Pratts v. Hurley

• Decision Date: 05 May 2004
• Docket Number: 2003-0560,Case No. 2003-0392
• Parties: Pratts, Appellant, v. Hurley, Appellee.
• Court: Ohio Supreme Court

102 Ohio St.3d 81

2004-Ohio-1980

806 NE 2d 992

2004-Ohio-1980

Pratts, Appellant, v. Hurley, Appellee.

Case Nos. 2003-0392, 2003-0560

In the Supreme Court of Ohio.

Submitted December 3, 2003.

Decided May 5, 2004.

LUNDBERG STRATTON, J.

{¶1} We are asked to decide whether the failure of a court to convene a three-judge panel, as required by R.C. 2945.06, deprives the court of subject-matter jurisdiction in a capital case when a defendant has waived the right to trial by jury, so as to render the trial court's judgment void ab initio and subject to collateral attack in habeas corpus.

{¶2} Appellant, Ruben Pratts, appeals from the dismissal of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus in which he challenged the subject-matter jurisdiction of the single judge who sentenced him in the Summit County Court of Common Pleas. In 1989, Pratts pleaded guilty to aggravated murder with death-penalty and firearm specifications and aggravated burglary with a firearm specification. The state had agreed not to seek the death penalty in exchange for the plea of guilty. At the sentencing hearing, appellant waived his right to a jury trial and agreed to submit his plea to a single judge in lieu of a three-judge panel. The judge accepted his plea and sentenced him to life in prison with parole eligibility after 20 full years for the charge of aggravated murder. Appellant did not file a direct appeal.

{¶3} In 2001, appellant petitioned the Summit County Court of Common Pleas for a writ of habeas corpus. He claimed that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to accept his plea to a capital offense because R.C. 2945.06 requires a three-judge panel if an accused is charged with an offense punishable by death and has waived a jury trial. The Summit County Common Pleas Court denied the writ as barred by res judicata because the appellant had not raised the issue at trial or in a direct appeal. State v. Pratts (Nov. 30, 2001), Summit C.P. No. CR 1988 12 1771. Pratts did not appeal from this decision.

{¶4} In April, appellant filed another petition for a writ of habeas corpus, this time in the Ross County Court of Common Pleas. The court dismissed the petition on June 25, 2002, finding that his claim was not cognizable in habeas corpus and was barred by res judicata.¹ The court of appeals affirmed. The court held that the sentencing of appellant by a single judge constituted an error in the exercise of jurisdiction under R.C. 2945.06 that was not subject to collateral attack and that the claim was also barred by res judicata.

{¶5} The court of appeals subsequently determined that its decision was in conflict with State v. Brock (1996), 110 Ohio App.3d 656, 675 N.E.2d 18, and State v. Noggle (June 24, 1999), Crawford App. No. 3-99-08, 1999 WL 446440, on the following rule of law:

{¶6} "When a defendant charged with an offense punishable by death waives his or her right to trial by jury and elects to be tried by the court, does the failure of the court to convene a three-judge panel, as required by R.C. 2945.06, constitute a lack of subject-matter jurisdiction rendering the trial court's judgment void ab initio and subject to collateral attack in habeas corpus; or is the error one in the exercise of jurisdiction, which is waived if not raised on direct appeal, thereby foreclosing collateral attack in habeas corpus and/or making the defense of res judicata available to defend against the collateral attack?"

{¶7} This cause is now before this court upon our determination that a conflict exists (case No. 2003-0560), and pursuant to the acceptance of a discretionary appeal (case No. 2003-0392).

{¶8} Appellant seeks a writ of habeas corpus, which is an extraordinary remedy available where there is an unlawful restraint of a person's liberty and no adequate remedy at law. Agee v. Russell (2001), 92 Ohio St.3d 540, 544, 751 N.E.2d 1043; State ex rel. Larkins v. Baker (1995), 73 Ohio St.3d 658, 659, 653 N.E.2d 701. Habeas corpus will lie when a judgment is void due to lack of jurisdiction. Pegan v. Crawmer (1996), 76 Ohio St.3d 97, 99, 666 N.E.2d 1091. However, it is not the proper remedy for reviewing errors by a court that properly had subject-matter jurisdiction. Blackburn v. Jago (1988), 39 Ohio St.3d 139, 529 N.E.2d 929.

{¶9} In this case, appellant argues that his conviction and the sentencing order are void because the single judge who entertained his plea of guilty and sentenced him violated R.C. 2945.06 and, therefore, lacked subject-matter jurisdiction. He claims that he is entitled to relief in habeas corpus and immediate release from prison.

{¶10} We disagree. There is a distinction between a court that lacks subject-matter jurisdiction over a case and a court that improperly exercises that subject-matter jurisdiction once conferred upon it. Therefore, for the reasons that follow, we hold that the failure of the trial court to convene a three-judge panel, as required by R.C. 2945.06, does not constitute a lack of subject-matter jurisdiction that renders the court's judgment void ab initio and subject to collateral attack in habeas corpus.

