State ex rel. Swopes v. McCormick

Citations

• 2022 Ohio 306

Syllabus

Mandamus DNA testing, discovery Crim.R. 16 Crim.R. 42 R.C. 2969.25(A) R.C. 2969.25(C) violation of due process rights violation of equal protection rights judicial discretion prohibitory injunction declaratory judgment. The relator has filed a complaint for a writ of mandamus and seeks an order from this court that requires the relator-judge to overturn his judgment with regard to a discovery matter and DNA testing. A review of the relator's original complaint for mandamus fails to reveal compliance with R.C. 2969.25. R.C. 2969.25(A) requires the relator to file an affidavit listing each civil action or appeal of a civil action he has filed in the previous five years in any state or federal court, as well as information regarding the outcome of each civil action or appeal. Compliance with R.C. 2969.25(A) is mandatory and the failure to comply subjects the complaint to dismissal. In addition, the relator has failed to comply with R.C. 2969.25(C), which requires that an inmate file a certified statement from his prison cashier setting forth the balance in his private account for each of the preceding six months. The failure to comply with R.C. 2969.25(C) constitutes sufficient reason to deny a writ claim, deny indigency status, and assess costs against the relator. Noncompliance with R.C. 2969.25(A) and 2969.25(C) cannot be cured by amendment of the original complaint. This court possesses original jurisdiction over a complaint for a writ of mandamus pursuant to Article IV, Section 3(B)(1) of the Ohio Constitution, R.C. 2731.01 and 2731.02. The requisites for mandamus are well established: 1) the relator must establish a clear legal right to the requested relief 2) the relator must establish that respondent-judge possesses a clear legal duty to perform the requested relief and 3) the relator possesses no other adequate remedy in the ordinary course of the law. Mandamus is an extraordinary remedy that is to be exercised with great caution and granted only when the righ