State v. Pennington, Unpublished Decision (8-17-2005)

JUDGMENT ENTRY. This appeal is considered on the accelerated calendar under App.R. 11.1(E) and Loc.R. 12, and this Judgment Entry shall not be considered an Opinion of the Court pursuant to S.Ct.R.Rep.Op. 3.

Defendant-appellant Gregory Pennington appeals his conviction for trafficking in cocaine in violation of R.C. 2925.03(A)(1), following his plea of no contest. Pursuant to Anders v. California,¹ Pennington's appointed appellate counsel has advised this court that, after a thorough review of the record, she can find nothing that would arguably support Pennington's appeal.

Under Anders, this court is now charged with the task of independently reviewing the record for any prejudicial errors that would warrant the reversal of the trial court's judgment. After reviewing the entire record, we conclude that there was no prejudicial error in the proceedings below, and we hold that there are no grounds to support a meritorious appeal. The judgment of the trial court is, therefore, affirmed, and counsel's motion to withdraw is hereby overruled.

Although we have concluded that this appeal is frivolous pursuant to App.R. 23 and is without "reasonable cause" under R.C. 2505.35, we refrain from taxing costs and expenses against Pennington because it is clear from the record that he is indigent.

Further, a certified copy of this Judgment Entry shall constitute the mandate, which shall be sent to the trial court under App.R. 27. Costs shall be taxed under App.R. 24.

Gorman, P.J., Doan and Hendon, JJ.

¹ (1967), 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396.