State v. Leonard, 2004 Ohio 3323 (OH 6/25/2004)
| Decision Date | 25 June 2004 |
| Docket Number | Appeal No. C-030492. |
| Citation | 2004 Ohio 3323 |
| Parties | Satate of Ohio, Respondent-Appellee, v. Patrick L. Leonard, Petitioner-Appellant. |
| Court | Ohio Supreme Court |
Michael K. Allen, Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney, and Ronald W. Springman, Jr., Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for Respondent-Appellee,
David H. Bodiker, Ohio Public Defender, Wendi Dotson and Randall Porter, Assistant Public Defenders, for Petitioner-Appellant.
DECISION.
{¶1} Petitioner-appellant Patrick L. Leonard has taken the instant appeal from the denial of his petition for postconviction relief. He advances on appeal six assignments of error. We hold that Leonard was entitled to a hearing on his claim challenging the trial court's order that he wear a stun belt during his trial. Accordingly, we reverse in part the judgment of the common pleas court denying his postconviction petition.
{¶2} In June of 2001, a Hamilton County jury found Leonard guilty of aggravated murder, felonious assault, attempted rape, and kidnapping, in connection with the shooting death of Dawn Flick and the wounding of Ryan Gries and Frank Minges. The trial court imposed for the charge of aggravated murder a sentence of death. Leonard's direct appeal remains pending before the Ohio Supreme Court.
{¶3} On July 30, 2002, Leonard filed with the common pleas court a petition, pursuant to R.C. 2953.21, to vacate or to set aside his convictions. He presented in his petition twelve claims for relief. The common pleas court denied the petition, and this appeal ensued.
{¶4} Leonard contends in his first assignment of error that the common pleas court's adoption of the findings of fact and conclusions of law submitted by the state violated his constitutional right to due process of law. In his second assignment of error, he challenges the adequacy of those findings of fact and conclusions of law. These challenges are untenable.
{¶5} The common pleas court's adoption of the findings of facts and conclusions of law submitted by the state did not, by itself, constitute error. See State v. Calhoun, 86 Ohio St.3d 279, 1999-Ohio-102, 714 N.E.2d 905. And we are unable to conclude that Leonard was thereby prejudiced, when the findings of fact and conclusions of law covered and pertained to the issues presented and provided the legal and evidentiary bases for the court's decision. See id., paragraph three of the syllabus; accord State v. Issa (Sept. 29, 2000), 1st Dist. No. C-000091. We, therefore, overrule the first and second assignments of error.
{¶6} We address together Leonard's remaining assignments of error. He contends in his third and fourth assignments of error that the common pleas court erred in dismissing his postconviction claims without affording him discovery or the funds to retain experts to aid him in developing his claims. In his fifth assignment of error, he charges that the common pleas court erred in applying the doctrine of res judicata to bar his claims. And in his sixth assignment of error, he challenges the denial of his claims without an evidentiary hearing. We find these challenges to be well taken in part.
{¶7} To prevail on a postconviction claim, the petitioner must demonstrate a denial or infringement of his rights in the proceedings resulting in his conviction that rendered the conviction void or voidable under the Ohio Constitution or the United States Constitution. See R.C. 2953.21(A)(1). In advancing such a claim, the petitioner bears the initial burden of demonstrating, through the petition and any supporting affidavits and the files and records of the case, "substantive grounds for relief." See R.C. 2953.21(C).
{¶8} A postconviction claim is subject to dismissal without a hearing if the petitioner has failed to submit with his petition evidentiary material setting forth sufficient operative facts to demonstrate substantive grounds for relief. See id.; State v. Pankey (1981), 68 Ohio St.2d 58, 428 N.E.2d 413; State v. Jackson (1980), 64 Ohio St.2d 107, 413 N.E.2d 819. Conversely, "the court must proceed to a prompt hearing on the issues" if "the petition and the files and records of the case show the petitioner is * * * entitled to relief." R.C. 2953.21(E).
