Id. at ¶ 7. 

{¶3} Several months later, Mr. Jordan filed a petition to vacate or set aside the 

judgment of conviction or sentence, which the trial court denied. He appealed that decision, but 

later moved to voluntarily dismiss that appeal. This Court granted Mr. Jordan’s motion to 

dismiss in October 2016. Then, over two years later, Mr. Jordan filed a motion to vacate a void 

judgment, arguing that his conviction was void on the basis that the original complaint filed in 

the municipal court was not notarized, and because the warrant was not signed. The trial court 

denied his motion, and Mr. Jordan now appeals that decision. 

II. 

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR 

TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO VACATE THE JUDGMENT 

BELOW. 

{¶4} In his assignment of error, Mr. Jordan argues that the trial court erred by failing to 

vacate his void conviction. This Court disagrees. 

{¶5} Initially, we note that Mr. Jordan’s merit brief attempts to incorporate by 

reference all of the arguments he made in his briefing below. This Court, however, will only 

consider the arguments properly presented to this Court on appeal. See App.R. 16(A); App.R. 

12(A)(2); Deutsche Bank Natl. Tr. Co. v. Taylor, 9th Dist. Summit No. 28069, 2016-Ohio-7090, 

¶ 14, fn.1 (“Parties cannot simply incorporate by reference arguments that they made to the trial 

court in their appellate brief.”). We now turn to the applicable law. 

{¶6} As the Ohio Supreme Court has stated, “[t]he jurisdiction of a trial court is 

invoked by a valid indictment or information and is not dependent upon the validity of the 

process by which the accused is originally apprehended.” Simpson v. Maxwell, 1 Ohio St.2d 71, 
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71 (1964). “[I]n a felony case, the accused is tried upon the indictment returned by the grand 

jury and not upon the original complaint filed in municipal court.” State v. Sands, 6th Dist. 

Huron No. H-14-004, 2014-Ohio-3439, ¶ 7, citing Dowell v. Maxwell, 174 Ohio St. 289, 290 

(1963). “Where the indictment provides the accused with sufficient notice of the charges, the 

trial court possesses and properly exercises subject matter jurisdiction.” Sands at ¶ 7, citing State 

v. Joseph, 73 Ohio St.3d 450, 456 (1995). “Thus, the issuance of a grand jury indictment renders 

any defect in the complaint or warrant moot.” State v. Rogers, 10th Dist. Franklin No. 17AP610, 2018-Ohio-1073, ¶ 13, citing Clinger v. Maxwell, 175 Ohio St. 540, 541-542 (1964); State 

v. Heard, 9th Dist. Summit No. 27340, 2015-Ohio-664, ¶ 4 (“The Supreme Court has also noted 

that a flaw in a complaint is harmless error if the indictment puts a defendant on notice of all 

elements for each offense charged in the indictment.”). 

{¶7} Here, Mr. Jordan challenges the validity of the complaint and warrant, which – he 

argues – formed the basis of the indictment. He argues that since the complaint and warrant 

were invalid, the indictment was likewise invalid and, therefore, his conviction cannot stand. 

Mr. Jordan points to federal case law in support of his position that he has not waived this issue 

by failing to challenge the indictment prior to trial. 

{¶8} Mr. Jordan’s arguments are unpersuasive. Any alleged defects in the complaint or 

warrant were rendered moot by the issuance of the grand jury indictment, which Mr. Jordan has 

not challenged as failing to provide him with sufficient notice of the charges against him. 

Rogers at ¶ 13; see Heard at ¶ 4. This Court, therefore, cannot say that the trial erred when it 

denied Mr. Jordan’s motion to vacate a void judgment. Mr. Jordan’s assignment of error is 

overruled. 
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III. 

{¶9} Mr. Jordan’s assignment of error is overruled. The judgment of the Summit 

County Court of Common Pleas is affirmed. 

Judgment affirmed. 

 

 There were reasonable grounds for this appeal. 

 We order that a special mandate issue out of this Court, directing the Court of Common 

Pleas, County of Summit, State of Ohio, to carry this judgment into execution. A certified copy 

of this journal entry shall constitute the mandate, pursuant to App.R. 27. 

 Immediately upon the filing hereof, this document shall constitute the journal entry of 

judgment, and it shall be file stamped by the Clerk of the Court of Appeals at which time the 

period for review shall begin to run. App.R. 22(C). The Clerk of the Court of Appeals is 

instructed to mail a notice of entry of this judgment to the parties and to make a notation of the 

mailing in the docket, pursuant to App.R. 30. 

 Costs taxed to Appellant. 

 

 JENNIFER HENSAL 

 FOR THE COURT 

CARR, P. J. 

TEODOSIO, J. 

CONCUR. 
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APPEARANCES: 

ROBERT E. JORDAN, JR., pro se, Appellant. 

SHERRI BEVAN WALSH, Prosecuting Attorney, and JACQUENETTE S. CORGAN, Assistant 

Prosecuting Attorney, for Appellee.