State v. Sands, 2014 Ohio 3439

Charles O. Sands was indicted by the Huron County Grand Jury on August 18, 2010, on multiple sexual-offense counts; he pled guilty on November 5, 2010, to two amended counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and one count of attempted gross sexual imposition and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
This court affirmed his convictions on direct appeal in State v. Sands, H-11-017, 2012-Ohio-6063.
On January 30, 2014, Sands filed a pro se motion to vacate judgment in the Huron County Court of Common Pleas, arguing the original municipal-court complaint and the warrant were invalid and that the trial court therefore lacked subject-matter jurisdiction.
The trial court denied the motion as meritless and untimely; Sands appealed that denial.
The court of appeals treated the filing as a post-conviction challenge but proceeded (without deciding timeliness) to address whether lack of subject-matter jurisdiction could be raised at any time.
The appellate court held the court of common pleas’ jurisdiction was invoked by the grand jury indictment, rendering any defect in the municipal complaint or warrant moot, and affirmed the denial of Sands’ motion.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction because the municipal complaint/warrant was invalid	Sands: invalid complaint/warrant deprived court of jurisdiction, so conviction must be vacated	State: jurisdiction was invoked by grand jury indictment; defects in complaint/warrant are moot	Court: Held indictment invoked jurisdiction; defects in complaint/warrant are moot; motion denied
Whether the untimely post-conviction filing can be considered	Sands: sought to litigate jurisdiction regardless of timeliness	State: motion was untimely under R.C. 2953.21 filing window	Court: Noted motion was untimely but, without deciding, addressed jurisdiction because jurisdictional defects may be raised anytime

Click v. Eckle, 174 Ohio St. 88 (court of common pleas’ felony jurisdiction invoked by grand jury indictment)
Dowell v. Maxwell, 174 Ohio St. 289 (felony defendant is tried on the indictment, not the municipal complaint)
Clinger v. Maxwell, 175 Ohio St. 540 (indictment renders defects in complaint or warrant moot)
State v. Joseph, 73 Ohio St.3d 450 (indictment that gives sufficient notice establishes subject-matter jurisdiction)
State v. Schlee, 117 Ohio St.3d 153 (post-conviction relief is the proper mechanism for collateral constitutional claims)