11th District Criminal Court Appeals Update

The only thing worth reporting is a win on a sentencing case.  I included the other three just because it’s a light week.

State v. Miller, 2015-Ohio-2896, Trumbull County
Miller appeals pro se because the court denied his request for a transcript of his trial.  That’s not an order you can appeal.  Also, they already gave him one.  Appeal dismissed.  Cannon, Grendell, Rice.

State v. Purtilo, 2015-Ohio-2985, Lake County
A win for Willoughby attorney Charles Ruiz-Bueno off a case I handled at the trial level.  Purtilo got a mandatory 3 years for making meth.  He was already doing 4 years on an Ashtabula County case.  We argued that the sentences should be concurrent.  The trial court made them consecutive.  Ruiz-Bueno gets the consecutive sentence reversed because the judge didn’t make the proper findings.  O’Toole, Rice, Wright.

State ex rel Rackley v. Sloan, 2015-Ohio-2984, Ashtabula County
Rackley files a pro se petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus, arguing he should be immediately released from Lake Erie Correctional Institution.  His petition seems to be part of a big pile of stuff he threw at a wall to see what sticks.  This doesn’t.  Per curiam.

State v. Ernest, 2015-Ohio-2983, Lake County
Ernest caught a slew of charges, the worst of which was attempted murder with gun specifications, for shooting a semi-automatic rifle at a guy who hit his sister.  The court gave him 11 years total.  He appeals on weight and sufficiency grounds.  After last week I can’t say that those never win, but they rarely do.  He also appeals the length of his sentence, with similar results.  O’Toole, Grendell, Rice.