2020 Ohio 1011
Ohio Ct. App.2020Background
- In October 2005 Green pleaded guilty to multiple felonies and was sentenced to an aggregate ten-year prison term; the October 11 and 27, 2005 sentencing entries stated he would be "subject to" post-release control under R.C. 2967.28.
- Green completed his ten-year sentence and was released September 9, 2013; the APA then placed him on a five-year period of mandatory post-release control (PRC).
- Over the next several years the APA confined Green three times for alleged PRC violations, including April 10–23, 2018.
- On August 23, 2017 the common pleas court entered a judgment vacating the PRC portion of Green’s sentences as improperly imposed; the APA did not learn of that vacatur until April 23, 2018 and then terminated supervision.
- Green sued ODRC in the Court of Claims for false imprisonment and negligence based on the PRC-related confinements; the trial court granted ODRC summary judgment and Green appealed.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether Green can base false-imprisonment liability on the 2005 sentencing entries because they allegedly fail to satisfy Grimes and are therefore facially invalid | Green: the 2005 entries lack required Grimes information and thus are facially invalid, making subsequent confinement wrongful | ODRC: the entries are facially valid; Green relies on case law (Grimes) rather than a facial defect, so the entries are not void on their face | Court: entries are not facially invalid because proving the defect requires resort to case law (Grimes); false-imprisonment claim fails as confinement followed a facially valid judgment |
| Whether Green was falsely imprisoned for the April 10–23, 2018 confinement despite the August 23, 2017 vacatur of PRC | Green: the vacatur rendered PRC void and confinement in April 2018 was intentional retention after privilege ended | ODRC: APA did not know of the vacatur until April 23, 2018, so APA lacked knowledge that its privilege had ended and released Green upon learning | Court: no false imprisonment because the tort requires knowledge that the privilege ended; APA lacked such knowledge and released Green when it learned of the vacatur |
Key Cases Cited
- Bennett v. Ohio Dept. of Rehab. & Corr., 60 Ohio St.3d 107 (1991) (defines false imprisonment for prisoners and sets elements for state liability)
- Feliciano v. Kreiger, 50 Ohio St.2d 69 (1977) (defines false imprisonment as confinement without lawful privilege)
- State v. Grimes, 151 Ohio St.3d 19 (2017) (articulates required sentencing/post-release control language and procedures)
- Corder v. Ohio Dept. of Rehab. & Corr., 94 Ohio App.3d 315 (10th Dist. 1994) (applies Bennett elements to prisoner retention claims)
- Hudson v. Petrosurance, Inc., 127 Ohio St.3d 54 (2010) (summary judgment standard and de novo appellate review)