State v. Ortega

In State v. Ortega, 9th Dist. No. 08CA009316, 2008 Ohio 6053, Ortega was convicted by a jury and sentenced to 27 years of incarceration to life. He appealed from that decision, and this Court dismissed the appeal as untimely. Ortega subsequently filed a motion for reconsideration, which we granted and affirmed the trial court's ruling. Over a year after his initial appeal was decided, Ortega filed a motion in the trial court to set aside a void judgment. He contended that his sentence was void due to the lack of notice of post-release control. Ortega was resentenced and subsequently appealed to this Court. On appeal, Ortega attempted to raise several issues with regard to his jury trial, held two years prior to his resentencing. The Court determined that the doctrine of the law of the case governed the appeal. As applied to the facts before the Court in Ortega, the Court determined that when a "'court affirms the convictions in the First Appeal, the propriety of those convictions becomes the law of the case, and subsequent arguments seeking to overturn them become barred. Thus, in the Second Appeal, only arguments relating to the resentencing are proper.'" Id., at P7.