Opinion
No. 19-AP-067
06-05-2019
IN RE Disqualification of SAFFOLD. The State of Ohio v. Ferrell.
{¶ 1} Defendant John Ferrell has filed an affidavit with the clerk of this court pursuant to R.C. 2701.03 seeking to disqualify Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold from presiding over any further proceedings in the above-referenced case.
{¶ 2} Mr. Ferrell claims that Judge Saffold is biased against him and that she has repeatedly refused to comply with a mandate from the Eighth District Court of Appeals.
{¶ 3} Pursuant to R.C. 2701.03(A), the chief justice's statutory authority to order disqualification of judges extends only to those matters in which "a proceeding [is] pending before the court." "[T]he chief justice cannot rule on an affidavit of disqualification [filed under R.C. 2701.03 ] when * * * nothing is pending before the trial court." In re Disqualification of Hayes , 135 Ohio St.3d 1221, 2012-Ohio-6306, 985 N.E.2d 501, ¶ 6 ; accord In re Disqualification of Grossmann , 74 Ohio St.3d 1254, 1255, 657 N.E.2d 1356 (1994) ("[The] language [of R.C. 2701.03 ] clearly limits the authority of the Chief Justice in determining the existence of interest, bias, prejudice, or disqualification to matters pending before the court of common pleas").
{¶ 4} Here, Mr. Ferrell avers that the underlying case is "closed," and the docket indicates that Judge Saffold entered judgment resentencing him on April 30, 2019. Because Mr. Ferrell has failed to identify any matter currently pending before the judge he seeks to disqualify, there is no basis to order the judge's removal under R.C. 2701.03. See In re Disqualification of Horton , 137 Ohio St.3d 1236, 2013-Ohio-5761, 1 N.E.3d 413, ¶ 3. Mr. Ferrell may have other remedies, including another appeal, if he believes that Judge Saffold failed to comply with a decision of the court of appeals. But this is not the appropriate forum to determine whether a trial judge's decision complies with an appellate-court order. And "[t]he chief justice will not decide an affidavit of disqualification based merely on the possibility of a remand from the court of appeals." In re Disqualification of Selvaggio , 156 Ohio St.3d 1301, 2019-Ohio-1826, 128 N.E.3d 264, ¶ 4.
{¶ 5} The affidavit of disqualification is denied.