[Cite as State v. Martemus, 2019-Ohio-1116.]

Court of Appeals of Ohio 

EIGHTH APPELLATE DISTRICT 

COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA 

 JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION 

No. 106327 

_______________________________________ 

STATE OF OHIO

 PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE 

vs. 

RAYLAND MARTEMUS 

 DEFENDANT-APPELLANT 

JUDGMENT:

APPLICATION DENIED 

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas 

Case No. CR-17-618173-A 

Application for Reopening 

Motion No. 522947 

RELEASE DATE: March 27, 2019 
FOR APPELLANT

Rayland Martemus, pro se 

Inmate No. 702331 

Mansfield Correctional Institution 

P.O. Box 788 

Mansfield, Ohio 44901 

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE

Michael C. O’Malley 

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor 

By: Carson Strang 

Assistant County Prosecutor 

Justice Center, 8th Floor 

1200 Ontario Street 

Cleveland, Ohio 44113 

RAYMOND C. HEADEN, J.: 

{¶1} Rayland Martemus has filed a timely application for reopening pursuant to App.R. 

26(B). Martemus is attempting to reopen the appellate judgment, rendered in State v. Martemus, 

8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 106327, 2018-Ohio-3277, that affirmed his conviction and sentence for 

three counts of aggravated burglary, one count of burglary, three counts of aggravated robbery, 

four counts of robbery, two counts of felonious assault, and one count of having weapons while 

under disability. Each conviction, aside from the robbery and having weapons while under 

disability convictions, contained notices of prior convictions and repeat violent offender 

specifications. Martemus was also convicted of one-year and three-year firearm specifications 

with regard to the offenses of aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, robbery, felonious assault, 

and burglary. We decline to reopen Martemus’s original appeal. 
I. Standard of Review Applicable to App.R. 26(B) Application for Reopening 

{¶2} In order to establish a claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel, Martemus 

is required to establish that the performance of his appellate counsel was deficient and the 

deficiency resulted in prejudice. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 688, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 

L.Ed.2d 674 (1984); State v. Bradley, 42 Ohio St.3d 136, 538 N.E.2d 373 (1989), cert. denied, 

497 U.S. 1011, 110 S.Ct. 3258, 111 L.Ed.2d 767 (1990). 

{¶3} In Strickland, the United States Supreme Court held that a court’s scrutiny of an 

attorney’s work must be highly deferential. The court further stated that it is all too tempting for 

a defendant to second-guess his attorney after conviction and that it would be too easy for a court 

to conclude that a specific act or omission was deficient, especially when examining the matter in 

hindsight. Thus, a court must indulge in a strong presumption that counsel’s conduct falls within 

the wide range of reasonable professional assistance; that is, the defendant must overcome the 

presumption that, under the circumstances, the challenged action might be considered sound trial 

strategy. Strickland. 

II. Improper Imposition of Consecutive Sentences

{¶4} Martemus has raised three proposed assignments of error in support of his 

application for reopening. Martemus’s first proposed assignment of error is that: 

The appellate counsel failed to raise the issue that the trial court’s imposition of 

consecutive sentences did not comply with R.C. 2929.14(C) and Crim.R. 32(B) 

State v. Peltrey. 

{¶5} Martemus, through his first proposed assignment of error, argues his appellate 

counsel was ineffective for failing to argue on appeal that the trial court erred by imposing 

consecutive sentences of incarceration with regard to the two firearm specifications. At 

sentencing, the trial court imposed the following consecutive sentences: 
Counts 1, 2, 3 and 4 merge for purposes of sentencing. State elects to proceed on 

count 1. Counts 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 merge for purposes of sentencing. State elects 

to proceed in count 5. Counts 12 and 14 merge for purposes of sentencing. State 

elects to proceed in count 12. Count 1. 1 and 3 year firearm specification merge. 3 

year firearm specification in count 1 to run prior to and consecutive with 4 year 

sentence on underlying count. Count 5. 1 and 3 year firearm specification merge. 3 

year firearm specification in count 5 to run prior to and consecutive with 4 year 

sentence on underlying count. Count 12. 1 and 3 year firearm specification merge. 

3 year firearm specification in count 12 to run prior to and consecutive with 3 year 

sentence on underlying count. Count 16. 12 months. Firearm specification in count 

1 and count 12 to run consecutive pursuant to R.C. 2929.14(b)(1)(g), firearm 

specification in count 5 to run concurrent to firearm specification in count 1 and 

12. The underlying sentences in count 1, count 5, count 12 and count 16 to run 

concurrent, for an overall sentence of 10 years. The court considered all required 

factors of the law. The court finds that prison is consistent with the purpose of R.C. 

2929.11. The court imposes a prison sentence at the Lorain Correctional Institution 

of 10 year(s). (Emphasis added.) 

