State ex rel. Woods v. Dinkelacker (Slip Opinion), 93 N.E.3d 965

In 1986 Woods was convicted of rape, attempted rape, aggravated robbery, and robbery and sentenced to concurrent prison terms; the convictions were affirmed on direct appeal.
In 2014 Woods moved in the trial court to correct his 1986 sentencing entry, arguing it was void because the trial judge had not signed the entry; the trial court denied the motion and the First District affirmed.
In March 2017 Woods filed a mandamus petition in the First District seeking an order compelling the trial court to issue a final, appealable judgment for his 1986 convictions, again arguing the entry lacked the judge’s signature.
The trial-court judge (Dinkelacker) moved to dismiss; the court of appeals granted the motion, concluding the 1986 judgment was final and that Woods’s claim was barred by res judicata.
Woods appealed the dismissal to the Ohio Supreme Court, which affirmed and denied his motion for oral argument.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the 1986 judgment entry is void for lack of the judge’s signature and thus non-final	Woods: the unsigned 1986 entry fails Crim.R.32 and is not a final, appealable order	Judge/State: the 1986 judgments satisfied the requirements for a final judgment; moreover Woods already raised this claim	Held: Even if unsigned, res judicata bars relitigation because Woods raised the same claim in 2014; dismissal affirmed
Whether oral argument should be granted on appeal	Woods: requested oral argument	State: discretionary; no factors justify argument	Held: Denied; no factors warranted oral argument

State v. Lester, 958 N.E.2d 142 (Ohio 2011) (judge’s signature required for a judgment to be final under Crim.R.32)
State ex rel. Newell v. Gaul, 985 N.E.2d 463 (Ohio 2013) (res judicata bars relitigation of prior collateral claims)