State v. Pointer

[Cite as State v. Pointer, 2014-Ohio-2383.] Court of Appeals of Ohio EIGHTH APPELLATE DISTRICT COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION No. 85195 STATE OF OHIO PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE vs. DENNIS POINTER DEFENDANT-APPELLANT JUDGMENT: APPLICATION DENIED Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Case No. CR-294529 Application for Reopening Motion No. 473259 RELEASED DATE: June 3, 2014 -i- FOR APPELLANT Dennis W. Pointer, pro se Inmate No. 0169-139 P.O. Box 5600 Cleveland, Ohio 44101 ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Timothy J. McGinty Cuyahoga County Prosecutor By: Diane Smilanick Assistant County Prosecutor 8th Floor Justice Center 1200 Ontario Street Cleveland, Ohio 44113 PATRICIA ANN BLACKMON, P.J.: {¶1} Dennis Pointer has filed an application for reopening pursuant to App.R. 26(B). Pointer is attempting to reopen the appellate judgment, journalized in State v. Pointer, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 85195, 2005-Ohio-3587, which affirmed the denial of a motion to withdraw a plea of guilty filed in State v. Pointer, Cuyahoga C.P. No. CR-351032. We decline to reopen Pointer’s appeal. {¶2} The appeal, which formed the basis of Pointer’s application for reopening, concerned a postconviction motion. Specifically, Pointer’s appeal involved an appeal from the denial of his motion to withdraw his plea of guilty. An application for reopening, brought pursuant to App.R. 26(B) can only be employed to reopen an appeal from the judgment of conviction and sentence, based upon a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. See State v. Loomer, 76 Ohio St.3d 398, 667 N.E.2d 1209 (1996). See also State v. Bronczyk, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 98664, 2013-Ohio-3129; State v. Nicholson, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 97873, 2013-Ohio-1786; and State v. Townsend, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 97544, 2013-Ohio-1653. Because App.R. 26(B) applies only to the direct appeal of a criminal conviction and sentence, it cannot now be employed to reopen the appeal that dealt with a denial of a postconviction motion to withdraw a plea of guilty. {¶3} Accordingly, the application for reopening is denied. PATRICIA ANN BLACKMON, PRESIDING JUDGE EILEEN T. GALLAGHER, J., and TIM McCORMACK, J., CONCUR