Cleveland v. Serrano

2021 Ohio 1586, 172 N.E.3d 1112
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided May 6, 2021·No. 109754, 109755, 109857·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO

EIGHTH APPELLATE DISTRICT COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA

CITY OF CLEVELAND, :

Plaintiff-Appellee, :

Nos. 109754, 109755,

and 109857

v. :

ANGEL SERRANO, :

Defendant-Appellant. :

JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION

JUDGMENT: REVERSED AND REMANDED RELEASED AND JOURNALIZED: May 6, 2021

Criminal Appeal from the Cleveland Municipal Court Case Nos. 2020 CRB 001525, 2019 CRB 012751, and 2020 CRB 001239

Appearances:

Barbara A. Langhenry, Cleveland Director of Law, Aqueelah A. Jordan, Chief Prosecutor, and Joan M.

Bascone, Assistant Prosecutor, for appellee.

Cullen Sweeney, Cuyahoga County Public Defender, for appellant.

MARY J. BOYLE, A.J.:

This appeal presents us with the question of whether trial courts can charge offenders with criminal contempt for violating the terms of their community control sanctions. We hold that pursuant to R.C. 2929.25, which governs misdemeanor community control sanctions, they cannot.

Defendant-appellant, Angel Serrano, appeals from several judgments of the Cleveland Municipal Court. He raises seven assignments of error for our review:

1. The trial court erred and violated Angel Serrano’s state and federal due process rights when it convicted him of contempt in [Cleveland M.C. No.] 2020 CRB 001239 without providing him adequate notice of the charge.

2. The trial court erred and violated Angel Serrano’s state and federal due process rights when it convicted him of contempt in [Cleveland M.C. No.] 2020 CRB 001525 without legally sufficient evidence.

3. The trial court erred in finding the defendant guilty of criminal contempt for violating a condition of community control.

4. The trial court erred and violated Angel Serrano’s state and federal constitutional protections against double jeopardy when Serrano was prosecuted and punished both for violating a condition of probation and for contempt of court for violating that very same condition.

5. The trial court lacked jurisdiction to hold any further hearings and impose any other order in the two contempt cases (2020 CRB 001239 and 2020 CRB 001525) after the common pleas court issued a writ of habeas corpus in conjunction with those two cases.

6. The trial court violated Angel Serrano’s constitutional protection against being placed in double jeopardy when it imposed multiple punishments for the same probation violation.

7. The trial court violated the defendant’s rights when it miscalculated Serrano’s jail credit in [Cleveland M.C. No.] 2019 CRB 012751.

We find merit to Serrano’s first, second, third, part of his sixth, and seventh assignments of error. We therefore reverse the judgments of the trial court and remand for the trial court to implement the mandates set forth in this opinion.

I. Procedural History In October 2019, in 2019 CRB 012751, Serrano pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated menacing in violation of Cleveland Codified Ordinance (“CCO”) 601.08, a second-degree misdemeanor. Serrano faced a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail for this offense, plus a maximum fine of $750.

According to the state, Serrano and the victim have a child together.

In July 2019, Serrano went to the victim’s house, got into a verbal argument with her, and she called the police. The victim stated that Serrano threatened to “come back and kick her ass” when the police left. He also told the victim that if he got “arrested, he would not be in jail forever, and that when he got out, he would be back.” The trial court sentenced him to three years of active community control sanctions with a 90-day suspended jail sentence. The trial court imposed a no- contact order as a condition of Serrano’s community control sanctions.

Serrano was arrested on January 22, 2020. Serrano states in his brief that it was because he failed to show for a review hearing, but there is no record of that in the case. Rather, it appears that he was arrested for violating the no-contact order. According to both the state and Serrano, Serrano was held in custody on “no bond” from January 22 until February 3, 2020.

On January 28, 2020, Serrano was charged with criminal contempt in 2020 CRB 001239 (“first contempt case”). The criminal complaint alleged that “[o]n or about January 12, 2020, [he] did violate the no contact order by going to the victim’s address in direct violation of court order.” The trial court issued a

“Summons Upon Complaint” on January 30, 2020, charging Serrano with “Contempt of Court — First Offense” and ordering him to appear on February 3, 2020.

In the attempted aggravated menacing case, the trial court issued an order for Serrano to appear on February 3, 2020, for “contempt for violating no contact.”

The trial court held a hearing on both the criminal contempt and the community control sanctions violation in the attempted aggravated menacing case on February 3, 2020. Serrano told the court that he went to the victim’s house because he “had to take something for the baby and [he] had to go to that house.” The trial court found Serrano in contempt and stated that he had served 12 days in jail. Defense counsel objected “because [Serrano had] not been arraigned on the contempt matter yet.” The trial court replied, “He doesn’t need an arraignment for a direct contempt. He needs a hearing, which he’s having.” The trial court further stated that it found Serrano guilty of contempt “because he’s admitted that he violated my order.” The trial court then stated, “Credit for 12 days. Suspending 18.” The trial court explained that Serrano had been in jail for 12 days at that point, but that he had “102 days left with the remaining days from the contempt and the 90 days from the original sentence.” The trial court stated that the no-contact order remained in effect. The trial court told Serrano that if he violated its order again, he would “serve every one of those days.” Serrano was released from jail that day.

On February 4, 2020, Serrano was arrested in Cuyahoga C.P. No. CR-

20-648501 and charged with menacing by stalking, a fourth-degree felony, and violation of a protection order, a first-degree misdemeanor. The charges alleged that the incidents took place from January 12, 2020, through February 4, 2020 (Serrano was in jail for part of that time, from January 22 to February 3, 2020).1 Based upon the conduct alleged in the February 4 charges, Serrano was also charged with criminal contempt in 2020 CRB 001525 (“second contempt case”) for violating his community control sanctions in the attempted aggravated menacing case. The complaint alleged that “[o]n or about February 3, 2020, [Serrano] did violate the no contact order by going to the victim’s address in direct violation of court order.”

The trial court held a hearing on both the criminal contempt and the community control sanctions violation on March 10, 2020. At the beginning of the hearing, Serrano’s defense counsel told the court that they were there for a pretrial on the second contempt case. Counsel requested a date for trial. The trial court replied, “He has a contempt charge from not following my probation order. I don’t know what this trial thing is about. He can have a hearing now.” After some discussion, defense counsel asked the court if Serrano’s second contempt case was for direct or indirect contempt. The trial court responded, “Direct. He went directly to the victim’s house, after being told, in court, to have no contact with the victim.”

1 Serrano states that he pleaded guilty to fifth-degree felony attempted menacing by stalking and a first-degree misdemeanor violation of a protection order.

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Cleveland v. Serrano, 2021 Ohio 1586, 172 N.E.3d 1112 (Ohio Ct. App. 2021).

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