State v. Farris, 2016 Ohio 5527

Victor Farris was charged with robbery for assaulting his father and taking money; after a bench trial he was convicted only of misdemeanor assault.
The trial court sentenced Farris to 180 days in jail and waived costs; he had already served 173 days pretrial and served the remaining 7 days after sentencing without seeking a stay.
Farris appealed the conviction to this court after fully serving the sentence imposed in the misdemeanor case.
The state moved to dismiss the appeal as moot because Farris had completed the sentence and had not shown involuntariness or collateral disabilities.
Farris argued the appeal was not moot because (1) he served the sentence involuntarily (could not seek a stay) and (2) the conviction could cause collateral consequences (including possible effects on postrelease control from a 2005 conviction).
The court found Farris did not demonstrate involuntary service nor any actual collateral disability from the misdemeanor conviction and dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the appeal is moot because sentence was fully served	The appeal is moot where defendant voluntarily completed sentence and shows no collateral disability (state)	Farris: not moot — he did not serve sentence voluntarily and may suffer collateral consequences	Appeal is moot; dismissed for lack of jurisdiction because Farris served sentence voluntarily and showed no actual collateral consequence
Whether involuntary service exception applies	State: no — Farris did not seek a stay and did not serve the entire sentence before conviction	Farris: Nelson exception — he served sentence involuntarily before conviction, so appeal should survive	Exception does not apply: Nelson requires sentence be completed prior to conviction; Farris could have sought a stay and did not
Whether alleged collateral consequences keep appeal live	State: mere possibility of statutory consequences is insufficient without specific, actual impact	Farris: conviction may affect postrelease control and other statutory disabilities	Dismissal affirmed: Farris failed to show any concrete collateral disability he will actually suffer
Whether broad listing of statutory consequences suffices	State: listing hypothetical statutes does not meet burden	Farris: argued many statutes could apply	Court: speculative list insufficient; many already applied from prior conviction and remaining inapplicable

State v. Berndt, 29 Ohio St.3d 3 (Ohio 1987) (mootness where sentence served voluntarily bars appeal absent disability)
State v. Wilson, 41 Ohio St.2d 236 (Ohio 1975) (voluntary completion of sentence renders appeal moot unless collateral disability shown)
State v. Golston, 71 Ohio St.3d 224 (Ohio 1994) (felony convictions carry collateral disabilities as a matter of law)
City of Cleveland Hts. v. Lewis, 129 Ohio St.3d 389 (Ohio 2011) (defendant must seek a stay to avoid mootness when sentence is served during appeal)
State v. Benson, 29 Ohio App.3d 109 (Ohio Ct. App. 10th Dist. 1986) (mootness exception where sentence was completed prior to conviction)