COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO, EIGHTH DISTRICT
                        COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA
                            NO. 81572
RICARDO MONTALVO, JR., ET AL.,:
                              :
    Non-Party                 :
    Appellees/Plaintiffs      :
                              :
    vs.                       :         JOURNAL ENTRY
                              :                and
GIOVANNA ORAVEC,              :              OPINION
                              :
    Defendant                 :
                              :
[Appeal by Carla Cornecelli   :
and Allstate Insurance        :
Company]                      :
DATE OF ANNOUNCEMENT
OF DECISION                   :    FEBRUARY 20, 2003
CHARACTER OF PROCEEDING:      :    Civil appeal from
                              :    Common Pleas Court
                              :    Case No. 431117
JUDGMENT                      :    DISMISSED.
DATE OF JOURNALIZATION        :
APPEARANCES:
For non-party appellees/      Jonathan D. Greenberg, Esq.
plaintiffs Ricardo Montalvo,  Bridey Matheney, Esq.
Jr. and Sherry Montalvo:      WALTER & HAVERFIELD, LLP
                              1300 Terminal Tower
                              50 Public Square
                              Cleveland, Ohio  44113-2253
For non-party contemnor/      Fredric E. Kramer, Esq.
appellants Carla              Brian T. Winchester, Esq.
Cornecelli and Allstate       McNEAL, SCHICK, ARCHIBALD,
Insurance Company:                & BIRO CO., LPA
                              Van Sweringen Arcade
                              123 West Prospect Avenue, #250
                              Cleveland, Ohio  44115
                           -CONTINUED-
                           -2-
CONTINUED:
For non-party defendant    Perrin I. Sah, Esq.
Giovanna Oravec:           113 St. Clair Building, Suite 525
                           Cleveland, Ohio  44114
                                -3-
MICHAEL J. CORRIGAN, P.J.:
     This appeal arises from an alleged contempt citation issued to
non-party appellant Carla Cornecelli, a claims adjuster for
Allstate Insurance Company.   Allstate provided insurance to the
defendant in the underlying motor vehicle negligence action being
tried by the court.  Cornecelli claims the court found her in
contempt for failing to appear at trial as allegedly ordered in a
case management conference order.    The order at issue said that
"all clients and/or insurance representatives are to be present "
for trial.  Without conducting a hearing on the contempt citation,
the court sentenced Cornecelli to ten days in jail, fined her
$1,000 and ordered her to pay $800 in attorney fees.   All this was
for making the court wait two hours for her to appear at the start
of trial to which she was not a party.
     We could have much to say about the court's intemperate manner
of handling this matter.   It decided to jail Cornecelli for ten
days for a violation of an ambiguous pretrial order (the phrase
"and/or insurance representatives"as used in the court's pretrial
order does not clearly compel the attendance of the insurance
representative).  In addition, the court did not give Cornecelli a
hearing as constitutionally required.    The court may have had
underlying reasons for taking such precipitously rash action for a
non-party who was two hours late, but it did not bother to state
them on the record.
                                -4-
     All of that is of no moment, however, as the court failed to
journalize any order of contempt.   It requires no citation for the
proposition that a court speaks only through its journal.       By
failing to issue any journal entry relating to contempt, it follows
that there is no contempt order from which to appeal.     See R.C.
2505.02.  We note tangentially that we granted Cornecelli a writ of
habeas corpus on June 26, 2002, the date on which the court meant
to hold her in contempt, so she is not incarcerated. See Cornecelli
v. McFaul, Cuyahoga App. No. 81467, 2002-Ohio-4285.     It follows
that any order purporting to find Cornecelli in contempt is a
nullity, as are the fines and ordered attorney fees.
     Dismissed.
                                -5-
     This appeal is dismissed.
     Costs assessed against appellants.
     The court finds there were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
     It is ordered that a special mandate issue out of this court
directing the Common Pleas Court 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.
                                         MICHAEL J. CORRIGAN
                                           PRESIDING JUDGE
ANN DYKE, J., and
COLLEEN CONWAY COONEY, J., CONCUR.
N.B.  This entry is an announcement of the court's decision.    See
App.R. 22(B), 22(D) and 26(A); Loc.App.R. 22.   This decision will
be journalized and will become the judgment and order of the court
pursuant to App.R.22(E) unless a motion for reconsideration with
supporting brief, per App.R. 26(A), is filed within ten (10) days
of the announcement of the court's decision.   The time period for
review by the Supreme Court of Ohio shall begin to run upon the
journalization of this court's announcement of decision by the
clerk per App.R. 22(E).    See, also, S.Ct.Prac.R. II, Section
2(A)(1).
 
.