Court dismisses appeal in Adams County murder case

The Ohio Fourth District Court of Appeals has dismissed the appeal of a man convicted of felony murder in Adams County Common Pleas Court, saying that there is no final appealable order and that the court of appeals lacks jurisdiction to consider the merits of the appeal. 

According to the judgment from the court of appeals, filed online Monday, Rocky Purdin was indicted on counts of murder, felony murder and reckless homicide, following the December 2010 shooting death of Purdin's stepson, William Stunich, during an altercation. 

"Purdin admitted that he shot Stunich. Purdin, however, claimed that he did so in self-defense," according to the court of appeals decision. 

The jury eventually reached guilty verdicts on the felony murder (count II) and reckless homicide charges (count III) but were unable to come to a decision on the murder count (count I), according to the court. A mistrial was eventually declared on the remaining count, according to the appeal.

"The trial court merged Counts II and III and sentenced Purdin to 15 years to life for felony murder. The trial court also imposed a three-year sentence, based on a firearm specification, to be served consecutively to Purdin’s felony-murder sentence. Thus, Purdin’s aggregate prison sentence is 18 years to life," according to the court. 

In the appeal, Purdin, who was represented by attorneys Tim Young and Craig M. Jaquith of the state public defender's office, alleged four assignments of error. 

The state was represented in the appeal by C. David Kelley and Mark R. Weaver of the Adams County Prosecutor's Office. 

Purdin alleges that his rights were violated when the jury was permitted to deliberate from 9 p.m. on a Friday to 3:30 a.m. on a Saturday; that prosecutorial misconduct deprived Purdin of a fair trial; that the convictions are against the manifest weight of the evidence; and that the trial court erred in its instructions to the jury on the law of self-defense, which "thereby deprived Mr. Purdin of his right to a fair trial before a properly instructed jury and his right to due process of law." 

The court of appeals stated that, “In a criminal matter, if a trial court fails to dispose of all the criminal charges, the order appealed from is not a final, appealable order ... The trial court declared a mistrial on Count I because the jury was deadlocked. In a March 14, 2011 judgment entry, the trial court stated that 'the jury advised the Court that [it was] unable to reach a unanimous decision as relates to Count I.' The judgment entry also states that 'the Court hereby declares a mistrial in this matter solely to Count I of the indictment.' The March 14, 2011 Entry did not, however, dismiss Count I against Purdin ... The record indicates that Count I against Purdin has neither been dismissed nor retried. Consequently, Count I remains pending against Purdin. Therefore, there is no final appealable order in this case, and we lack jurisdiction to consider the merits of Purdin’s appeal. Accordingly, we dismiss Purdin’s appeal for lack of jurisdiction."