State v. Bruce

642 N.E.2d 12, 95 Ohio App. 3d 169, 1994 Ohio App. LEXIS 2329
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 31, 1994
DocketNo. CA94-01-007.
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 642 N.E.2d 12 (State v. Bruce) 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. Bruce, 642 N.E.2d 12, 95 Ohio App. 3d 169, 1994 Ohio App. LEXIS 2329 (Ohio Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

Per Curiam.

Defendant-appellant, Frank Bruce, Jr., appeals convictions in the Butler County Court of Common Pleas for aggravated vehicular assault, driving under suspension, and failure to show proof of financial responsibility.

On November 10, 1993, the Butler County Grand Jury returned a five-count indictment against appellant as a result of an accident in which appellant lost control of his vehicle, crossed the center line of the road, and collided head-on with a vehicle occupied by David and Marie Hill. The indictment charged appellant with (1) aggravated vehicular assault pursuant to R.C. 2903.08(A) with a specification pursuant to R.C. 2941.143 that he caused physical harm to David and Marie Hill; (2) driving under the influence of alcohol pursuant to R.C. 4511.19(A)(2); (3) driving under suspension pursuant to R.C. 4507.02(B); (4) failure to show proof of financial responsibility pursuant to R.C. 4509.101(A)(1); and (5) failure to control pursuant to R.C. 4511.202.

Under the terms of a plea agreement, appellant pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular assault and the specification, driving under suspension, and failure to show proof of financial responsibility. The failure to control charge was merged with the aggravated vehicular assault charge, and the driving under the influence of alcohol charge was dismissed by the prosecution.

On January 6, 1994, appellant appeared for sentencing. Neither of the victims was present at the hearing. The trial court sentenced appellant to a one-year definite term of imprisonment and a $1,000 fine on the aggravated vehicular assault charge, a concurrent term of six months’ imprisonment and a $1,000 fine on the driving under suspension charge, and a $100 fine on the failure to show proof of financial responsibility charge. The court also ordered appellant to pay restitution of $43,000 to the victims.

The following day, the court held another hearing. The trial judge stated that the victims had taken the day off work to attend the sentencing hearing only to find that it had occurred the day before. He also stated that he had overlooked the specification of physical harm on the aggravated vehicular assault charge and had therefore imposed an incorrect sentence. After hearing Marie Hill’s statement, the court, over appellant’s objection, sentenced him to an indefinite term of three to five years’ imprisonment on the aggravated vehicular assault charge. *172 The rest of the sentence remained the same. The modified sentence was journalized in an entry dated January 11, 1994. This appeal followed.

Appellant presents two assignments of error for review. In his first assignment of error, appellant states that the trial court erred in sentencing him to a minimum term of three years. Appellant argues that the trial court, in correcting the incorrect sentence, should not have increased the penalty by imposing a minimum term of three years when it had originally sentenced him to serve one year and when it provided no rationale for the increased penalty. We find this assignment of error is not well taken.

A trial court may sentence a defendant to the indefinite term of incarceration provided for in R.C. 2929.11(B)(7) when the defendant has been convicted of a fourth degree felony which caused physical harm to any person, when the indictment that initiated the criminal proceeding contains the specification contained in R.C. 2941.143, and when the defendant was convicted of that specification. State v. Witwer (1992), 64 Ohio St.3d 421, 596 N.E.2d 451, syllabus. R.C. 2929.11(B)(7) provides that “the minimum term shall be eighteen months, two years, thirty months, or three years, and the maximum term shall be five years.” However, if there is no specification, the trial court shall impose a definite sentence of six months, one year, or eighteen months for a fourth degree felony. R.C. 2929.11(D)(2); Witwer, supra, at 426, 596 N.E.2d at 455.

Appellant does not contend that the trial court could not correct the sentence. See Crim.R. 36; State v. Bell (Jan. 31, 1994), Butler . App. No. CA93-07-143, unreported, 1994 WL 29877. After all, the sentence had not yet been executed or entered upon the court’s journal. See Bowling Green v. Luda (1992), 81 Ohio App.3d 799, 801, 612 N.E.2d 402, 403; Columbus v. Messer (1982), 7 Ohio App.3d 266, 268, 7 OBR 347, 348, 455 N.E.2d 519, 521; State v. Harris (1981), 2 Ohio App.3d 48, 49, 2 OBR 54, 55, 440 N.E.2d 572, 573. Appellant argues that when the trial court sentenced him to a definite sentence in the mistaken belief that there was no specification, it did not sentence him to serve the maximum term. However, the following day the court sentenced him to the maximum indefinite term solely because the victims were present. Appellant claims that the indefinite sentence should have been as close as possible to the original sentence, since the court had all relevant information available to it at the time of the original sentencing.

Sentencing is within the discretion of the trial court. A sentence will generally not be disturbed upon review where it is within the confines of a valid statute. Columbus v. Jones (1987), 39 Ohio App.3d 87, 88, 529 N.E.2d 947, 948. R.C. 2929.12 sets forth the factors the trial court should consider when pronouncing sentence for a felony. These statutory criteria must be used as a guide in exercising sentencing discretion; failure to consider them is an abuse of discre *173 tion. Id. at 88-89, 529 N.E.2d 947, 948-950; Cincinnati v. Clardy (1978), 57 Ohio App.2d 153, 155-156, 11 O.O.3d 137, 138-139, 385 N.E.2d 1342, 1343-1344. When the sentence imposed is within the statutory limit, a reviewing court will presume that the trial judge considered the factors set forth in R.C. 2929.12 unless there is a showing to the contrary. State v. Adams (1988), 37 Ohio St.3d 295, 297-298, 525 N.E.2d 1361, 1362-1363; Jones, supra, 39 Ohio App.3d at 89, 529 N.E.2d at 949.

R.C. ■ 2929.12(B)(3) states that a trial court can consider that a victim of an offense has suffered severe psychological, physical, or economic injury as the result of the offense in determining whether to impose a longer indefinite term of imprisonment for a felony. When the trial court imposed the original sentence, it did not have the benefit of any statement by the victims. However, at the second sentencing, Marie Hill testified about the severe injuries she suffered and medical treatment she received due to the accident.

The trial court cannot vacate a previous sentence and impose a more severe punishment for vindictive or improper reasons. Messer, supra,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Anderson
2015 Ohio 5136 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2015)
State v. Perkins
2014 Ohio 2242 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2014)
State v. Sanchez-Martinez, E-08-033 (2-20-2009)
2009 Ohio 775 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2009)
State v. Bates, Unpublished Decision (3-17-2004)
2004 Ohio 1370 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2004)
State v. Hooks
735 N.E.2d 523 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2000)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
642 N.E.2d 12, 95 Ohio App. 3d 169, 1994 Ohio App. LEXIS 2329, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bruce-ohioctapp-1994.