State ex rel. Mcie v. Vercillo , 2019 Ohio 2145 ( 2019 )


Menu:
  • [Cite as State ex rel. Mcie v. Vercillo, 
    2019-Ohio-2145
    .]
    COURT OF APPEALS
    ASHLAND COUNTY, OHIO
    FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
    STATE OF OHIO, EX. REL.,                             :      JUDGES:
    SONJA MCIE,                                          :      Hon. Patricia A. Delaney, P.J.
    :      Hon. Craig R. Baldwin, J.
    Relator                                      :      Hon. Earle E. Wise, Jr., J.
    :
    -vs-                                                :
    :      Case No. 19-COA-005
    HONORABLE DAMIAN VERCILLO,                           :
    JUDGE                                                :
    :
    and                                                :
    :
    ASHLAND COUNTY COURT OF                              :
    COMMON PLEAS                                         :
    :
    Respondents                                  :      OPINION
    CHARACTER OF PROCEEDING:                                    Writ of Prohibition
    JUDGMENT:                                                   Denied
    DATE OF JUDGMENT:                                           May 30, 2019
    APPEARANCES:
    For Relator                                                 For Respondent
    SONJA MCIE, PRO SE                                          No Appearance
    138 Chateau Circle
    Orrville, OH 44667
    Ashland County, Case No. 19-COA-005                                                         2
    Wise, Earle, J.
    {¶ 1}      Relator Sonja Mcie filed a Petition for Writ of Mandamus on February
    19, 2019 wherein she requested a writ of mandamus issue requiring Respondent to
    appoint counsel for her. On February 25, 2019, Relator filed an “Amended Petition for
    Writ of Procedendo” requesting Respondent be prohibited from proceeding until Relator’s
    appeal is resolved.
    {¶ 2}     The Ohio Supreme Court has stated that “it is elementary law that
    when a party substitutes an amended petition for an earlier one, this constitutes an
    abandonment of the earlier pleading and a reliance upon the amended one. The earlier
    pleading becomes functus officio.” (Emphasis deleted.) State ex rel. Talaba v. Moreland,
    
    132 Ohio St. 71
    , 75, 
    5 N.E.2d 159
     (1936). We therefore will only address the cause of
    action listed in the Amended Petition for Writ of Prohibition.
    {¶ 3}      Relator, Sonja Mcie, has filed a Complaint for Writ of Prohibition
    requesting a writ issue prohibiting the Ashland County Juvenile Court from holding a
    hearing on a motion to terminate her visitation with her children. For the reasons that
    follow, a writ of prohibition will not issue.
    {¶ 4}      “For a writ of prohibition to issue, [a petitioner] must prove that [the
    respondent] has exercised or is about to exercise judicial power without authority to do
    so and that the state lacks an adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law. State ex
    rel. Elder v. Camplese, 
    144 Ohio St.3d 89
    , 
    2015-Ohio-3628
    , 
    40 N.E.3d 1138
    , ¶ 13.”
    State ex rel. O'Malley v. Russo, 
    2019-Ohio-1698
    .
    {¶ 5}      Relator filed a motion for appointment of counsel requesting the trial
    court appoint counsel to represent her on the motion to terminate visitation. The trial
    Ashland County, Case No. 19-COA-005                                                      3
    court denied the request for appointed counsel. Relator filed an appeal to this Court from
    the denial of the request for appointed counsel. At the time of the filing of the appeal, a
    hearing was scheduled on the motion to terminate visitation. She also filed the instant
    petition in this Court as well as a motion to cancel the hearing with the trial court. The
    trial court granted the motion to cancel the hearing.
    {¶ 6}       Relator does not suggest in her petition that Respondents lack all
    authority to hear the underlying case. Rather, she argues Respondents lack jurisdiction
    to hear the motion to terminate visitation while an appeal is pending in this Court.
    {¶ 7}       Because the trial court cancelled the hearing, Relator cannot
    establish Respondents are exercising or about to exercise unauthorized judicial power.
    Relator has already obtained the relief she seeks on the petition. The instant petition
    became moot when the trial court issued the order granting the motion to cancel the
    hearing below. For these reasons, the request for writ of prohibition is denied.
    By Wise, Earle, J.
    Delaney, P.J. and
    Baldwin, J. concur.
    EEW/ads
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 19-COA-005

Citation Numbers: 2019 Ohio 2145

Judges: Wise, E.

Filed Date: 5/30/2019

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 5/31/2019