State v. Hamilton , 2023 Ohio 415 ( 2023 )

[Cite as State v. Hamilton, 2023-Ohio-415.]
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO
ELEVENTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
LAKE COUNTY
STATE OF OHIO, CASE NO. 2022-L-074
Plaintiff-Appellee,
Civil Appeal from the
- vs - Court of Common Pleas
ANTON D. HAMILTON, JR.,
Trial Court No. 1999 CR 000231
Defendant-Appellant.
OPINION
Decided: February 13, 2023
Judgment: Affirmed
Charles E. Coulson, Lake County Prosecutor, and Teri R. Daniel, Assistant Prosecutor,
Lake County Administration Building, 105 Main Street, P.O. Box 490, Painesville, OH
44077 (For Plaintiff-Appellee).
Anton D. Hamilton, Jr., pro se, PID# A379-712, Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution,
2338 North West Street, P.O. Box 4501, Lima, OH 45802 (Defendant-Appellant).
MATT LYNCH, J.
{¶1} Defendant-appellant, Anton D. Hamilton, Jr., appeals the denial of his
Motion to Vacate a Void Judgment pursuant to State and Federal Law. For the following
reasons, we affirm the decision of the lower court.
{¶2} In 2004, following a jury trial in the Lake County Court of Common Pleas,
Hamilton was found guilty of Murder with a firearm specification. He is currently serving
an indefinite prison term of fifteen years to life with three additional years for the
specification.
{¶3} On June 6, 2022, Hamilton filed a Motion to Vacate Void Judgment pursuant
to State and Federal Law.
{¶4} On July 15, 2022, the trial court denied the motion. The court aptly
summarized Hamilton’s arguments as follows:
In his motion, [Hamilton] denied that it was a postconviction petition
but was instead a direct attack on a void judgment. He claims the
trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because the indictment
was filed the day after it was served on him. He also claims that the
indictment lacked a “true bill” stamp on it, that there was no grand
jury foreman signature on it, and there was no judge’s signature on
it. He claims the only signature on it was from an assistant Lake
County prosecutor. He further claims, without providing evidence,
that the indictment was “more than likely a forged and fraudulent
instrument” that was fabricated by the Lake County Prosecutor’s
office. He also, implausibly, claims that the State of Ohio refused to
accept and ratify the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution, thus depriving him of due process of law.
{¶5} The trial court considered Hamilton’s jurisdictional claims and concluded
that the Lake County Court of Common Pleas “had subject matter jurisdiction in the
complaint against Hamilton.” The court then construed Hamilton’s Motion as one for
postconviction relief: “although couched as a challenge to subject matter jurisdiction,
Hamilton’s motion to vacate merely raises a procedural issue and therefore shall be
treated as a postconviction petition.” Treated as such, the court found that it lacked
jurisdiction to consider the Motion inasmuch as Hamilton failed to satisfy the requirements
for filing successive petitions for postconviction relief. R.C. 2953.23(A). The court further
found Hamilton’s claim barred by res judicata as he “never raised the issue of subject
matter jurisdiction in his direct appeal or earlier postconviction petition.”
{¶6} On August 11, 2022, Hamilton filed a Notice of Appeal. On appeal, he
raises the following assignments of error:
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[1.] The trial court exceeded it[s] authority, and Abused it[s]
discretion, when it changed Appellant’s common law motion into a
post-conviction petition, as a means to continue a void judgment,
instead of ending it. In violation of state and federal due process.
[2.] The trial court exceeded it[s] authority by assuming personal
jurisdiction, not properly obtained, but the trial judge has abused his
discretion by claiming it was properly done.
[3.] The trial court exceeded it[s] authority and abused it[s] discretion
when it used a void indictment to claim subject matter jurisdiction
over the charges against appellant, resulting in a void judgment, but
the trial judge has abused his discretion by saying it was properly
filed, in violation of state and federal due process.
[4.] The trial court abused it[s] discretion when it refused to
acknowledge public record evidence that challenges appellant’s
standing as a U.S. citizen in Ohio, and the oath of office the trial court
members took to support the state and federal constitutions for all
Americans who enter these Ohio courthouses.
{¶7} The assignments of error will be considered in a consolidated manner.
{¶8} Hamilton asserts that the trial court erred by treating his common law Motion
as a postconviction petition so as to avoid confronting the issue of whether his conviction
is void. He maintains a motion to vacate a judgment as being void is distinct from a
postconviction petition that challenges the judgment as voidable.
