Ninth District Opinions for May 22, 2013

The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Appellate District released six opinions for cases that were appeals from Summit County on May 22, 2013. The cases are:

State v. Wingate, 2013-Ohio-2079 affirmed the conviction of Wingate by the Summit County Common Pleas Court. Wingate had appealed arguing that her conviction was against the manifest weight of the evidence; that the trial court should have granted her Crim. R. 29 motion for directed verdict; that the trial court impermissibly commented on the veracity of one of the witnesses when sustaining an objection during closing argument; and that the prosecutor had made improper remarks during the State's closing argument. The Court of Appeals overruled all of Wingate's assignments of error. 

State v. Thomas, 2013-Ohio-2078 reversed and remanded a decision from the Summit County Common Pleas Court that had denied his motion to vacate post-release control. The Common Pleas Court had imposed an indefinite period of post-release control instead of the mandatory five year period. The Court of Appeals held that under State v. Fischer, 128 Ohio St.3d 92, 2010-Ohio-6238, a defendant may raise the issue of improper imposition of post-release control at any time and that the trial court should have vacated the post-release control even though Thomas had served his prison sentence. 

State v. McIntyre, 2013-Ohio-2077 affirmed a decision from the Summit County Common Pleas Court that denied nine motions that McIntyre had filed following his conviction. The Court of Appeals noted that McIntyre had filed "countless motions and numerous appeals" in affirming the trial court's ruling on the nine motions. 

Green v. Helms, 2013-Ohio-2075 affirmed a decision from the Summit County Common Pleas Court that had granted the City of Green's motion for summary judgment. The trial court found that Helms' outdoor storage of business materials was prohibited by the city's zoning code. By a 2-1 decision the Court of Appeals agreed with the trial court.