Ertle v. Barath ( 2011 )


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  • [Cite as Ertle v. Barath, 
    2011-Ohio-6080
    .]
    Court of Appeals of Ohio
    EIGHTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
    COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA
    JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION
    No. 96650
    JOHN B.         ERTLE, JR.
    PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE
    vs.
    MARY BARATH
    DEFENDANT-APPELLANT
    JUDGMENT:
    AFFIRMED
    Civil Appeal from the
    Rocky River Municipal Court
    Case No. 10 CVI 3099
    BEFORE: Boyle, P.J., Celebrezze, J., and Keough, J.
    RELEASED AND JOURNALIZED:                      November 23, 2011
    2
    FOR APPELLANT
    Mary Barath, pro se
    1127 Wagar Road
    Rocky River, Ohio 44116
    FOR APPELLEE
    John B. Ertle, Jr., pro se
    19443 Lorain Road, Suite 100
    Fairview Park, Ohio 44126
    MARY J. BOYLE, P.J.:
    {¶ 1} This cause came to be heard upon the accelerated calendar pursuant to
    App.R. 11.1 and Loc.R. 11.1.
    {¶ 2} Defendant-appellant, Mary Barath, appeals a decision by the Rocky River
    Municipal Court denying her “motion to vacate judgment,” and ordering her to pay
    plaintiff-appellee, John Ertle, Jr., $2,000 plus interest and costs. We find no merit to
    her appeal, and affirm.
    {¶ 3} Because this case was settled through court-ordered mediation, the record
    is scant.   This case originated in December 2010, when plaintiff-appellee, John Ertle,
    3
    Jr., filed a small claims complaint against Barath, alleging that he performed legal
    services for her and that she owed him $2,000 for the services performed.
    {¶ 4} The trial court ordered the parties to attend a mandatory mediation
    conference with a “mediation magistrate.”     Barath obtained legal counsel, who attended
    the mediation conference with her.
    {¶ 5} The mediation hearing took place on February 18, 2011.              The parties
    entered into a settlement agreement where Barath agreed to pay Ertle $1,075 in five
    installments, as set forth in the agreement, to be paid in full on or before July 11, 2011.
    If Barath failed to pay as stated in the agreement, then she had to pay the full $2,000 to
    Ertle, plus interest and costs.   The parties further agreed that the settlement agreement
    would also serve as a mutual release of any claims that one may have against the other
    and that the case would be immediately dismissed with prejudice.
    {¶ 6} On February 22, 2011, Barath filed a pro se “motion to vacate judgment.”
    She alleged that she felt “pressured and railroaded into a decision” that she “would never
    [had] made under normal circumstances.”      She further stated in her motion:
    {¶ 7} “I have been exploited and victimized and threatened by Mr. Ertle.          He
    was never there to defend me. I strongly disagree with this judgment. His motive was
    to run up a bill as high as he can go.
    {¶ 8} I entered into this agreement in high distress.”
    4
    {¶ 9} On March 7, 2011, Ertle notified the trial court that Barath had failed to
    pay him as set forth in the agreement.     That same day, Ertle opposed Barath’s motion to
    vacate judgment.   He explained that “[n]othing improper happened: the mediator made
    an opening statement, the parties made their statements, and then the parties separated.
    At all times during all negotiations defendant was in a separate room with only her
    attorney. At no time after initial opening statements was the defendant even in the
    same room with the mediator or the plaintiff. There is no way that he could have
    ‘pressured and railroad[ed]’ her.   The only person she had any contact with [was] her
    own attorney, and she does not allege any wrongdoing on his behalf.”
    {¶ 10} On March 18, 2011, the trial court denied Barath’s motion to vacate
    judgment. It also ordered Barath to pay Ertle $2,000 plus interest and costs since
    Barath had not paid Ertle the first installment as set forth in the settlement agreement.
    It is from this judgment that Barath appeals, raising a sole assignment of error for our
    review:
    {¶ 11} “The trial court abused its discretion in refusing to issue injunctive relief to
    remove the encroachment from the defendant-appellant’s property, and to stop
    harassment from the plaintiff-appellee.”
    {¶ 12} This court cannot decipher what Barath is attempting to argue.       Her stated
    assignment of error has nothing to do with what she actually argues in her brief.       And
    after reviewing her brief, this court cannot determine what she is attempting to argue.
    5
    In her two-paragraph “law and argument” section, Barath claims that she changed her
    mind “and went to talk to the Judge regarding how she was forced to sign the Agreement
    by her Attorney and Mr. Ertle, Jr.”     She then states, “[t]he appellant did not changed
    [sic] her mind, she followed her first mind and that should be sufficient grounds to get
    out of a Settlement Agreement.”
    {¶ 13} In support of her argument, Barath cites to one case in support, Natl. Court
    Reporters, Inc. v. Krohn & Moss, Ltd., 8th Dist. No. 95075, 
    2011-Ohio-731
    , claiming it
    holds: “It is within the sound discretion of the trial court to reverse the settlement
    agreement where the record contains some credible, competent evidence to support its
    findings regarding the settlement.” But what this court actually stated in Natl. Court
    Reporters was:
    {¶ 14} “It is within the sound discretion of the trial court to enforce the settlement
    agreement, and its judgment will not be reversed where the record contains some
    competent, credible evidence to support its findings regarding the settlement.”        Id. at
    ¶8, citing Mentor v. Lagoons Point Land Co. (Dec. 17, 1999), 11th Dist. No. 98-L-190.
    {¶ 15} It is clear that Natl. Court Reporters does not stand for Barath’s purported
    proposition, and Barath cites no other authority in support of her argument.     Further, in
    her conclusion, Barath focuses only on the apparent reasons she was not satisfied with
    Ertle’s legal services, but states nothing about the settlement agreement.
    6
    {¶ 16} Ertle states that Barath “could not have been influenced at all, much less
    unduly influenced,” by him or the mediator-magistrate because “at all times after
    opening statements the parties were separated and Appellant was in a separate room.”
    In her brief, Barath admits that she “was separated into a different room.”
    {¶ 17} Based on the record before us, as well as the arguments in Barath’s limited
    brief, we find no error on the part of the trial court.
    {¶ 18} Accordingly, Barath’s sole assignment of error is overruled.
    Judgment affirmed.
    It is ordered that appellee recover from appellant costs herein taxed.
    The court finds there were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
    It is ordered that a special mandate be sent to said court to carry this judgment
    into execution.
    A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to Rule 27 of
    the Rules of Appellate Procedure.
    MARY J. BOYLE, PRESIDING JUDGE
    FRANK D. CELEBREZZE, JR., J., and
    KATHLEEN ANN KEOUGH, J., CONCUR
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 96650

Judges: Boyle

Filed Date: 11/23/2011

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 10/30/2014