[Cite as State v. St. Thomas, 2018-Ohio-817.]

STATE OF OHIO, MAHONING COUNTY 

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS 

SEVENTH DISTRICT 

STATE OF OHIO, 

 PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, 

V. 

DWAYNE ST. THOMAS, 

 DEFENDANT-APPELLANT. 

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CASE NO. 17 MA 0147 

OPINION 

CHARACTER OF PROCEEDINGS: Criminal Appeal from Court of Common 

Pleas of Mahoning County, Ohio 

Case No. 2014 CR 873 

JUDGMENT: Affirmed. 

APPEARANCES: 

For Plaintiff-Appellee Attorney Paul Gains 

Prosecuting Attorney 

Attorney Ralph Rivera 

Assistant Prosecutor 

21 West Boardman Street, 6th floor 

Youngstown, Ohio 44503-1426 

For Defendant-Appellant Dwayne St. Thomas PRO-SE 

A674-440 

P.O. Box 8000 

Conneaut, Ohio 44030 

JUDGES: 

Hon. Gene Donofrio 

Hon. Cheryl L. Waite 

Hon. Carol Ann Robb 

 

 

 Dated: February 27, 2018 
[Cite as State v. St. Thomas, 2018-Ohio-817.]

DONOFRIO, J. 

{¶1} Defendant-appellant, Dwayne St. Thomas, appeals from a Mahoning 

County Common Pleas Court judgment denying his request for jail-time credit. 

{¶2} On August 21, 2014, a Mahoning County Grand Jury indicted appellant 

on one count of trafficking in cocaine, a first-degree felony in violation of R.C. 

2925.03(A)(1)(C)(4)(f); one count of trafficking in heroin, a second-degree felony in 

violation of R.C. 2925.03(A)(1)(C)(6)(d); and two counts of trafficking in heroin, firstdegree felonies in violation of R.C. 2925.03(A)(1)(C)(6)(e). Appellant initially entered 

a not guilty plea. 

{¶3} On August 28, 2015, appellant changed his plea and entered a guilty 

plea to the charges. The trial court held a sentencing hearing on October 20, 2015. 

It sentenced appellant to three years on each of the four counts to be served 

concurrently for a total sentence of three years in prison. The court also ordered 

appellant’s sentence to run concurrently with his sentence in another case (2015 CR 

175). Additionally, the court granted appellant 547 days of jail-time credit along with 

future custody days while he awaited transport to prison. 

{¶4} On April 24, 2017, appellant, acting pro se, filed a motion for additional 

jail-time credit. In his motion, he argued that the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation 

and Correction (ODRC) only gave him credit for 255 days despite the trial court’s 

order that he was entitled to a credit of 547 days. Appellant requested credit for the 

balance of the days. He asserted he was entitled to 316 more days of credit. The 

trial court overruled appellant’s motion. 

{¶5} Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal on October 16, 2017. 

Appellant, still acting pro se, now raises a single assignment of error. 

{¶6} Appellant’s assignment of error states: 

THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION 

WHEN IT DENIED THE APPELLANT'S MOTION FOR JAIL-TIME 

CREDIT PURSUANT TO FUGATE AND CACCAMO. 

{¶7} Appellant’s argument here is two-fold. First, appellant asserts the 
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ODRC did not credit him with the 547 days the trial court found he was entitled to. 

Instead, he asserts the ODRC only gave him credit for 255 days. 

{¶8} In State v. Slager, 10th Dist. No. 11AP-794, 2012-Ohio-3584, the Tenth 

District addressed the appellant’s argument as to whether ODRC correctly credited 

his jail-time credit in conformity with the trial court's judgment. The court determined: 

The proper method to make such a request, however, is not the 

filing of a post-conviction motion in the underlying criminal actionlitigation to which the ODRC is not a party. Rather, the proper method 

would be the filing of an original action. See State v. Berger, 170 Ohio 

App.3d 8, 11 (1984) ( “mandamus, rather than a motion in the trial court 

for credit for time served, is the proper remedy for enforcing a * * * right 

to have [a] sentence reduced by crediting time served prior to 

conviction.”) We note that this court has previously considered and 

resolved mandamus actions in which prisoners have sought 

extraordinary writs of mandamus compelling state prison officials to 

recognize jail-time credit consistent with a court's entry. State ex rel. 

Green v. Money, 10th Dist. No. 03AP-7, 2003-Ohio-4572. 

 In order to obtain a writ of mandamus, appellant would be 

required to demonstrate that: (1) he has a clear legal right to the relief 

prayed for; (2) that the respondent is under a clear legal duty to perform 

the act requested; and (3) that the relator has no plain and adequate 

remedy in the ordinary course of law. State ex rel. Thompson v. Ohio 

Adult Parole Auth., 10th Dist. No. 10AP-24, 2011-Ohio-429, ¶ 23, citing 

State ex rel. Berger v. McMonagle, 6 Ohio St.3d 28, 29 (1983). In this 

instance, appellant filed a motion for jail-time credit. In so doing, he has 

not demonstrated any of the criteria necessary for a court to consider 

whether appellant's request is warranted, nor has he named ODRC as 

a party. With this in mind, we cannot say the trial court erred in denying 

the motion, but the reasons for this conclusion differ from the reasons 
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articulated by the trial court and argued by the state. 

Id. at ¶¶ 16-17; (Footnotes omitted). 

{¶9} We reach the same conclusion here. The proper method for appellant 

to challenge the ODRC’s implementation of the trial court’s jail-time credit is by way 

of a mandamus action naming the ODRC as a party. 

{¶10} Appellant’s second argument is that the trial court did not properly 

determine his jail-time credit. Appellant argues that he was held in the Mahoning 

County Jail from the date of his arrest (September 3, 2014) until he was transferred 

to prison on November 13, 2015. He claims that he was held in jail on charges in a 

case other than the case at bar but that he is still entitled to jail-time credit for those 

days. Appellant requests that we remand this matter to the trial court with 

instructions to recalculate his jail-time credit. 

{¶11} Interestingly, appellant claims he is entitled to credit from September 3, 

2014 until November 13, 2015. This would be a credit of 437 days. The trial court 

gave him a credit of 547 days, plus credit for any additional days he spent in jail 

awaiting transfer to prison. So it is curious why appellant would raise this as an 

issue. 

{¶12} Moreover, appellant never filed a direct appeal from the trial court’s 

sentencing judgment entry. “While a defendant may challenge mathematical errors 

in calculating jail-time credit by filing a motion for correction with the trial court, and 

then by appealing the resulting judgment, the proper vehicle for challenging legal 

errors in the imposition of jail-time credit is via a direct appeal from the sentencing 

entry.” State v. Mason, 7th Dist. No. 10 CO 20, 2011-Ohio-3167, ¶ 13, citing State v. 

Parsons, 10th Dist. No. 03AP-1176, 2005-Ohio-457, at ¶¶ 7-8. Because appellant 

failed to raise the issue of whether the trial court made a legal error in imposing jailtime credit in a direct appeal, he cannot now raise this issue. See Id. 

{¶13} Accordingly, appellant's sole assignment of error is without merit and is 

overruled. 

{¶14} For the reasons stated above, the trial court’s judgment is hereby 
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affirmed. 

Waite, J., concurs 

Robb, P., J., concurs