2007 Ohio 742 | Ohio Ct. App. | 2007
{¶ 2} Appellant filed an appeal and this matter is now before this court for consideration. Assignment of error is as follows:
{¶ 5} Crim.R. 11 governs pleas. Subsection (E) states, "In misdemeanor cases involving petty offenses the court may refuse to accept a plea of guilty or no contest, and shall not accept such pleas without first informing the defendant of the effect of the plea of guilty, no contest, and not guilty."
{¶ 6} We have reviewed the record and find no explanation by the trial court to appellant regarding the effect of his no contest plea. We note appellant never actually entered a plea, as his defense counsel informed the trial court that his client wished to "enter a plea of no contest." August 26, 2005 T. at 2. The prosecutor then stated, "first I think before any pleas are made a withdrawal of the defendant's Motion to Dismiss due *3 to the unconstitutionality of the statute." Id. The transcript is four pages long and does not include any other references to a plea. In an August 26, 2005 judgment entry, the trial court stated, "Defendant withdrew his motion to dismiss and said motion was granted. Defendant entered a `no contest' plea and case set for sentencing so that Prosecutor could notify the victim."
{¶ 7} Not only was Crim.R. 11(E) not complied with, appellant never entered a plea.
{¶ 8} In addition, the trial court never entered a finding of "guilty." The only reference to a guilty finding is contained in the trial court's October 10, 2005 judgment entry of sentence wherein the trial court stated, "Defendant has previously been found `GUILTY' of violation(s) of Sec. 2917.21A5." This statement does not reflect that in fact a guilty finding was ever made.
{¶ 9} Upon review, we find the trial court failed to follow Crim.R. 11 and failed to enter a finding.
{¶ 10} The sole assignment of error is granted. *4 {¶ ll} The judgment of the New Philadelphia Municipal Court of Tuscarawas County, Ohio is reversed.
*5Farmer, J. Hoffman, P.J. and Edwards, J. concur.