Court Opinion

ID: 9961391
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-18 16:14:06.347757+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:20:41.407494
License: Public Domain

[Cite as State ex rel. Rance v. Corrigan, 2024-Ohio-1479.]

                               COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO

                              EIGHTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
                                 COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA

STATE EX REL., WILLIAM A.
RANCE,                                                :

                 Relator,                             :
                                                                No. 113680
        v.                                            :

JUDGE PETER J. CORRIGAN,                              :

                 Respondent.                          :

                                JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION

                 JUDGMENT: COMPLAINT DENIED
                 RELEASED AND JOURNALIZED: April 12, 2024

                                           Writ of Procedendo
                                           Motion No. 572990
                                           Order No. 573404

                                             Appearances:

                 William A. Rance, pro se.

                 Michael C. O’Malley, Cuyahoga County Prosecuting
                 Attorney, and James E. Moss, Assistant Prosecuting
                 Attorney, for respondent.

ANITA LASTER MAYS, J.:

                   Relator, William A. Rance, seeks a writ of procedendo to direct

respondent, Judge Peter J. Corrigan, to rule on a petition for postconviction relief

filed in an underlying criminal case. Respondent has demonstrated that a decision
was entered in the underlying case, rendering the present claim for relief moot.

Accordingly, respondent’s motion for summary judgment is granted and the request

for writ of procedendo is denied as moot.

      I. Background

              On February 29, 2024, Rance filed a complaint for a writ of

procedendo. There, he alleged that in State v. Rance, Cuyahoga C.P. No. CR-14-

589511-A, he filed a petition to vacate and/or set aside judgment of conviction on

September 27, 2022. He further alleged that the petition remained pending at the

time the complaint was filed. Rance claimed he was entitled to a writ of procedendo

to compel respondent to rule on the pending filing.

              On March 18, 2024, respondent filed a motion for summary

judgment. Respondent asserted that Rance’s request for writ of procedendo was

moot because respondent entered a judgment on Rance’s petition on March 12,

2024. Respondent attached a certified nine-page journal entry and opinion that

denied the petition. The order was also incorporated by an affidavit provided by

respondent’s counsel. Respondent also argued that Rance’s complaint was defective

because he failed to comply with R.C. 2969.25(C) by filing an affidavit of indigency

and affidavit of waiver that included a statement of his inmate account for the

preceding six months as certified by the institutional cashier. Rance did not timely

oppose the motion for summary judgment.
      II. Law and Analysis

                A. Procedendo

                “A writ of procedendo is an extraordinary remedy in the form of an

order from a higher tribunal directing a lower tribunal to proceed to judgment.”

State ex rel. Bechtel v. Cornachio, 164 Ohio St.3d 579, 2021-Ohio-1121, 174 N.E.3d

744, ¶ 7, quoting State ex rel. Mignella v. Indus. Comm., 156 Ohio St.3d 251, 2019-

Ohio-463, 125 N.E.3d 844, ¶ 7. “The writ does not instruct the lower court as to what

the judgment should be; rather, it merely instructs the lower court to issue a

judgment.” Id., citing State ex rel. Sherrills v. Cuyahoga Cty. Court of Common

Pleas, 72 Ohio St.3d 461, 462, 650 N.E.2d 899 (1995).

                The case is before this court on respondent’s motion for summary

judgment. Summary judgment, defined in Civ.R. 56, is appropriate if

      the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, written
      admissions, affidavits, transcripts of evidence, and written stipulations
      of fact, if any, timely filed in the action, show that there is no genuine
      issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to
      judgment as a matter of law. No evidence or stipulation may be
      considered except as stated in this rule. A summary judgment shall not
      be rendered unless it appears from the evidence or stipulation, and only
      from the evidence or stipulation, that reasonable minds can come to,
      but one conclusion and that conclusion is adverse to the party against
      whom the motion for summary judgment is made, that party being
      entitled to have the evidence or stipulation construed most strongly in
      the party’s favor.

Civ.R. 56(C).
               B. Mootness

               A complaint for writ of procedendo may become moot, when during

the pendency of the proceeding, the respondent proceeds to judgment in the

underlying action. Bechtel, 164 Ohio St.3d 579, 2021-Ohio-1121, 174 N.E.3d 744, at

¶ 9. A court cannot compel a respondent to perform an action that has already been

performed. State ex rel. Roberts v. Marsh, 159 Ohio St.3d 457, 2020-Ohio-1540,

151 N.E.3d 625, ¶ 6.

               Based on the journal entry and opinion attached to respondent’s

motion for summary judgment, the present action is moot. Respondent entered an

order deciding Rance’s petition filed in the underlying case. Therefore, respondent

has demonstrated that he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.1

               Respondent’s motion for summary judgment is granted. Rance’s

request for a writ of procedendo is denied. Costs assessed against respondent; costs

    1 Respondent also asserts that relator’s complaint is defective because he must

comply with R.C. 2969.25(C). Respondent argues Rance is an incarcerated individual
that has initiated an action against a governmental agency or employee. For support,
respondent points to a website maintained by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and
Correction that states Rance is or was incarcerated at North Central Correctional
Institution. However, a more thorough review of the information contained on this
website indicates that relator was released and is currently under the supervision of the
Ohio Adult Parole Authority for a five-year period of postrelease control. Rance listed a
Richmond Heights address in the caption of the complaint that is not associated with the
North Central Correctional Institution. Rance’s affidavit of indigency also states that he
was recently, but no longer, incarcerated. Because the case is resolved on mootness
grounds, this court is not required to endeavor to determine as a matter of law whether
R.C. 2969.25 applies to Rance’s complaint.
waived. The clerk is directed to serve on the parties notice of this judgment and its

date of entry upon the journal. Civ.R. 58(B).

              Writ denied.

ANITA LASTER MAYS, JUDGE

EILEEN T. GALLAGHER, P.J., and
FRANK DANIEL CELEBREZZE, III, J., CONCUR