STEVEN A. LARSON, Commissioner.
Findings of Fact
On January 21, 1989, in Placquemines Parish, Louisiana, the applicant, Dumitru Peiu, suffered personal injury as the result of being chased down and hit by an automobile driven by an unknown offender.
After consideration of the reparations application, the Attorney General's finding of fact and recommendation, the investigative material in the claim file, and the applicant's response, I find the applicant has met the jurisdictional requirements necessary for an award of reparations.
However, the Attorney General recommends the applicant's claim for an award of reparations be denied pursuant to R.C. 2743.60(E).
R.C. 2743.60(E) states:
"Neither a single commissioner nor a panel of commissioners shall make an award to a claimant who is a victim, or who claims an award of reparations through a victim, who, within ten years prior to the criminally injurious conduct that gave rise to the claim, was convicted of a felony or who is proved by a preponderance of the evidence presented to the commissioner or the panel to have engaged, within ten years prior to the criminally injurious conduct that gave rise to the claim, in conduct that, if proven by proof beyond a reasonable doubt, would constitute a felony under the laws of this state, another state, or the United States."
The Attorney General's investigation reveals the applicant was arrested and charged with attempted second degree murder, a felony of the second degree on October 2, 1988, and pled guilty to this charge on February 2, 1989.
The criminally injurious conduct occurred within ten years after the applicant's felonious conduct.
Therefore, the applicant's claim for an award of reparations is denied pursuant to R.C. 2743.60(E).
In his response to the Attorney General's finding of fact and recommendation, dated December 11, 1989, the applicant argues that according to the language of R.C. 2743.60(E), a denial based on the felony exclusion is proper only when the applicant was convicted before the criminally injurious conduct. This interpretation is incorrect. The statute specifically calls for denial of a reparations claim in either of two circumstances: when the applicant has been convicted of a felony within ten years prior to the criminally injurious conduct, or when it is established by a preponderance of the evidence that the applicant, within ten years prior to the criminally injurious conduct, engaged in conduct which if proven beyond a reasonable doubt, would constitute a felony. Police and investigators' reports within the claim file establish, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the applicant did engage in such conduct within ten years prior to the criminally injurious conduct. Therefore the fact that he was convicted after the criminally injurious conduct does not affect this court's statutory obligation to deny an award of reparations.
Conclusions of Law
Pursuant to R.C. 2743.51 through 2743.72, I find the applicant qualifies as a "claimant"; however, an award of reparations is DENIED pursuant to R.C. 2743.60(E) since the criminally injurious conduct occurred within ten years of the applicant's felonious conduct.
Order
1. The claim is denied and judgment is entered for the state of Ohio.
2. Costs are assumed by the reparations fund.
So ordered.