[Cite as McCormick v. Lu, 2019-Ohio-513.]
STATE OF OHIO ) IN THE COURT OF APPEALS
)ss: NINTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
COUNTY OF SUMMIT )
MOSES MCCORMICK C.A. No. 29094
Appellant
v. APPEAL FROM JUDGMENT
ENTERED IN THE
HSIU-CHEN LU COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
COUNTY OF SUMMIT, OHIO
Appellee CASE No. DR-2018-04-0953
DECISION AND JOURNAL ENTRY
Dated: February 13, 2019
CALLAHAN, Judge.
{¶1} Appellant, Moses McCormick, appeals an order of the Summit County Court of
Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Division, that dismissed his complaint. This Court affirms.
I.
{¶2} In 2016, Hsiu-Chen Lu filed a complaint for divorce from her husband, Moses
McCormick, in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Division. On
August 31, 2017, a notice of bankruptcy stay was filed with the Franklin County Court. Mr.
McCormick filed a complaint for divorce against Ms. Lu in the Summit County Court of
Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Division, on April 12, 2018. Ms. Lu moved to dismiss the
Summit County case, arguing that the same cause of action was pending in Franklin County.
The trial court granted her motion to dismiss, and Mr. McCormick appealed.
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II.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1
TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT DENIED THE APPELLANT HIS RIGHT
TO ENJOY AND DEFEND LIFE, LIBERTY, AND TO PROTECT AND
POSSESS OR ACQUIRE PROPERTY, AND SEEKING AND OBTAINING
HAPPINESS AND SAFETY. A VIOLATION OF ARTICLE I.01
INALIENABLE RIGHTS OF (THE OHIO CONSTITUTION).
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 2
TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT REFUSED THE RIGHT OF A VICTIM OF
A CRIME. A VIOLATION OF ARTICLE I.10(A)(3), ARTICLE
I.10(A)(4)ARTICLE I.10(A)(8) & ARTICLE I.10(D) RIGHTS OF VICTIMS OF
(THE OHIO CONSTITUTION).
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 3
TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN THEY DENIED APPELLANT REDRESS
FOR INJURY DONE HIM IN HIS LAND, GOODS, PERSON OR
REPUTATION. A VIOLATION OF ARTICLE I.16 REDRESS IN COURTS OF
(THE OHIO CONSTITUTION).
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 4
TRIAL COURT ERRED, APPELLANT INVOKED COMMON LAW
JURISDICTION IN THE LOWER COURT AND DEMANDS HIS 14TH
AMENDMENT RIGHT AND HIS 7TH AMENDMENT RIGHT SECURED BY
THE U.S. CONSTITUTION AND OHIO CONSTITUTION. APPELLANT
INVOKED ALL CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS AND WAIVED NONE IN
THIS COURT AND THE LOWER DIVORCE COURT. APPELLANT DOES
NOT REQUEST BUT APPELLANT DEMANDS HIS RIGHTS AND THIS
COURT AND THE LOWER COURT HAS AN OATH (A CONTRACT) TO
FACILITATE THOSE RIGHTS WHEN THEY ARE TIMELY INVOKED AND
THEY WERE.
{¶3} Mr. McCormick’s appellate brief lists four assignments of error and numerous
propositions that invoke portions of the United States and Ohio Constitutions, but he has not
developed an argument related to any. See generally App.R. 16(A)(7); Loc.R. 7(B)(7). His brief
also references allegations concerning the conduct of Ms. Lu, her attorney, and the Franklin
County Domestic Relations Court, but those references are outside of the record in this appeal
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and cannot form the basis of alleged error. See In re J.C., 186 Ohio App.3d 243, 2010-Ohio-637,
¶ 15 (9th Dist.). Because the Franklin County case is still pending, Mr. McCormick has the
opportunity to raise these arguments—constitutional and otherwise—in that forum. To the
extent that Mr. McCormick’s arguments can be construed to allege error in the trial court’s
decision to dismiss the Summit County case, they are not well-taken. See State ex rel. Phillips v.
Polcar, 50 Ohio St.2d 279 (1977), syllabus (“As between courts of concurrent jurisdiction, the
tribunal whose power is first invoked by the institution of proper proceedings acquires
jurisdiction, to the exclusion of all other tribunals, to adjudicate upon the whole issue and to
settle the rights of the parties.”).
{¶4} Mr. McCormick’s assignments of error are overruled.
III.
{¶5} Mr. McCormick’s assignments of error are overruled. The judgment of the
Summit County Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Division, is affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
There were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
We order that a special mandate issue out of this Court, directing the Court of Common
Pleas, County of Summit, State of Ohio, to carry this judgment into execution. A certified copy
of this journal entry shall constitute the mandate, pursuant to App.R. 27.
Immediately upon the filing hereof, this document shall constitute the journal entry of
judgment, and it shall be file stamped by the Clerk of the Court of Appeals at which time the
period for review shall begin to run. App.R. 22(C). The Clerk of the Court of Appeals is
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instructed to mail a notice of entry of this judgment to the parties and to make a notation of the
mailing in the docket, pursuant to App.R. 30.
Costs taxed to Appellant.
LYNNE S. CALLAHAN
FOR THE COURT
TEODOSIO, P. J.
HENSAL, J.
CONCUR.
APPEARANCES:
MOSES MCCORMICK, pro se, Appellant.
STACEY GILBERT ORSBORNE, Attorney at Law, for Appellee.