State v. Barker

917 N.E.2d 324, 183 Ohio App. 3d 414
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 17, 2009
DocketNo. 22779
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 917 N.E.2d 324 (State v. Barker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Barker, 917 N.E.2d 324, 183 Ohio App. 3d 414 (Ohio Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

Grady, Judge.

{¶ 1} During the early morning hours of February 11, 2008, defendant, Jeffrey L. Barker, entered the residence of Lashawn Pope by opening a locked door. Pope had, the day before, told defendant’s sister that Pope intended to end her relationship with defendant.

{¶ 2} Defendant went to a second-floor bedroom and found Pope with another man. An argument ensued, and defendant stated: “Pm going to show you who Jeffrey Barker is.” Defendant then threw Pope out a second-story bedroom window. Pope fell approximately 15 feet to the ground. She suffered a broken jaw and a shattered hip. Pope later underwent surgery to replace her hip.

{¶ 3} Defendant was charged by indictment with felonious assault, R.C. 2903.11(A)(1), causing serious physical harm to another, a second-degree felony; and aggravated burglary, R.C. 2911.11(A)(1), trespassing in an occupied structure when another person is present, with a purpose to threaten, attempt to inflict, or inflict physical harm on another, a first-degree felony. A repeat-violent-offender specification, R.C. 2941.149, was attached to both charges.

{¶ 4} The felonious-assault and aggravated-burglary charges were tried to a jury, and defendant was convicted of both. The court sentenced defendant to maximum prison terms of eight years, R.C. 2929.14(A)(2), and ten years, R.C. 2929.14(A)(1), for those offenses, to be served consecutively. Defendant waived his right to a jury trial on the repeat-violent-offender specifications and was convicted by the court. The court merged the two specifications and imposed an additional ten-year sentence pursuant to R.C. 2929.14(D)(2)(b). Defendant’s aggregate prison sentence totals 28 years. Defendant filed a notice of appeal.

FIRST ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR

{¶ 5} “The trial court erred by sentencing Mr. Barker to additional prison time on the repeat violent offender specifications.”

{¶ 6} Defendant argues that the trial court could not impose an additional ten-year sentence for being a repeat violent offender pursuant to R.C. 2929.14(D)(2)(b), because the findings the court made in order to convict and sentence him are prohibited by State v. Foster, 109 Ohio St.3d 1, 2006-Ohio-856, 845 N.E.2d 470.

{¶ 7} Foster followed and applied the holdings in Apprendi v. New Jersey (2000), 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435, and Blakely v. Washington (2004), 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403, to hold that the judicial fact-finding requirements in various sentencing statutes, including R.C. 2929.14(D)(2)(b), are unconstitutional because they deny a defendant’s Sixth [417]*417Amendment right to a jury trial when the matters the court must find are neither found by the trier of facts nor admitted by the defendant. Defendant Barker waived his right to a jury trial on the repeat-violent-offender specifications. His waiver forfeits defendant’s right to complain on appeal of any Apprendi/Foster denial of his right to jury trial on the specifications.

{¶ 8} The version of section R.C. 2929.14(D)(2)(b) in effect on February 11, 2008, when defendant committed two felony offenses, provides:

{¶ 9} “(b) The court shall impose on an offender the longest prison term authorized or required for the offense and shall impose on the offender an additional definite prison term of one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, or ten years if all of the following criteria are met:

{¶ 10} “(i) The offender is convicted of or pleads guilty to a specification of the type described in section 2941.149 of the Revised Code that the offender is a repeat violent offender.

{¶ 11} “(ii) The offender within the preceding twenty years has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to three or more offenses described in division (CC)(1) of section 2929.01 of the Revised Code, including all offenses described in that division of which the offender is convicted or to which the offender pleads guilty in the current prosecution and all offenses described in that division of which the offender previously has been convicted or to which the offender previously pleaded guilty, whether prosecuted together or separately.

{¶ 12} “(in) The offense or offenses of which the offender currently is convicted or to which the offender currently pleads guilty is aggravated murder and the court does not impose a sentence of death or life imprisonment without parole, murder, terrorism and the court does not impose a sentence of life imprisonment without parole, any felony of the first degree that is an offense of violence and the court does not impose a sentence of life imprisonment without parole, or any felony of the second degree that is an offense of violence and the trier of fact finds that the offense involved an attempt to cause or a threat to cause serious physical harm to a person or resulted in serious physical harm to a person.”

{¶ 13} The state presented evidence that on January 31, 1979, defendant pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and aggravated robbery, and was sentenced for those offenses on or about February 9, 1979, in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court case No. 78-CR-1355. While those offenses undoubtedly qualify as first- or second-degree felony offenses of violence, R.C. 2901.01(A)(9), it is equally clear that defendant was not convicted of those prior offenses within 20 years preceding his conviction and sentence for the two offenses involved in the present case, which occurred in 2008. Therefore, the requirement in R.C. 2929.14(D)(2)(b)(ii) has not been met, and the trial court [418]*418erred in imposing an additional ten-year sentence upon defendant as a repeat violent offender pursuant to R.C. 2929.14(D)(2)(b).

{¶ 14} The state argues that because all of the requirements in R.C. 2929.14(D)(2)(a) for imposing an additional sentence on repeat violent offenders were met, the trial court did not err. The requirements for imposing an additional penalty on a repeat violent offender pursuant to R.C. 2929.14(D)(2)(a) differ from the requirements for imposing that same additional penalty pursuant to R.C. 2929.14(D)(2)(h). Notably, the requirement in (D)(2)(b)(ii) of three or more convictions for first- or second-degree felony offenses of violence within the past 20 years is absent from (D)(2)(a). However, as the judgment of conviction and sentence or “Termination Entry” journalized by the court expressly states, the additional ten-year sentence imposed upon defendant in this case for being a repeat violent offender was imposed by the court pursuant to (D)(2)(h), not (D)(2)(a).

{¶ 15} Defendant’s first assignment of error is sustained. The additional ten-year repeat-violent-offender sentence imposed upon defendant by the trial court pursuant to R.C. 2929.14(D)(2)(b) will be reversed and vacated.

SECOND ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR

{¶ 16} “The trial judge erred by sentencing Mr. Barker to aggravated burglary and felonious assault.”

{¶ 17} Defendant argues that he cannot be convicted and sentenced for both felonious assault, R.C. 2903.11(A)(1), and aggravated burglary, R.C. 2911.11(A)(1), because they are allied offenses of similar import.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
917 N.E.2d 324, 183 Ohio App. 3d 414, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-barker-ohioctapp-2009.