{¶11} "Jurisdiction" means "the courts' statutory or constitutional power to adjudicate the case." (Emphasis omitted.) Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment (1998), 523 U.S. 83, 89, 118 S.Ct. 1003, 140 L.Ed.2d 210; Morrison v. Steiner (1972), 32 Ohio St.2d 86, 87, 61 O.O.2d 335, 290 N.E.2d 841, paragraph one of the syllabus. The term encompasses jurisdiction over the subject matter and over the person. State v. Parker, 95 Ohio St.3d 524, 2002-Ohio-2833, 769 N.E.2d 846, ¶22 (Cook, J., dissenting). Because subject-matter jurisdiction goes to the power of the court to adjudicate the merits of a case, it can never be waived and may be challenged at any time. United States v. Cotton (2002), 535 U.S. 625, 630, 122 S.Ct. 1781, 152 L.Ed.2d 860; State ex rel. Tubbs Jones v. Suster (1998), 84 Ohio St.3d 70, 75, 701 N.E.2d 1002. It is a "condition precedent to the court's ability to hear the case. If a court acts without jurisdiction, then any proclamation by that court is void." Id.; Patton v. Diemer (1988), 35 Ohio St.3d 68, 518 N.E.2d 941, paragraph three of the syllabus.

{¶12} The term "jurisdiction" is also used when referring to a court's exercise of its jurisdiction over a particular case. See State v. Parker, 95 Ohio St.3d 524, 2002-Ohio-2833, 769 N.E.2d 846, ¶20 (Cook, J., dissenting); State v. Swiger (1998), 125 Ohio App.3d 456, 462, 708 N.E.2d 1033. "`The third category of jurisdiction i.e., jurisdiction over the particular case encompasses the trial court's authority to determine a specific case within that class of cases that is within its subject matter jurisdiction. It is only when the trial court lacks subject matter jurisdiction that its judgment is void; lack of jurisdiction over the particular case merely renders the judgment voidable.' " Parker at ¶22 (Cook, J., dissenting), quoting Swiger, 125 Ohio App.3d at 462, 708 N.E.2d 1033. "Once a tribunal has jurisdiction over both the subject matter of an action and the parties to it, `* * * the right to hear and determine is perfect; and the decision of every question thereafter arising is but the exercise of the jurisdiction thus conferred * * *.' " State ex rel. Pizza v. Rayford (1992), 62 Ohio St.3d 382, 384, 582 N.E.2d 992, quoting Sheldon's Lessee v. Newton (1854), 3 Ohio St. 494, 499.

{¶13} The court of common pleas has original jurisdiction over crimes and offenses committed by an adult, with certain exceptions irrelevant here. R.C. 2931.03. See, also, Section 4(B), Article IV, Ohio Constitution. Appellant does not dispute that his case was properly filed in common pleas court. However, he contends that the different statutory procedures for death penalty cases create a unique form of jurisdiction in the common pleas courts that must be followed in order for the trial court to acquire subject-matter jurisdiction in those cases.

{¶14} The applicable statute in this case is R.C. 2945.06, which authorizes a judge of the court in which the case is pending to hear and decide a criminal case where a defendant has waived the right to a jury trial. The statute makes special provisions for the defendant charged with "an offense punishable with death" who has waived a jury trial. In such cases, the defendant "shall be tried by a court to be composed of three judges * * *. * * * If the accused pleads guilty of aggravated murder, a court composed of three judges shall examine the witnesses, determine whether the accused is guilty of aggravated murder or any other offense, and pronounce sentence accordingly." Courts must strictly comply with these procedures. See State v. Pless (1996), 74 Ohio St.3d 333, 658 N.E.2d 766 (holding that the written waiver requirements of R.C. 2945.05 must be strictly observed).

{¶15} In support of his argument, appellant cites State v. Parker. He contends that Parker established a bright-line rule that the three-judge panel is a jurisdictional matter that cannot be waived.

{¶16} Vincent Parker pleaded guilty to certain charges, including a capital offense, in exchange for the state's agreement not to seek the death penalty. However, the indictment was never amended to delete the death-penalty specification. Parker waived his right to a jury trial and his right to a three-judge panel, and a single trial judge presided over his guilty pleas and pronounced his sentence.

{¶17} Parker filed a direct appeal in which he claimed that the sole judge lacked jurisdiction to accept his plea because of the presence of the death-penalty specification. The court of appeals agreed and vacated his sentence, remanding to the trial court for further proceedings.

{¶18} In Parker, we affirmed, holding that "a defendant charged with a crime punishable by death who has waived his right to trial by jury must, pursuant to R.C. 2945.06 and Crim.R. 11(C)(3), have his case heard and decided by a three-judge panel even if the...