{¶9} The distinction between a void judgment and a voidable judgment “turns on
whether the court [rendering judgment] had jurisdiction over the subject matter and the
person.” State v. Henderson, 161 Ohio St.3d 285, 2020-Ohio-4784, 162 N.E.3d 776, ¶
17. “A void judgment is rendered by a court without jurisdiction” whereas “[a] voidable
judgment is one pronounced by a court with jurisdiction.” Id.; State v. Perry, 10 Ohio
St.2d 175, 226 N.E.2d 104 (1967), paragraphs five and six of the syllabus.
{¶10} “Subject-matter jurisdiction refers to the constitutional or statutory power of
a court to adjudicate a particular class or type of case.” State v. Harper, 160 Ohio St.3d
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480, 2020-Ohio-2913, 159 N.E.3d 248, ¶ 23. “[W]hen a specific action is within a court’s
subject-matter jurisdiction, any error in the exercise of that jurisdiction renders the court’s
judgment voidable, not void.” Id. at ¶ 26. The courts of common pleas are vested with
original jurisdiction of “all crimes and offenses, except in cases of minor offenses the
exclusive jurisdiction of which is vested in courts inferior to the court of common pleas.”
R.C. 2931.03; Article IV, Section 4(B), Ohio Constitution; Henderson at ¶ 35. Accordingly,
Hamilton’s Motion does not call into question the trial court’s subject-matter jurisdiction.
State v. Reed, 2d Dist. Clark No. 2021-CA-59, 2022-Ohio-3461, ¶ 19 (“Ohio appellate
courts have also concluded that the alleged failure to comply with the requirements of
Crim.R. 6(F) are unrelated to subject-matter jurisdiction and subject to res judicata”)
(cases cited); State v. Feathers, 11th Dist. Portage No. 2021-P-0004, 2021-Ohio-4137, ¶
14; State v. Smith, 9th Dist. Summit No. 29203, 2019-Ohio-1978, ¶ 5, fn. 1.
{¶11} “Personal jurisdiction refers to the court’s power to render a valid judgment
against a particular individual.” Henderson at ¶ 36. “In a criminal matter, the court
acquires jurisdiction over a person by lawfully issued process, followed by the arrest and
arraignment of the accused and his plea to the charge.” Id., citing Tari v. State, 117 Ohio
St. 481, 490, 159 N.E. 594 (1927). “A defendant also submits to the court’s jurisdiction if
he does not object to the court’s exercise of jurisdiction over him.” Id., citing Tari at 491.
Thus, “a challenge to personal jurisdiction or jurisdiction over the person is waivable by
the defendant’s voluntary submission at an initial appearance or by entering a plea of not
guilty.” State v. Mbodji, 129 Ohio St.3d 325, 2011-Ohio-2880, 951 N.E.2d 1025, ¶ 10.
Here, irrespective of Hamilton’s claims that he was forced “against his will to attend
arraignment,” he did appear in court on July 12, 1999, and, “represented by counsel, * *
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* [was] arraigned upon [the] indictment, waived the reading of the indictment, any defects
in the time or manner of the service of same and for his plea thereto [said] he is ‘Not
Guilty’.” Accordingly, there are no issues with the trial court’s exercise of personal
jurisdiction over Hamilton. Orr v. Mack, 83 Ohio St.3d 429, 430, 700 N.E.2d 590 (1998)
(“[t]he manner by which an accused is charged with a crime is procedural rather than
jurisdictional, and after a conviction for crimes charged in an indictment, the judgment
binds the defendant for the crime for which he was convicted”).
{¶12} In other cases, where a movant asserts that the underlying conviction or
sentence is void but fails to substantiate the claim, the courts have construed the motion
as one for postconviction relief, as the lower court did here. See, e.g., State v. Godfrey,
5th Dist. Licking No. 2022-CA-00036, 2023-Ohio-20, ¶ 11; State v. Taylor, 2021-Ohio-
1670, 170 N.E.3d 1310, ¶ 34 (2d Dist.). Assuming, arguendo, that the trial court did err
by construing Hamilton’s Motion as a postconviction petition, such error was harmless.
Before construing the Motion as a postconviction petition, the court considered and
rightfully rejected Hamilton’s jurisdictional arguments. That was sufficient to deny the
Motion. At most, Hamilton’s arguments would have demonstrated that his conviction was
voidable and so ought to have been presented in a postconviction petition. That being
so, the court’s recasting it as such is not reversible error.
{¶13} The assignments of error are without merit.
{¶14} For the foregoing reasons, the denial of Hamilton’s Motion to Vacate a Void
Judgment pursuant to State and Federal Law is affirmed. Costs to be taxed against the
appellant.
JOHN J. EKLUND, P.J.,
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MARY JANE TRAPP, J.,
concur.
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