[Cite as State v. Jordan, 2020-Ohio-1018.]
STATE OF OHIO ) IN THE COURT OF APPEALS
)ss: NINTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
COUNTY OF SUMMIT )
STATE OF OHIO C.A. No. 29403
Appellee
v. APPEAL FROM JUDGMENT
ENTERED IN THE
ROBERT E. JORDAN, JR. COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
COUNTY OF SUMMIT, OHIO
Appellant CASE No. CR-2014-06-1798-A
DECISION AND JOURNAL ENTRY
Dated: March 18, 2020
HENSAL, Judge.
{¶1} Robert Jordan appeals from the judgment of the Summit County Court of
Common Pleas, denying his motion to vacate a void judgment. This Court affirms.
I.
{¶2} This Court previously set forth the procedural background of this case as follows:
On June 30, 2014, the Summit County Grand Jury indicted Jordan and several
codefendants on a myriad of charges related to the murder of Shawn Dotson.
After pleading not guilty to the charges at arraignment, Jordan filed a motion to
sever his trial from one of his co-defendants. The trial court denied the motion.
Jordan subsequently appeared for a change-of-plea hearing and pleaded guilty to
one count of murder with a firearm specification as well as one count of
aggravated burglary. The remaining charges were dismissed pursuant to the
agreement. In accordance with the joint recommendation by the parties in the
plea agreement, the trial court sentenced Jordan to a total sentence of 18 years to
life.
State v. Jordan, 9th Dist. Summit No. 27690, 2015-Ohio-4354, ¶ 2. Mr. Jordan then moved to
file a delayed appeal, which this Court granted. Id. at ¶ 3. On appeal, he argued that his guilty
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plea was not knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily made. Id. at ¶ 4. This Court disagreed,
and affirmed the decision of the trial court. Id. at ¶ 7.
{¶3} Several months later, Mr. Jordan filed a petition to vacate or set aside the
judgment of conviction or sentence, which the trial court denied. He appealed that decision, but
later moved to voluntarily dismiss that appeal. This Court granted Mr. Jordan’s motion to
dismiss in October 2016. Then, over two years later, Mr. Jordan filed a motion to vacate a void
judgment, arguing that his conviction was void on the basis that the original complaint filed in
the municipal court was not notarized, and because the warrant was not signed. The trial court
denied his motion, and Mr. Jordan now appeals that decision.
II.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR
TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO VACATE THE JUDGMENT
BELOW.
{¶4} In his assignment of error, Mr. Jordan argues that the trial court erred by failing to
vacate his void conviction. This Court disagrees.
{¶5} Initially, we note that Mr. Jordan’s merit brief attempts to incorporate by
reference all of the arguments he made in his briefing below. This Court, however, will only
consider the arguments properly presented to this Court on appeal. See App.R. 16(A); App.R.
12(A)(2); Deutsche Bank Natl. Tr. Co. v. Taylor, 9th Dist. Summit No. 28069, 2016-Ohio-7090,
¶ 14, fn.1 (“Parties cannot simply incorporate by reference arguments that they made to the trial
court in their appellate brief.”). We now turn to the applicable law.
{¶6} As the Ohio Supreme Court has stated, “[t]he jurisdiction of a trial court is
invoked by a valid indictment or information and is not dependent upon the validity of the
process by which the accused is originally apprehended.” Simpson v. Maxwell, 1 Ohio St.2d 71,
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71 (1964). “[I]n a felony case, the accused is tried upon the indictment returned by the grand
jury and not upon the original complaint filed in municipal court.” State v. Sands, 6th Dist.
Huron No. H-14-004, 2014-Ohio-3439, ¶ 7, citing Dowell v. Maxwell, 174 Ohio St. 289, 290
(1963). “Where the indictment provides the accused with sufficient notice of the charges, the
trial court possesses and properly exercises subject matter jurisdiction.” Sands at ¶ 7, citing State
v. Joseph, 73 Ohio St.3d 450, 456 (1995). “Thus, the issuance of a grand jury indictment renders
any defect in the complaint or warrant moot.” State v. Rogers, 10th Dist. Franklin No. 17AP-
610, 2018-Ohio-1073, ¶ 13, citing Clinger v. Maxwell, 175 Ohio St. 540, 541-542 (1964); State
v. Heard, 9th Dist. Summit No. 27340, 2015-Ohio-664, ¶ 4 (“The Supreme Court has also noted
that a flaw in a complaint is harmless error if the indictment puts a defendant on notice of all
elements for each offense charged in the indictment.”).
{¶7} Here, Mr. Jordan challenges the validity of the complaint and warrant, which – he
argues – formed the basis of the indictment. He argues that since the complaint and warrant
were invalid, the indictment was likewise invalid and, therefore, his conviction cannot stand.
Mr. Jordan points to federal case law in support of his position that he has not waived this issue
by failing to challenge the indictment prior to trial.
{¶8} Mr. Jordan’s arguments are unpersuasive. Any alleged defects in the complaint or
warrant were rendered moot by the issuance of the grand jury indictment, which Mr. Jordan has
not challenged as failing to provide him with sufficient notice of the charges against him.
Rogers at ¶ 13; see Heard at ¶ 4. This Court, therefore, cannot say that the trial erred when it
denied Mr. Jordan’s motion to vacate a void judgment. Mr. Jordan’s assignment of error is
overruled.
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III.
{¶9} Mr. Jordan’s assignment of error is overruled. The judgment of the Summit
County Court of Common Pleas 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
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.
JENNIFER HENSAL
FOR THE COURT
CARR, P. J.
TEODOSIO, J.
CONCUR.
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APPEARANCES:
ROBERT E. JORDAN, JR., pro se, Appellant.
SHERRI BEVAN WALSH, Prosecuting Attorney, and JACQUENETTE S. CORGAN, Assistant
Prosecuting Attorney, for Appellee.