[Cite as State ex rel. Branco v. Haas, 2013-Ohio-3836.]
COURT OF APPEALS
STARK COUNTY, OHIO
FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
STATE OF OHIO, ex rel., : JUDGES:
RAFEAL VERNON BRANCO :
: Hon. William B. Hoffman, P.J.
Relator : Hon. Patricia A. Delaney, J.
: Hon. Craig R. Baldwin, J.
:
-vs- :
:
JUDGE JOHN G. HAAS, : Case No. 2013CA00096
STARK COUNTY COURT OF :
COMMON PLEAS :
:
Respondent : OPINION
CHARACTER OF PROCEEDING: Writ of Mandamus
JUDGMENT: Dismissed
DATE OF JUDGMENT: September 3, 2013
APPEARANCES:
For Relator For Respondent
RAFEAL VERNON BRANCO #234-003 JOHN D. FERRERO, JR.
P.O. Box 8107 Stark County Prosecuting Attorney
Mansfield, OH 44901
BY: RONALD MARK CALDWELL
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney
110 Central Plaza, South
Suite 510
Canton, OH 44702-1413
Stark County, Case No. 2013CA00096 2
Baldwin, J.
{¶1} Relator, Rafeal Vernon Branco, has filed a Complaint for Writ of
Mandamus requesting Respondent, Judge John G. Haas, issue an order requiring the
Ohio Adult Parole Authority to consider releasing Relator on parole.
{¶2} On May 20, 1991, Relator was sentenced to a term of twenty years to life
in prison with parole eligibility after twenty years on one count of murder, a term of ten
to twenty-five years on one count of Aggravated Burglary, and a term of ten to twenty-
five years on one count of Aggravated Robbery. These sentences were ordered to be
served consecutive to one another. Relator argues once he served twenty years, he
was entitled to have a parole hearing.
{¶3} Respondent has filed a motion to dismiss the complaint. Relator has filed
a motion for summary judgment.
{¶4} Initially, we find Relator has failed to name a proper respondent. Relator
offers no authority for the proposition that the named respondent is authorized to issue
orders requiring the Adult Parole Authority to conduct parole hearings. A writ will not
issue against an improper party. State ex rel. Isom v. Ohio Adult Parole Authority, 2002
WL 31243517, *2 (Ohio App. 7 Dist.).
{¶5} Even if we were to find Respondent was a correct party to this action,
Relator has failed to establish he is entitled to have a writ of mandamus issue. “To be
entitled to the requested extraordinary relief, [a relator] must establish a clear legal right
to the requested relief, a clear legal duty on the part of appellees to provide it, and the
lack of an adequate remedy in the ordinary course of the law. State ex rel. Waters v.
Stark County, Case No. 2013CA00096 3
Spaeth, 131 Ohio St.3d 55, 2012-Ohio-69, 960 N.E.2d 452, ¶ 6. [A relator] must prove
that they are entitled to the writ by clear and convincing evidence. Id. at ¶ 13.
{¶6} Ohio law gives a convicted inmate “no legitimate claim of entitlement to
parole prior to the expiration of a valid sentence of imprisonment.” State ex rel. Seikbert
v. Wilkinson, 69 Ohio St.3d 489, 490, 633 N.E.2d 1128 (1994). The statute granting the
parole authority discretion to grant parole, R.C. 2967.03, “creates no expectancy of
parole or a constitutional liberty interest sufficient to establish a right of procedural due
process.” Id., citing Hattie v. Anderson, 68 Ohio St.3d 232, 233, 626 N.E.2d 67 (1994);
State ex rel. Adkins v. Capots, 46 Ohio St.3d 187, 188, 546 N.E.2d 412 (1989). It
follows that, an inmate has no constitutional or statutory right to parole, he has no
concomitant right to a particular date for the consideration of parole, and a change in
such dates is not a constitutional violation. State ex rel. Henderson v. Ohio Dept. of
Rehab. & Corr., 81 Ohio St.3d 267, 268, 690 N.E.2d 887 (1998).”
{¶7} Relator cannot establish that he has a clear legal right to a parole hearing.
Relator’s sentence has not expired. Further, as previously noted, Relator cannot
establish any legal duty on the part of the named Respondent to order a parole hearing
to take place.
Stark County, Case No. 2013CA00096 4
{¶8} For these reasons, the requested writ of mandamus will not issue. The
complaint is dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.
By: Baldwin, J.
Hoffman, P. J. and
Delaney, J. concur.
HON. CRAIG R. BALDWIN
HON. WILLIAM B. HOFFMAN
HON. PATRICIA A. DELANEY
CRB/ ads
[Cite as State ex rel. Branco v. Haas, 2013-Ohio-3836.]
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR STARK COUNTY, OHIO
FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
STATE OF OHIO, ex rel., :
RAFEAL VERNON BRANCO :
:
Relator :
:
:
-vs- : JUDGMENT ENTRY
:
JUDGE JOHN G. HAAS, :
STARK COUNTY COURT OF :
COMMON PLEAS
:
Respondent : CASE NO. 2013CA00096
For the reasons stated in our accompanying Memorandum-Opinion on file, the
Complaint is dismissed. Costs assessed to relator.
HON. CRAIG R. BALDWIN
HON. WILLIAM B. HOFFMAN
HON. PATRICIA A. DELANEY
State ex rel. Branco v. Haas
Combined Opinion