COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO, EIGHTH DISTRICT COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA NO. 69546 STATE OF OHIO : ACCELERATED DOCKET : Plaintiff-appellee : : JOURNAL ENTRY -vs- : AND : OPINION ELLIS PEEK, JR. : : Defendant-appellant : PER CURIAM : DATE OF ANNOUNCEMENT : APRIL 18, 1996 OF DECISION : CHARACTER OF PROCEEDING : Civil appeal from Court of Common Pleas : Case No. CR-265035 JUDGMENT : AFFIRMED DATE OF JOURNALIZATION : APPEARANCES: For plaintiff-appellee: For defendant-appellant: KAREN L. JOHNSON, ESQ. ELLIS PEEK, JR., PRO SE Assistant County Prosecutor #234-343 8th Floor, Justice Center Lorain Correctional Inst. 1200 Ontario Street 2075 South Avon-Belden Road Cleveland, OH 44113 Grafton, OH 44044 - 2 - PER CURIAM: This cause came on to be heard upon the accelerated calendar pursuant to App. R. 11.1 and Loc. R. 25, the records from the court of common pleas and the briefs. Petitioner Ellis Peek appeals the denial of his petition for postconviction relief. The petition sought to vacate petitioner's guilty plea on grounds the court failed to advise him of the maximum penalty and did not determine if the plea was voluntary and intelligent. The trial court denied the petition without a hearing, finding the claims could have been raised on direct appeal (which defendant did not take) and no competent evidence established grounds for relief. The first assignment of error is overruled because in the absence of demonstrated prejudice, the trial court may adopt verbatim the findings of fact and conclusions of law submitted by the state. State v. Powell (1993), 90 Ohio App.3d 260, 263; State v. Lott (Nov. 3, 1994), Cuyahoga App. Nos. 66388, 66389, and 66390, unreported, at 9. The second assignment of error is overruled since the trial court had no duty to conduct an evidentiary hearing on the petition when it failed to set forth facts sufficient to show substantive grounds for relief. State v. Jackson (1980), 64 Ohio St.2d 107, 111; State v. Williams (1991), 74 Ohio App.3d 686, 692. The third and fourth assignments of error, relating to the substantive grounds for the petition, are likewise overruled. The asserted grounds relate to the validity of the guilty plea and were - 3 - matters that could have been addressed in a direct appeal or in the subsequently denied Crim.R. 32.1 motion to withdraw the guilty plea, which petitioner filed six months after entering his plea. State v. Perry (1967), 10 Ohio St.2d 175, paragraph nine of the syllabus; State v. Curry (Dec. 22, 1994), Cuyahoga App. No. 67303, unreported. Judgment affirmed. - 4 - It is ordered that appellee recover of appellant its costs herein taxed. The Court finds there were reasonable grounds for this appeal. It is ordered that a special mandate issue out of this Court directing the Court of Common Pleas to carry this judgment into execution. A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to Rule 27 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure. JOHN T. PATTON, JUDGE TERRENCE O'DONNELL, PRESIDING JUDGE DIANE KARPINSKI, JUDGE N.B. This entry is made pursuant to the third sentence of Rule 22(D), Ohio Rules of Appellate Procedure. This is an announce- ment of decision (see Rule 26). Ten (10) days from the date hereof, this document will be stamped to indicate journalization, at which time it will become the judgment and order of the court and time period for review will begin to run. .