1996 OHIO 266 - State v. Zerla

[This opinion has been published in Ohio Official Reports at

74 Ohio St.3d 457

.]




             THE STATE OF OHIO, APPELLEE, v. ZERLA, APPELLANT.
                       [Cite as State v. Zerla,

1996-Ohio-266

.]
Appellate procedure—Application for reopening appeal from judgment and
        conviction based on claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel—
        Application denied when applicant fails to demonstrate a colorable claim
        of ineffective assistance of counsel.
     (No. 95-1687—Submitted January 9, 1996—Decided February 7, 1996.)
  APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Franklin County, No. 93APA09-1304.
                                 ___________________
        {¶ 1} Appellant, Terrance E. Zerla, was convicted of kidnapping and three
counts of rape, but the court of appeals set aside those convictions. State v. Zerla
(Mar. 17, 1992), Franklin App. No. 91AP-562, unreported,

1992 WL 55433

.
Following a new trial, a jury again convicted appellant of three counts of rape and
kidnapping. The court of appeals affirmed those convictions, but remanded the
cause to the trial court to clarify the sentence. State v. Zerla (Dec. 22, 1994),
Franklin App. No. 93APA09-1304, unreported,

1994 WL 714456

, appeal
dismissed (1995),

72 Ohio St.3d 1413

647 N.E.2d 1387

. The court of appeals also
separately affirmed the trial court’s denial of appellant’s motion to reconsider its
judgment. State v. Zerla (Dec. 22, 1994), Franklin App. No. 94APA03-350,
unreported,

1994 WL 714458

.
        {¶ 2} Subsequently, appellant filed with the court of appeals an application
to reopen his appeal under App.R. 26(B), alleging ineffective assistance of his
appellate counsel.      The court of appeals denied the application, finding that
appellant “failed to demonstrate a colorable claim of ineffective assistance of
counsel.” Appellant appeals that denial to this court.
                                 ___________________
                            SUPREME COURT OF OHIO




       Michael Miller, Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney, and Steven L.
Taylor, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee.
       Terrance E. Zerla, pro se.
                              ___________________
       Per Curiam.
       {¶ 3} We affirm the decision of the court of appeals for the reasons stated
in its memorandum decision.
                                                              Judgment affirmed.
       MOYER, C.J., DOUGLAS, WRIGHT, RESNICK, F.E. SWEENEY, PFEIFER and
COOK, JJ., concur.
                              ___________________




                                        2