Opinion
Court of Appeals No. WD-10-022 Trial Court No. 2005CR0012
08-29-2011
State of Ohio Appellee v. Jeffrey Thomas Appellant
Jeffrey Thomas, pro se.
DECISION AND JUDGMENT
Jeffrey Thomas, pro se. SINGER, J.
{¶ 1} This matter comes before the court on appellant, Jeffrey Thomas', "motion to stay expenses of appeal." In State v. Thomas, 6th Dist. No. WD-10-022, 2010-Ohio-6522, this court affirmed appellant's convictions for rape and gross sexual imposition for which he is now serving a term of nine years in prison.
{¶ 2} Appellant contends the costs of his appeal should be stayed because he is indigent. 6th Dist.Loc.App.R. 7(B) allows an indigent party to proceed with his appeal without paying the deposit for costs; it does not, however, relieve him of the responsibility of paying the costs when the case is over. App.R. 24(A) states that the court may order an appellant to pay costs if the trial court's judgment is affirmed.
{¶ 3} This court correctly assessed court costs to appellant when the judgment he appealed was affirmed. While there is no provision in App.R. 24 requiring an appellate court to waive or stay costs when a party is indigent, there is also no provision prohibiting waiver of appellate costs for an indigent party. Therefore, based on defendant's indigency, his disability and the length of his incarceration, we hereby sua sponte order appellant's appellate court costs waived. Accordingly, appellant's "motion to stay expenses of appeal" is moot.
MOTION MOOT.
Peter M. Handwork, J.
Mark L. Pietrykowski, J.
Arlene Singer, J.
CONCUR.
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JUDGE