Opinion

State ex rel. Chatfield v. Flautt

  • 131 Ohio St. 3d 383
  • 2012 Ohio 1294
Court
Ohio Supreme Court
Filed
Mar 28, 2012
Status
Published
On the bench
O'Connor, Pfeifer, Stratton, O'Donnell, Lanzinger, Cupp, Brown
Cited by
9 cases
Authority
More cited than 81.6%

The opinion

[Cite as State ex rel. Chatfield v. Flautt, 131 Ohio St.3d 383, 2012-Ohio-1294.]

THE STATE EX REL. CHATFIELD, APPELLANT, v. FLAUTT,

PROS. ATTY., APPELLEE.

[Cite as State ex rel. Chatfield v. Flautt, 131 Ohio St.3d 383, 2012-Ohio-1294.]

Public records—Court of appeals’ judgment denying writ of mandamus affirmed.

(No. 2011-1687—Submitted March 21, 2012—Decided March 28, 2012.)

APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Perry County,

No. 11-CA-6, 2011-Ohio-4659.

__________________

Per Curiam.

{¶ 1} We affirm the judgment of the court of appeals denying the request

of appellant, inmate James L. Chatfield, for a writ of mandamus ordering

appellee, Perry County Prosecuting Attorney Joseph A. Flautt, to turn over certain

records to him. R.C. 149.43(B)(8) required a finding by Chatfield’s sentencing

judge or the judge’s successor that the requested information was necessary to

support what appeared to be a justiciable claim. State ex rel. Barb v. Cuyahoga

Cty. Jury Commr., 124 Ohio St.3d 238, 2010-Ohio-120, 921 N.E.2d 236.

Chatfield obtained the requisite judicial finding from the Perry County Court of

Common Pleas, but that court specified that the Columbus Police Department, not

the Perry County prosecuting attorney, would provide the records. Because

Chatfield’s sentencing judge did not determine that the Perry County prosecuting

attorney was the person responsible for the requested public records, Chatfield

was not entitled to the requested extraordinary relief.

Judgment affirmed.

O’CONNOR, C.J., and PFEIFER, LUNDBERG STRATTON, O’DONNELL,

LANZINGER, CUPP, and MCGEE BROWN, JJ., concur.

__________________

SUPREME COURT OF OHIO

James L. Chatfield, pro se.

Joseph A. Flautt, Perry County Prosecuting Attorney, pro se.

____________________

2

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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