STATE v. BONNELL, 71 Ohio St.3d 223 (1994)

643 N.E.2d 108

No. 94-1343Supreme Court of Ohio.Submitted October 24, 1994 —
Decided December 20, 1994.

APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Cuyahoga County, No. 55927.

Appellant, Melvin Bonnell, was convicted of two counts of aggravated murder and sentenced to death in 1988. The court of appeals affirmed. State v. Bonnell (Oct. 5, 1989), Cuyahoga App. No 55927, unreported, 1989 WL 117828. We subsequently affirmed the convictions and sentence. State v. Bonnell (1991), 61 Ohio St.3d 179, 573 N.E.2d 1082.

On November 27, 1992, appellant filed an application to reopen the case pursuant to State v. Murnahan (1992), 63 Ohio St.3d 60, 584 N.E.2d 1204, alleging fifty-five instances where his appellate counsel was ineffective because

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“[n]one of the above errors [was] fully and completely raised by previous appellate counsel and all of the errors have substantial actual or arguable merit.” The court of appeals meticulously investigated the fifty-five instances of alleged ineffective assistance of appellate counsel and concluded that in fifty-one instances the issue had been previously raised by counsel on direct appeal, either in the court of appeals or in this court. The court of appeals held that these fifty-one issues were res judicata, citing State v. Perry (1967), 10 Ohio St.2d 175, 39 O.O.2d 189, 226 N.E.2d 104, and that the remaining four alleged instances of ineffective assistance of counsel[1] were meritless. Accordingly, it denied the application for reconsideration, stating that appellant had failed to set forth a colorable claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. Appellant now appeals that decision to this court.

Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney, an L. Christopher Frey, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee.

David H. Bodiker, Ohio Public Defender, Laurence E. Komp an Randall L. Porter, Assistant Public Defenders, for appellant.

Per Curiam.

We affirm the judgment of the court of appeals for the reasons set forth in the opinion of the court of appeals.

Judgment affirmed.

MOYER, C.J., A.W. SWEENEY, DOUGLAS, WRIGHT, RESNICK, F.E. SWEENEY and PFEIFER, JJ., concur.