COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO, EIGHTH DISTRICT
                       COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA
                            NO. 76891
ROBERT PINKAVA                  :
                                :     PETITION FOR WRIT OF
          Relator               :
                                :           MANDAMUS
     vs.                        :
                                :
MERIDIA EUCLID HOSPITAL         :       JOURNAL ENTRY
                                :        AND OPINION
                                :
          Respondent            :      MOTION NO. 11076
DATE OF JOURNALIZATION:               NOVEMBER 4, 1999
JUDGMENT:                       WRIT DENIED.
APPEARANCES:
For relator:                    ROBERT L. PINKAVA, Pro Se
                                Inmate No. A155-820
                                P. O. Box 511
                                Columbus, Ohio 43216
For respondent:                 MERIDIA EUCLID HOSPITAL
                                Legal Department
                                18901 Lakeshore Blvd.
                                Cleveland, Ohio 44119
                               -2-
PATRICIA ANN BLACKMON, J.:
     Relator, Robert L. Pinkava, seeks a writ of mandamus in order
to compel  the respondent,  Meridia Euclid  Hospital, to  produce
copies of medical records which are related to the underlying case
of State v. Pinkava, Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Case No.
CR-44237. For the following reasons, we decline to issue a writ of
mandamus.
     The relator, in his complaint for a writ of mandamus, states
that:
          On September 4, 1996, and two other occasions
          Relator wrotethe Respondent under the Freedom
          of Information Act,  O.R.C. 149.43 (sic)  and
          U.S.C. 552  (sic), requesting  copies of  the
          forementioned  (sic)   records,   but   never
          received  the courtesy  of  a  reply  to  any
          correspondence.  It  is known to the  Relator
          that these records are available on Micro-Film
          (sic). (Emphasis added)
     The Supreme Court of Ohio has held that under R.C. 149.43, a
custodian of public records  possesses no duty to make copies  of
records available  by mail.  State  ex rel. Iacovone v.  Kaminski
(1998), 81 Ohio St.3d 189; State ex rel. Cheren v. Chief of Police,
Akron Municipal Police Dept. (1993), 67 Ohio St.3d 461; State  ex
rel. Fenley v. Ohio Historical Society (1992), 64 Ohio St.3d 509;
State ex rel.  Nelson v. Tubbs Jones  (1993), 67 Ohio St.3d  438.
Assuming that the  hospital records requested by the relator  are
indeed public records, the respondent possesses no duty to transmit
copies of such records to the relator by mail.  See, also, State ex
rel. Mayes v, Holman (1996), 76 Ohio St.3d 147.
                               -3-
     Finally, a defendant in a criminal case who has exhausted the
direct appeals of his or her original conviction may not use R.C.
149.43 in an attempt to obtain public records which will be used to
support post-conviction relief.  State ex rel. Steckman v. Jackson
(1994), 70 Ohio St.3d 420.
     Accordingly, the relator's request for a writ of mandamus is
denied.  Costs to relator.
     Writ denied.
ANN DYKE, P.J. and
JOHN T. PATTON, J., CONCUR.
.