 

{¶6} In addition, R.C. 2929.14(B)(1)(g) provides that: 

If an offender is convicted of or pleads guilty to two or more felonies, if one or 

more of those felonies are aggravated murder, murder, attempted aggravated 

murder, attempted murder, aggravated robbery, felonious assault, or rape, and if the 

offender is convicted of or pleads guilty to a specification of the type described 

under division (B)(1)(a) of this section in connection with two or more of the 

felonies, the sentencing court shall impose on the offender the prison term 

specified under division (B)(1)(a) of this section for each of the two most serious 

specifications of which the offender is convicted or to which the offender pleads 

guilty and, in its discretion, also may impose on the offender the prison term 

specified under that division for any or all of the remaining specifications. 

R.C. 2929.14(B)(1)(g) allows for the imposition of multiple, consecutive firearm specifications. 

See, e.g., State v. Lawrence, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga Nos. 100371 and 100387, 2014-Ohio-4797, ¶ 

12-16. A mandatory three-year firearm specification must be ordered to run not only consecutive 

to the prison term for the underlying felony, but also consecutive to any other mandatory firearm 

specification pursuant to R.C. 2929.14(B)(1)(g). State v. Parker, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 

106585, 2018-Ohio-3677. 

{¶7} In the case sub judice, Martemus was convicted of aggravated robbery with a one-year 

firearm specification and a three-year firearm specification and felonious assault with a one-year 
firearm specification and a three-year firearm specification. Pursuant to R.C. 2929.14(B)(1)(g), 

the trial court was required to run the three-year firearm specifications consecutive to each other. 

All other counts were ordered to be run concurrent to each other. Thus, Martemus has failed to 

establish any prejudice through his first proposed assignment of error. 

III. Defective Indictment

{¶8} Martemus’s second proposed assignment of error is that: 

The appellate counsel failed to raise the issue of defective indictment. 

{¶9} Martemus, through his second proposed assignment of error, argues his appellate 

counsel was ineffective for failing to argue on appeal that the indictment brought against him was 

defective. Specifically, Martemus argues that the indictment was defective because it failed to 

furnish him with a detailed description of the charged offenses and failed to identify any culpable 

mental state. 

{¶10} The Supreme Court of Ohio has established that: 

In contrast, “[t]he purposes of an indictment are to give an accused adequate notice 

of the charge, and enable an accused to protect himself or herself from any future 

prosecutions for the same incident.” State v. Buehner, 110 Ohio St.3d 403, 

2006-Ohio-4707, 

¶ 7, 853 N.E.2d 1162. “[W]e have recognized that even when an indictment fails to 

charge the mens rea of the offense, it is not defective as long as it ‘tracks the 

language of the criminal statute describing the offense,’ because that suffices to 

‘provide[ ] the defendant with adequate notice of the charges against him.” 

(Brackets sic.) State v. Wesson, 137 Ohio St. 3d 309, 2013-Ohio-4575, ¶ 24, 999 

N.E.2d 557, quoting State v. Horner, 126 Ohio St.3d 466, 2010-Ohio-3830, ¶ 45, 

935 N.E.2d 26. Similarly, “[a]n indictment that tracks the language of the charged 
offense and identifies a predicate offense by reference to the statute number need 

not also include each element of a predicate offense.” Buehner at the syllabus. 

State v. Sowell, 148 Ohio St.3d 554, 2016-Ohio-8025, 71 N.E.3d 1034, ¶ 127. 

{¶11} We find that the indictment was not defective and properly identified the statute 

numbers associated with the charged offenses, tracked the language of the charged offenses, and 

included the elements associated with the offenses of aggravated burglary, burglary, aggravated 

robbery, robbery, felonious assault, and having weapons while under disability. Martemus, 

through his second proposed assignment of error, has failed to demonstrate that the performance 

of his appellate counsel was deficient and that he was prejudiced. 

IV. Trial Court Lacked Subject Matter Jurisdiction

{¶12} Martemus’s third proposed assignment of error is that: 

The appellate counsel failed to raise the question of subject matter jurisdiction 

pursuant to Crim.R. 3. 

{¶13} Martemus, through his third proposed assignment of error, states that his appellate 

counsel was ineffective on appeal by failing to argue that the trial court did not possess subject 

matter jurisdiction over his criminal case. Pursuant to R.C. 2931.03, the Cuyahoga County 

Court of Common Pleas possesses subject matter jurisdiction of criminal cases. The Cuyahoga 

County Common Pleas Court has original jurisdiction in felony cases and its jurisdiction is 

invoked by the return of an indictment. Click v. Eckle, 174 Ohio St. 88, 186 N.E.2d 731 (1962). 

 

{¶14} Herein, the indictment charged Martemus with 16 felonies alleged to have occurred 

in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. The Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, therefore, possessed 

subject matter jurisdiction over appellant’s case. State ex rel. Frett v. Sutula, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga 
No. 101983, 2015-Ohio-21; State v. Orr, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 100841, 2014-Ohio-4680. 

Martemus, through his third proposed assignment of error, has failed to demonstrate that the 

performance of his appellate counsel was deficient and that he was prejudiced. 

{¶15} Accordingly, the application for reopening is denied. 

 

RAYMOND C. HEADEN, JUDGE 

SEAN C. GALLAGHER, P.J., and 

EILEEN A. GALLAGHER, J., CONCUR