{¶9} We note that the common pleas court denied most of Leonard's claims for relief, in whole or in part, under the doctrine of res judicata. "Under the doctrine of res judicata, a final judgment of conviction bars a convicted defendant who was represented by counsel from raising and litigating in any proceeding[,] except an appeal from that judgment, any defense or any claimed lack of due process that was raised or could have been raised by the defendant at the trial [that] resulted in that judgment of conviction[] or on an appeal from that judgment." State v. Perry (1967), 10 Ohio St.2d 175, 226 N.E.2d 104, paragraph nine of the syllabus. Thus, a common pleas court may apply the doctrine of res judicata to dismiss a postconviction claim, when the claim presents a matter that could fairly have been determined without resort to evidence dehors the record. Id.;State v. Cole (1982), 2 Ohio St.3d 112, 114, 443 N.E.2d 169.
{¶10} We further note that Leonard's third and fourth assignments of error present, in essence, a challenge to the common pleas court's failure to permit discovery. We have long held that the postconviction statutes do not contemplate discovery in the initial stages of a postconviction proceeding. See State v. Zuern (Dec. 4, 1991), 1st Dist. Nos. C-900481 and C-910229; accordState v. Byrd (2001), 145 Ohio App.3d 318, 332-333, 762 N.E.2d 1043. We have also determined that the failure of the statutes to so provide does not contravene any state or federal constitutional right. See State v. Jones (Dec. 29, 2000), 1st Dist. No. C-990813. Thus, Leonard was entitled to discovery to develop his claims and the experts to aid in that discovery only if the petition and its supporting evidentiary material demonstrated substantive grounds for relief. See State v. Issa, 1st Dist. No. C-000793, 2001-Ohio-3910.
{¶11} In his second claim for relief, Leonard contended that he was denied his constitutional right to a fair trial by the prosecution's use of subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and to secure the production of documents for "nonjudicial" pretrial proceedings. In support of this claim, Leonard offered evidence of subpoenas that had been served upon a Kentucky law enforcement officer and upon a hospital's records custodian, ordering them to appear before the court, but directing them to report to the office of the prosecuting attorney. He also offered the affidavit of the mother of two of his children, who attested to her experience in responding to such a subpoena.
{¶12} Crim.R. 17 authorizes a court to issue a subpoena only to compel the attendance of a witness or the production of documents at a proceeding over which the trial court has jurisdiction. The rule does not compel a prospective witness to attend, or provide a means for discovery at, a pretrial interview with law enforcement officials. State v. Campbell (Jan. 8, 1997), 1st Dist. No. C-950746 (); accord State v. Cleveland Plain Dealer (June 15, 1979), 8th App. Nos. 40531, 40532 and 40533. The remedy for a violation of the rule must be tailored to the prejudice sustained by the accused. Therefore, no remedial action is required when the accused has not been prejudiced. See Campbell, supra.
{¶13} The evidence offered in support of the second claim showed that the prosecution misused the Crim.R. 17 subpoena power. But Leonard failed to demonstrate how the prosecution's misconduct in this regard had prejudiced him. We, therefore, hold that the common pleas court properly denied the second claim for relief, because Leonard failed to support the claim with evidentiary material setting forth sufficient operative facts to demonstrate substantive grounds for relief. See R.C. 2953.21(C); Pankey, supra; Jackson, supra.
{¶14} In his fourth claim for relief, Leonard contended that the underrepresentation of African Americans on his petit jury venire constituted a denial of his rights to due process and equal protection and of his right to a jury consisting of a fair cross-section of the community. He supported this claim with U.S. Census Bureau data for the county and juror questionnaires that had been completed by prospective jurors in his trial and in the trials of three other Hamilton County defendants who had been sentenced to death. This evidence was in existence and was available to the defense at the time of Leonard's trial. See State v. Coleman (Mar. 17, 1993), 1st Dist. No. C-900811. We, therefore, conclude that the common pleas court properly dismissed the fourth claim under the doctrine of res judicata. See State v. Jones, supra.
{¶15} In claims for relief three, five, six, seven, and eight, Leonard contended that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel by his trial counsel's inadequate and incompetent preparation and presentation of his case during the guilt and penalty phases of his trial. We find no merit to these challenges.
{¶16} To prevail on a claim of ineffective assistance of defense counsel, a postconviction petitioner must demonstrate (1) that counsel's performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness, and (2) that counsel's deficient performance prejudiced him. See Strickland v. Washington (1984), 466 U.S. 668, 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052; State v. Bradley (1989), 42 Ohio St.3d 136, 538 N.E.2d 373. To establish prejudice, the...
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