Justia Ohio Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the board of tax appeals (BTA) affirming the tax commissioner’s denial of a charitable-use property-tax exemption for the subject property, holding that the BTA’s factual findings were supported by the record in this case.Chagrin Realty, the property owner, was a nonprofit organization exempt from federal income tax under 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(2). Chagrin leased the property to Community Dialysis Center (CDC), a nonprofit tenant, which operated a hemodialysis facility on the property. The Centers for Dialysis Care, Inc., a for-profit management company, contracted with the CDC and employed the personnel who worked for the CC. Chagrin Realty filed an application for real-property-tax exemption relating to the subject property, but the tax commissioner determined that Chagrin Realty did not satisfy the requirements for exemption under Ohio Rev. Code 5709.12 or 5709.121. The BTA affirmed, thus rejecting Chagrin Realty’s contention that its 501(c)(2) federal tax status and its reliance on vicarious-exemption theories qualified it as a “charitable” institution. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the BTA reasonably and lawfully found that Chagrin Realty is not a charitable institution. View "Chagrin Realty, Inc. v. Testa" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court vacated the decision of the Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) rejecting the method of valuation espoused by an appraiser for the property owner, HCP EMOH, LLC, to derive an opinion of value for an assisted-living facility and instead adopting the valuation reached by an appraiser for the Washington County Board of Revision (BOR) and Washington County Auditor (collectively, the county), holding that the BTA erred in adopting the county’s appraisal.The property at issue consisted of two parcels constituting almost seven acres of land and was improved with a one-story assisted-living facility. At issue was how an appraiser should separate the family’s business value from the value of the realty. HCP’s appraiser relied on apartment comparable to reach a value for the property. The county, however, relied on data from the assisted-living-facility market. The Supreme Court vacated the BTA’s decision, holding (1) case law permits but does not require consideration of apartment comparable; but (2) the county’s appraiser was not scrupulous in selecting data that led him to value the business rather than the realty. View "HCP EMOH, LLC v. Washington County Board of Revision" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals denying a writ of mandamus to Michael Cobb, an Ohio prisoner, holding that Cobb was not entitled to the writ.Michael Cobb filed his complaint for a writ of mandamus requesting an order compelling the Ohio Adult Parole Authority to correct five alleged inaccuracies in the records that the Ohio Parole Board relied on in denying Cobb’s request for parole and to hold a new hearing. The court of appeals denied the writ on the grounds that Cobb failed to demonstrate a substantive error that may have influenced the parole board’s consideration of parole. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that there was not a credible allegation of error in Cobb’s parole-board file sufficient to trigger the parole board’s duty to review his file. View "State ex rel. Cobb v. Adult Parole Authority" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) dismissing Appellants’ appeal from a decision of the Cuyahoga County Board of Revision (BOR) because it found that Appellants failed to timely file a notice of appeal with the BOR in accordance with Ohio Rev. Code 5717.01, holding that the BTA properly dismissed the appeal.Specifically, the Supreme Court held (1) to perfect an appeal of a county board of revision’s decision to the BTA, a notice of appeal must be timely filed with both the BTA and the BOR; (2) Appellants did not timely file a notice of appeal with the BOR as required by section 5717.01; and (3) the BTA was not required to convene an evidentiary hearing, and therefore, Appellants’ claim of a constitutional due-process violation was unfounded. View "Ross v. Cuyahoga County Board of Revision" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court vacated the trial court’s judgment - and, in turn, the court of appeals’ judgment - granting Defendant’s petition for postconviction relief and remanded this matter for further proceedings, holding that the trial court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to grant Defendant’s petition for postconviction relief.Defendant was convicted of aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, and two counts of rape and sentenced to death. The court of appeals and Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and death sentence. This appeal concerned Defendant’s fourth postconviction petition. Defendant filed his petition in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, challenging DNA testing done on the victim’s vagina. After holding an evidentiary hearing, the court acquitted Defendant of vaginal rape, dismissed the other rape charge, and granted Defendant a new trial on the remaining counts. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court vacated the judgment, holding that, under the circumstances presented in this case, the General Assembly has not authorized a court of common pleas to exercise jurisdiction over a petition for postconviction relief. View "State v. Apanovitch" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals denying Appellant’s complaint for a writ of mandamus to compel the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts to produce public records and granted a limited writ of mandamus as to Appellant’s third request for documents.Appellant was convicted of aggravated murder. Appellant later sent a public-records request to the clerk of courts requesting six documents pertaining to his criminal case. Because the clerk did not respond to the public records request Appellant filed a complaint for a writ of mandamus compelling production of the documents. The court of appeals granted summary judgment in favor of the clerk. The Supreme Court reversed in part and issued a limited writ of mandamus as to Appellant’s third request for documents requiring the clerk to provide responsive records or to clarify that no such records exist, holding that the record was unclear as to this request. View "State ex rel. Harris v. Preval" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals dismissing Appellant’s complaint for writs of mandamus and prohibition, holding that Appellant was not entitled to a writ of mandamus, nor was he entitled to a writ of prohibition.In his mandamus and prohibition complaint, Appellant alleged that the common pleas court and its judges unlawfully conveyed to another assets that Appellant’s deceased father had bequeathed to him. The court of appeals dismissed the complaint. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Appellant was not entitled to relief because he failed to demonstrate that he lacked an adequate remedy in the ordinary course of the law and because he did not demonstrate that the courts lacked statutory jurisdiction over the matter. View "State ex rel. Evans v. Scioto County Common Pleas Court" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal brought by the Office of Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC) and the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association Energy Group (OMAEG) challenging the Public Utility Commission’s decision to approve the third electric-security plan (ESP) of Ohio Power Company, holding that OCC and OMAEG failed to demonstrate prejudice or harm caused by the ESP order.On appeal, OCC and OMAEG argued that the Commission’s approval of the Power Purchase Agreement Ride as a component of the ESP was reversible error. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, holding (1) OCC failed to demonstrate that ratepayers suffered actual harm or prejudice from the ESP order; and (2) this Court declines to address the claims that ratepayers were at risk of imminent or future harm rising from the ESP order. View "In re Application of Ohio Power Co." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the Public Utilities Commission that approved a charge referred to as the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) Rider as a component of Ohio Power Company’s third electric-security plan (ESP), holding that the order was not unlawful or unreasonable.Specifically, the Court held (1) the PPA Rider did not recover unlawful transition revenue; (2) the challenges to the Commission’s approval of the PPA Rider under the ESP statute, Ohio Rev. Code 4928.143, were without merit; (3) the challenges to the Commission’s approval of the joint stipulation to resolve the issues in the PPA Rider case failed; and (4) the Commission complied with Ohio Rev. Code 4903.09 when it approved the Ohio Valley Electric Corporation-only PPA Rider. View "In re Application of Ohio Power Co." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court denied the writ of mandamus sought by Mars Urban Solutions, LLC and Michael Majeski seeking to compel the Cuyahoga County fiscal officer and Cuyahoga County Board of Revision (BOR) to comply with a judgment of the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) that reduced the 2010 value of a property that Majeski owned and later conveyed to Mars Urban, holding that a writ was not warranted in this case.The Court reached its conclusion after noting that 2012 was the first year of a new sexennium, and any dispute that Mars Urban and Majeski had pertaining to the property value for any year beyond 2011 should have been filed as a new and separate claim for each year. The Court also held that the fiscal officer and the BOR submitted sufficient evidence to establish that both entities complied with the BTA’s judgment for tax years 2010 and 2011. Therefore, the Court denied the writ. View "State ex rel. Mars Urban Solutions, LLC v. Cuyahoga County Fiscal Officer" on Justia Law