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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO
ELEVENTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
LAKE COUNTY
STATE OF OHIO, CASE NO. 2025-L-093
Plaintiff-Appellee,
Criminal Appeal from the
- vs - Court of Common Pleas
CORTEZ O. HOPPER,
Trial Court No. 2024 CR 000432
Defendant,
(TUROCZY BONDING, et al.,
Appellants).
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT ENTRY
Decided: February 2, 2026
Judgment: Appeal dismissed
Charles E. Coulson, Lake County Prosecutor, Lake County Administration Building, 105
Main Street, P.O. Box 490, Painesville, OH 44077 (For Plaintiff-Appellee).
Timothy J. Kucharski, Richarson & Kucharski Co., L.P.A., 1200 West Third Street, Suite
190, Cleveland, OH 44113 (For Appellants).
ROBERT J. PATTON, J.
{¶1} On July 31, 2025, appellants, Turoczy Bonding and Universal Fire and
Casualty Insurance Company, through counsel, filed a notice of appeal and a motion for
delayed appeal.
{¶2} Appellants seek to appeal from the trial court’s June 13, 2025 entry denying
their motion to vacate the judgment of bond forfeiture. A timely notice of appeal from the
June 13, 2025 entry was due no later than July 14, 2025, which was not a holiday or
weekend. The appeal is untimely by 17 days.
{¶3} “[A] party who wishes to appeal from an order that is final upon its entry
shall file the notice of appeal required by App.R. 3 within 30 days of that entry.” App.R.
4(A)(1).
{¶4} The Supreme Court has held that the failure to comply with the time
requirements of App.R. 4(A) is a jurisdictional defect, which is fatal to an appeal. In re
H.F.,
(1988).
{¶5} App.R. 5(A) provides that, in specific types of cases, a defendant may
request leave to file an appeal beyond the thirty-day period prescribed by App.R. 4(A).
The rule does not extend the right to non-defendants or other parties to the matter.
{¶6} Because the appeal is untimely and only a defendant may file a motion for
delayed appeal after the expiration of the thirty-day period, appellants’ motion for leave
to file a delayed appeal is overruled, and the appeal is hereby dismissed.
MATT LYNCH, P.J.,
SCOTT LYNCH, J.,
concur.
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Case No. 2025-L-093
JUDGMENT ENTRY
For the reasons stated in the memorandum opinion of this court, it is ordered that
appellants’ motion for leave to file a delayed appeal is overruled, and the appeal is hereby
dismissed.
Costs to be taxed against appellants.
JUDGE ROBERT J. PATTON
PRESIDING JUDGE MATT LYNCH,
concurs
JUDGE SCOTT LYNCH,
concurs
THIS DOCUMENT CONSTITUTES A FINAL JUDGMENT ENTRY
A certified copy of this opinion and judgment entry shall constitute the mandate
pursuant to Rule 27 of the Ohio Rules of Appellate Procedure.
PAGE 3 OF 3
Case No. 2025-L-093
