State v. Carver, 2012 Ohio 5789

Carver was convicted by a jury in 2005 of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, kidnapping, and felonious assault, receiving maximum consecutive terms for 19 years.
The judgment ordered payment of court costs in full and extradition costs ($382.82).
Carver appealed the 2005 conviction, and this court affirmed; applications to reopen and post-conviction relief were denied or affirmed on appeal.
In 2010, the trial court resentenced Carver to properly impose postrelease control; the resentencing did not alter the court costs issue.
The 2010 resentencing record discussed indigency and the court’s authority, but the court ultimately affirmed the judgment and did not waive costs.
On December 1, 2011, Carver filed a Motion to Vacate Court Costs; the trial court denied, and Carver appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether trial court power to waive court costs survives after proper imposition	Carver argues indigency warrants waiver	Carver claims court can waive costs post-judgment	No; courts lack authority to suspend/waive already imposed costs
Whether indigency must be raised at sentencing to be waived	Indigency was raised at resentencing	Timing insufficient to waive costs	Indigency must be raised at sentencing; issue waived otherwise
Whether the motion to vacate court costs was properly denied due to res judicata and lack of jurisdiction	Challenge to costs should be reconsidered	Trial court cannot revisit final criminal judgment on costs	Correct; lack of jurisdiction and res judicata foreclose reconsideration

State v. Hansen, 63 Ohio St.3d 597 (1992) (trial courts lack authority to reconsider final judgments in criminal cases)
Brook Park v. Necak, 30 Ohio App.3d 118 (1986) (suspension of sentence requires statutory authorization)
State v. Clevenger, 114 Ohio St.3d 258 (2007) (R.C. 2947.23 requires costs; indigency does not excuse imposition; waiver only at sentencing)
State v. White, 103 Ohio St.3d 580 (2004) (costs must be imposed regardless of indigency)
State v. Threatt, 108 Ohio St.3d 277 (2006) (indigency waiver must be raised at sentencing; otherwise waived)
State v. Nason, 2008-Ohio-6337 (2008) (indigent defendant waiver issues; related to Threatt)
State v. Smith, 42 Ohio St.3d 60 (1989) (no suspension of execution of sentence absent statutory authority)
State v. Singleton, 124 Ohio St.3d 173 (2009) (resentencing framework for post-Singleton era)
State v. Fischer, 2010-Ohio-6238 (2010) (overruled Singleton; affects resentencing scope)