[Cite as State v. Spring, 2017-Ohio-5707.]

STATE OF OHIO, JEFFERSON COUNTY 

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS 

SEVENTH DISTRICT 

STATE OF OHIO 

 PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE 

VS. 

JEFFREY SPRING, SR. 

 DEFENDANT-APPELLANT 

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CASE NO. 15 JE 0019 

OPINION 

AND 

JUDGMENT ENTRY 

CHARACTER OF PROCEEDINGS: Application to Reopen Appeal 

JUDGMENT: Application denied. 

APPEARANCES: 

For Plaintiff-Appellee Attorney Jane Hanlin 

Jefferson County Prosecutor 

16001 State Route 7 

Steubenville, Ohio 43952 

For Defendant-Appellant Jeffrey M. Spring, Sr., Pro se 

#672-693 

Trumbull Correctional Institute 

P.O. Box 901 

Leavittsburg, Ohio 44430-0901 

JUDGES: 

Hon. Mary DeGenaro 

Hon. Cheryl L. Waite 

Hon. Carol Ann Robb 

 

 

 Dated: June 29, 2017 
[Cite as State v. Spring, 2017-Ohio-5707.]

PER CURIAM. 

Appellant Jeffrey M. Spring, Sr., has filed an App.R. 26(B) application to 

reopen his appeal based on a claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. He 

is attempting to reopen the appellate judgment rendered by this Court in State v. 

Spring, 2017-Ohio-768, --- N.E.3d ---- (7th Dist.), where we affirmed his convictions 

for tampering with evidence and murder with an attached firearm specification, along 

with his sentence of 18-year to life in prison. For the following reasons, we decline to 

reopen Spring's appeal. 

App.R. 26(B)(1) states: 

A defendant in a criminal case may apply for reopening of the 

appeal from the judgment of conviction and sentence, based on a claim 

of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. An application for 

reopening shall be filed in the court of appeals where the appeal was 

decided within ninety days from journalization of the appellate judgment 

unless the applicant shows good cause for filing at a later time. 

As mandated by App.R. 26, an application for reopening must be filed within 

90 days of journalization of the appellate judgment which the applicant seeks to 

reopen. The applicant must establish "good cause" if the application for reopening is 

filed more than ninety days after journalization of the appellate judgment. State v. 

Cooey, 73 Ohio St.3d 411, 411, 653 N.E.2d 252 (1998). "Consistent enforcement of 

the rule's deadline by the appellate courts in Ohio protects on the one hand the 

state's legitimate interest in the finality of its judgments and ensures on the other 

hand that any claims of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel are promptly 

examined and resolved." State v. Gumm, 103 Ohio St.3d 162, 2004–Ohio–4755, 814 

N.E.2d 861, ¶ 7. 

This court journalized its judgment entry and opinion in Spring's direct appeal 

on March 6, 2017. Spring filed his application on June 6, 2017, making the 
- 2 - 

application one day late.1 As his application was not filed within the 90-day period 

set forth in App.R. 26(B)(1) Spring must make a showing of good cause for the 

untimely filing, which he failed to do. Accordingly, Spring's application must be 

denied. See also State v. Barnette, 7th Dist. No. 11 MA 196, 2015-Ohio-1280, ¶ 4-5. 

(application for reopening must be denied where it is filed two days late without an 

assertion of good cause.) 

Spring further failed to provide the portions of the record upon which he relies 

and cites in his application. "App.R. 26(B)(2)(e) places the responsibility squarely 

upon the applicant to provide the court of appeals with such portions of the record as 

are available to him." Where an applicant fails to do so, "his application [is] properly 

denied." State v. McNeill, 83 Ohio St.3d 457, 459, 700 N.E.2d 613 (1998). Spring has 

not satisfied these requirements; thus, we need not reach the merits of his 

arguments. 

As Spring did not establish good cause for the delay in filing the application for 

reopening, nor attach relevant portions of the record as required by App.R. 26, his 

application for reopening is denied. 

DeGenaro, J., concurs. 

Waite, J., concurs. 

Robb, P.J., concurs. 

 

1 90 days after March 6, 2017 was June 4, 2017, which was a Sunday. Thus, Spring's application was 

due no later than Monday, June 5, 2017.