[Cite as State v. Nikolic, 2020-Ohio-3718.] COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO EIGHTH APPELLATE DISTRICT COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA STATE OF OHIO, : Plaintiff-Appellee, : No. 108779 v. : PETAR NIKOLIC, : Defendant-Appellant. : JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION JUDGMENT: AFFIRMED RELEASED AND JOURNALIZED: July 16, 2020 Criminal Appeal from the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Case No. CR-18-626684-A Appearances: Michael C. O’Malley, Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney, and Ronni Ducoff and Anna M. Herceg, Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys, for appellee. Adam Parker, for appellant. KATHLEEN ANN KEOUGH, J.: Defendant-appellant, Petar Nikolic, appeals his convictions following a guilty plea. For the reasons that follow, we affirm his convictions but order that the trial court enter a corrected journal entry, nunc pro tunc, to reflect that five years of community control was ordered on each count. In 2018, Nikolic was named in a four-count indictment charging him with kidnapping, two counts of domestic violence, and obstructing official business. Nikolic agreed to plead guilty to an amended Count 1, attempted abduction, a felony of the fourth degree, and Count 2, domestic violence, a first-degree misdemeanor. Counts 3 and 4 were nolled. He was sentenced to serve five years of community control sanctions on each count. Nikolic now appeals, raising two assignments of error. I. Denial of Pretrial Motion to Disqualify In his first assignment of error, Nikolic contends that the “trial court denied [his] right to effective assistance of counsel when it failed to respond to [his] motion to remove counsel.” In 2018, Nikolic filed a motion to disqualify and dismiss his court- appointed attorney alleging that counsel failed to render adequate representation because counsel (1) failed to investigate the charges; (2) subjected Nikolic to repeated competency evaluations, which violated his right to a speedy trial; (3) failed to conduct discovery and obtain material and exculpatory evidence; (4) failed to present Nikolic with discovery to help in his defense; (5) failed to hire an independent investigator; and (6) failed to seek discovery of the victim’s medical records. The record before this court reflects that the trial court did not rule on the motion; accordingly, it is deemed denied for purposes of this appeal. See Savage v. Cody-Zeigler, Inc., 4th Dist. Athens No. 06CA5, 2006-Ohio-2760, ¶ 28 (motions that a trial court fails to explicitly rule upon are deemed denied once a court enters final judgment). In this case, Nikolic entered a guilty plea, which is a complete admission of his guilt. “‘[A] guilty plea represents a break in the chain of events that precede it in the criminal process.’” State v. Korecky, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 108328, 2020-Ohio-797, ¶ 16, quoting State v. Spates, 64 Ohio St.3d 269, 272, 595 N.E.2d 351 (1992). “When a defendant enters a plea of guilty, he waives all appealable errors that might have occurred unless the errors precluded the defendant from entering a knowing, voluntary, and intelligent plea.” Id., citing State v. Robinson, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 107598, 2020-Ohio-98, citing State v. Kelley, 57 Ohio St.3d 127, 566 N.E.2d 658 ...
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