COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO, EIGHTH DISTRICT
                       COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA
                            NO. 74115
STATE OF OHIO, ex rel.        :
RONALD LARKINS                :
                              :    PETITION FOR WRIT OF
     Relator                  :    MANDAMUS
                              :
     vs.                      :    MOTION NO. 95468
                              :
JUDGE WILLIAM E. AURELIUS     :    JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION
COURT OF COMMON PLEAS         :
CUYAHOGA COUNTY, OHIO         :
                              :
     Respondent               :
DATE OF ANNOUNCEMENT
OF DECISION                   :    JUNE 18, 1998
JUDGMENT                      :    WRIT DENIED.
DATE OF JOURNALIZATION        :
APPEARANCES:
For relator       :           RONALD LARKINS, pro se
                              #A-193-129
                              Post Office Box 788
                              Mansfield, Ohio  44901-0788
For respondent    :           STEPHANIE TUBBS-JONES
                              Cuyahoga County Prosecutor
                              ARTHUR A. ELKINS, Assistant
                              Justice Center, Courts Tower
                              1200 Ontario Street
                              Cleveland, Ohio  44113
                               -2-
PATRICIA A. BLACKMON,A.J.:
     Ronald Larkins, relator,  is seeking a  writ of mandamus  to
compel respondent,  Judge William  Aurelius, to  vacate his  1986
convictions in Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Case Nos. CR-
166827 and  CR-212083.    Relator avers  respondent  was  without
jurisdiction to try him because his written jury waiver form  was
not file-stamped by the clerk of court and properly made a part of
the record.   Respondent moved to  dismiss the complaint for  the
reason that relator had an  adequate remedy at law to assert  his
challenge. This court converted respondent's motion to dismiss to
a motion  for summary judgment, with  notice to the parties,  see
Entry No. 93647 dated April 9, 1998, and, for the following  rea-
sons, we grant respondent's motion.
     In State v. Pless (1996), 74 Ohio St.3d 333, 658 N.E.2d 766,
paragraph one of the syllabus, the Supreme Court of Ohio held that
"[i]n a criminal case where the defendant elects to waive the right
to trial by jury, R.C. 2945.05 mandates that the waiver must be in
writing, signed by the defendant, filed in the criminal action and
made part of the record thereof.  Absent strict compliance with the
requirements of R.C. 2945.05, a trial court lacks jurisdiction to
try the defendant without a jury."  Prior to relator's bench trial,
relator executed a written waiver of his right to a jury trial and
handed it to  the trial judge.   State ex  rel. Larkins v.  Baker
(1995),  73 Ohio St.3d  658, 653 N.E.2d  701.  Relator's  written
                               -3-
waiver form was located in the case file, but it had not been file-
stamped by the clerk of court and, therefore, did not become a part
of the record in relator's case.  Id.  Relator attempted to vacate
his convictions through an action in habeas corpus, but the court
held that habeas  relief was inappropriate  since relator had  an
adequate remedy at law by way of direct appeal to raise the error.
Id. at 660.
     Relator did not raise the issue on direct appeal and did not
raise the issue in his first application for reopening.   Relator
did raise the written jury waiver issue in a second application for
reopening, but  this court held,  inter alia,  that res  judicata
barred further review.  State v. Larkins (Oct. 19, 1987), Cuyahoga
App. Nos. 52779 and 52780, unreported, reopening disallowed (Aug.
19, 1996), Motion No. 68671.  Relator also raised the issue in  a
successive petition for postconviction relief filed on  September
23, 1996. The trial court denied relator's petition without issu-
ing findings of fact and conclusions of law on March 13, 1998.
     In an attempt to vacate his convictions now through an action
in mandamus, relator relies on State ex rel. Ballard v. O'Donnell
(1990), 50 Ohio St.3d 182, 553 N.E.2d 650.  In Ballard, the trial
court had rendered a judgment in a civil case against a person who
was not served with summons, did not appear, and was not a party in
the court proceedings.  The Supreme Court of Ohio determined that
the trial court did not have jurisdiction and held that regardless
of whether the remedy of appeal exists, if an inferior court lacks
jurisdiction to render a judgment, mandamus will lie to compel the
                               -4-
court to vacate its judgment.  Id.  Relator's reliance on Ballard
for an order vacating his convictions is, at best, only  hopeful.
The Ohio Supreme Court, in paragraph two of the syllabus in State
v. Pless (1996), 74 Ohio  St.3d 333, held that "[t]he failure  to
comply with R.C. 2945.05 may be remedied only in a direct  appeal
from a criminal conviction."  Based upon this clear and unambiguous
pronouncement,  a writ of  mandamus will not  lie to vacate  con-
victions containing violations of R.C. 2945.05.
     Accordingly, the motion for summary judgment of respondent is
granted and the motion for summary judgment of relator is denied.
Costs to relator.
JAMES M. PORTER, J., CONCURS
.