State v. Buckney, Unpublished Decision (12-15-2000)

CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 15, 2000
DocketC.A. Case No. 2000-CA-9, T.C. Case No. 99-CR-72/97-CR-61/91-CR-113.
StatusUnpublished

This text of State v. Buckney, Unpublished Decision (12-15-2000) (State v. Buckney, Unpublished Decision (12-15-2000)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law.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State v. Buckney, Unpublished Decision (12-15-2000), (Ohio Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

OPINION
In this case, Todd Buckney appeals from a conviction for escape, from revocation of community control, and from sentences imposed regarding both matters. According to the record, Buckney was originally charged in 1991 with four counts of burglary and one count of receiving stolen property (Champaign County Common Pleas Case No. 91-CR-113). After pleading guilty to one count of burglary (a second degree felony) and one count of receiving stolen property, Buckney was sentenced to not less than six nor more than 15 years on the burglary charge, and to one-and one half years for receiving stolen property. The sentences were to run concurrent with each other and consecutive to a New Jersey sentence for which Buckney was then on probation.

The precise date of Buckney's parole is not revealed in the record, but he did spend five years in prison on the 1991 charges. Subsequently, in 1997, Buckney was charged with two counts of vandalism, both fifth degree felonies. Again, these charges were filed in Champaign County Common Pleas Court (Case No. 97-CR-61). Ultimately, Buckney pled guilty to one count and the other count was dismissed. This time, the court imposed a three year community control sanction. As part of the sentence, Buckney agreed to report to his supervising probation officer, to notify the probation department of any changes in address, and so on.

In April, 1999, a third criminal case was filed in Champaign County Common Pleas Court (Case No. 99-CR-72). In the indictment, the State alleged that Buckney had committed a violation of R.C.2921.34(A)(1)(escape), by breaking detention or failing to return to detention. Although the crime was labeled a felony of the third degree, the charge should have been a felony of the second degree, to correspond with Buckley's second degree felony conviction and subsequent parole in Case No. 91-CR-113. On May 19, 1999, the escape case was placed on the court's inactive docket until Buckney could be apprehended.

Shortly after the indictment was filed, Buckney's probation officer in Case No. 97-CR-61 filed a report asking the court to suspend community control. The basis for the suspension was that Buckney's whereabouts were unknown. On May 10, 1999, the court temporarily suspended probation and issued a warrant for Buckley's arrest.

Buckney was served with papers in both cases on October 8, 1999. Between that date and January 28, 2000, a series of hearings took place for the purpose of resolving the issues in the pending cases. Eventually, on January 25, 2000, the following agreements were placed on the record. First, the State filed a bill of information adding another count in Case No. 99-CR-72, to reflect a second charge of escape under R.C. 2921.34(A)(1). The added charge was a felony of the second degree, to correspond with the degree of Buckney's prior conviction in Case No. 91-CR-113. The State then asked the court to dismiss count one of the previously filed indictment (the third degree felony escape charge).

In exchange, Buckney waived the indictment and pled no contest to the second degree felony escape charge, with the understanding that his appeal rights were preserved. Regarding the escape charge, the State agreed to recommend both a minimum sentence of two years and sentencing concurrent to Buckney's sentence for community control sanctions in Case No. 97-CR-61. Also as part of the agreement, Buckney was to admit his community control violations in Case No. 97-CR-61, and to plead no contest, again for the purpose of preserving his appeal rights. Finally, the State agreed not to oppose Buckney's judicial release from prison after he had served one year of incarceration in Case No. 99-CR-72.

After Buckney pled no contest to the charges, the court found him guilty. The court then withheld sentencing for a few days. At another hearing held on January 28, 2000, the State stressed that it had asked the court to impose the minimum sentence partly because Buckney had been honest about problems with the indictment. In fact, the State was unaware of any defect in the indictment until Buckney brought it to the State's attention. At this hearing, the court said it would follow the prosecutor's recommendation for minimum sentencing. However, the court deferred a ruling on whether the sentence in Case No. 97-CR-61 would be consecutive or concurrent.

Subsequently, on February 29, 2000, the trial court filed a judgment entry imposing a two year sentence on the escape charge and eleven months for the violation of community control sanctions. At this time, however, the court did say that the sentences would be concurrent. After a judgment entry was filed reflecting the above judgments and sentences, Buckney filed a timely notice of appeal. Buckney now raises the following assignments of error:

I. Defendant-Appellant's conviction for escape in violation of Section 2921.34 must be reversed as Defendant-Appellant cannot be punished twice for the same offense in violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Section 10, Article I of the Constitution of the State of Ohio.

II. Defendant-Appellant's conviction [for] escape must be reversed as the finding that Defendant-Appellant was under detention at the time of the alleged offense was improper as Section 2967.28 and Section 2967.11 which define detention and breaking detention while on parole is [sic] unconstitutional and violates [sic] the separation of powers doctrine and the due process clauses of both the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Ohio.

After reviewing the record and applicable law, we find the assignments of error without merit. Therefore, we will affirm the judgment of the trial court.

I
As was noted, Buckney claims in the first assignment of error that his conviction violates the Double Jeopardy Clauses of the United States and Ohio Constitutions, because he is being punished twice for the same offense. Specifically, Buckney received a sentence from the trial court on the escape charge, and the Ohio Adult Prison Authority (APA) has imposed or will impose post-release sanctions, including return to prison and additional prison time.

The facts presented below in this regard were somewhat sketchy. All we know about the parole violation in Case No. 91-CR-113 is that Buckney did not keep in touch with his parole officer. Based on this fact, Buckney's parole was revoked and he was sent back to prison. At the time of his sentence on the escape charge, Buckney was incarcerated in the state prison system and was awaiting a hearing before the APA on the parole violation.

Buckney told the trial court that the APA was using a new guideline system. Under the new system, Buckney would allegedly receive one year or 18 months of prison time for the parole violation. However, Buckney's attorney also noted that he did not know if these figures would apply if Buckney had another conviction, i.e., for the escape charge. Unfortunately, the APA hearing was set for March, 2000 (after the disposition of the escape charge), and the record contains no further information on what sentence Buckney may have received from the APA. Consequently, we do not know if further prison time was imposed.

However, even if the APA imposed additional, consecutive prison time, no double jeopardy violation would exist. State v. Wellbaum (Sept. 1, 2000), Champaign App. No.

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Bluebook (online)
State v. Buckney, Unpublished Decision (12-15-2000), Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-buckney-unpublished-decision-12-15-2000-ohioctapp-2000.