State v. Carthon

2012 Ohio 196, 968 N.E.2d 576, 197 Ohio App. 3d 677
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 20, 2012
Docket2011-CA-21
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 2012 Ohio 196 (State v. Carthon) 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. Carthon, 2012 Ohio 196, 968 N.E.2d 576, 197 Ohio App. 3d 677 (Ohio Ct. App. 2012).

Opinions

Hall, Judge.

{¶ 1} Timothy Carthon appeals from his conviction and sentence on misdemeanor charges of menacing and disorderly conduct.

{¶ 2} Carthon advances two assignments of error on appeal. First, he claims that his attorney provided constitutionally ineffective assistance by failing to seek dismissal of the menacing charge on statutory speedy-trial grounds. Second, he contends that the trial court violated R.C. 2945.75 by entering a conviction and sentence for disorderly conduct as a fourth-degree misdemeanor rather than a minor misdemeanor.

{¶ 3} Both of Carthon’s convictions stemmed from a dispute he had with Central State University police officers in the early morning hours of October 18, [679]*6792010. The dispute concerned whether his car was parked illegally on campus. According to the officers, Carthon became verbally abusive and profane during the encounter. He also threatened to kill one of the officers. A jury found Carthon guilty of menacing and disorderly conduct as a result of the incident.1 The trial court imposed a 30-day jail sentence for menacing, along with a $250 fine and court costs. It imposed a consecutive 30-day jail sentence for disorderly conduct, with 15 of those days suspended, and placed him on one year of probation. The trial court also fined him $250 for the disorderly conduct but suspended the fine on conditions. This appeal followed.2

{¶ 4} In his first assignment of error, Carthon alleges that his trial counsel provided constitutionally ineffective assistance by failing to seek dismissal of the menacing charge on speedy-trial grounds. Although Carthon waived speedy-trial time on the disorderly-conduct charge, he argues that this waiver did not apply to the menacing charge, which was added later. In response, the state asserts only that the time waiver applicable to the disorderly-conduct charge applied equally to the menacing charge.

{¶ 5} Upon review, we find Carthon’s argument to be persuasive. The Ohio Supreme Court has recognized that “[w]hen an accused waives the right to a speedy trial as to an initial charge, this waiver is not applicable to additional charges arising from the same set of circumstances that are brought subsequent to the execution of the waiver.” State v. Adams, 43 Ohio St.3d 67, 538 N.E.2d 1025 (1989), syllabus. In the present case, the disorderly-conduct and menacing charges arose from the same dispute between Carthon and Central State University police officers. Therefore, Carthon’s speedy-trial waiver on the disorderly-conduct charge did not apply to the menacing charge, which was filed after the waiver.

{¶ 6} The Ohio Supreme Court also has made clear that “ ‘[w]hen new and additional charges arise from the same facts as did the original charge and the state knew of such facts at the time of the initial indictment, the time within which trial is to begin on the additional charge is subject to the same statutory limitations period that is applied to the original charge.’ ” Id. at 68, quoting State v. Clay, 9 Ohio App.3d 216, 218, 459 N.E.2d 609 (1983). Here the [680]*680disorderly-conduct and menacing charges arose out of the same facts, and the state knew those facts when it charged Carthon with disorderly conduct. Carthon was charged with disorderly conduct and issued a summons on October 18, 2010. He was not charged with menacing (and aggravated menacing) until more than 120 days later, on February 22, 2011. Even giving the state the benefit of the 90-day speedy-trial time applicable to the first-degree-misdemeanor, aggravated-menacing charge under R.C. 2945.71(B)(2), the menacing and aggravated-menacing charges were filed well after Carthon’s speedy-trial time had expired. Under these circumstances, defense counsel provided deficient representation by failing to seek dismissal on speedy-trial grounds, and that deficiency prejudiced Carthon. As a result, ineffective assistance of counsel has been established. Compare State v. Gray, 2d Dist. No. 20980, 2007-Ohio-4549, 2007 WL 2502505, ¶ 21. The first assignment of error is sustained.

{¶ 7} In his second assignment of error, Carthon contends that the trial court erred in convicting him of fourth-degree-misdemeanor disorderly conduct. He argues that neither the complaint nor the guilty verdict stated the degree of his offense or included an additional element elevating it from a minor misdemeanor to a fourth-degree misdemeanor, as required by R.C. 2945.75. In response, the state claims that the trial court substantially complied with the statute because it gave a jury instruction consistent with fourth-degree misdemeanor disorderly conduct. Resolution of this assignment of error is governed by the terms of R.C. 2945.75 and the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision in State v. Pelfrey, 112 Ohio St.3d 422, 2007-Ohio-256, 860 N.E.2d 735.

{¶ 8} R.C. 2945.75 provides:

(A) When the presence of one or more additional elements makes an offense one of more serious degree:
(1) The affidavit, complaint, indictment, or information either shall state the degree of the offense which the accused is alleged to have committed, or shall allege such additional element or elements. Otherwise such affidavit, complaint, indictment, or information is effective to charge only the least degree of the offense.
(2) A guilty verdict shall state either the degree of .the offense of which the offender is found guilty, or that such additional element or elements are present. Otherwise, a guilty verdict constitutes a finding of guilty of the least degree of the offense charged.

{¶ 9} Here, neither the complaint nor the verdict form stated the degree of Carthon’s disorderly-conduct offense or included an additional element elevating the offense from a minor misdemeanor to a fourth-degree misdemeanor.3 In [681]*681Pelfrey, the Ohio Supreme Court emphatically determined that “R.C. 2945.75(A) plainly requires that in order to find a defendant guilty of ‘an offense * * * of more serious degree,’ the guilty verdict must either state ‘the degree of the offense of which the offender is found guilty’ or state that ‘additional element or elements are present.’ R.C. 2945.75(A)(2) also provides, in the very next sentence, what must occur if this requirement is not met: ‘Otherwise, a guilty verdict constitutes a finding of guilty of the least degree of the offense charged.’ When the General Assembly has written a clear and complete statute, this court will not use additional tools to produce an alternative meaning.” 112 Ohio St.3d 422, 2007-Ohio-256, 860 N.E.2d 735, at ¶ 12.

{¶ 10} The state’s argument that the trial court instructed the jury on fourth-degree-misdemeanor disorderly conduct is correct but unavailing. The trial court instructed the jury that the state was required to prove that Carthon persisted in disorderly conduct after a reasonable warning to desist. Undoubtedly, the jury had to conclude that this element was proven before it could return a guilty verdict. In Pelfrey, however, the majority expressly rejected the notion that noncompliance with R.C.

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State v. Carthon
2012 Ohio 196 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2012 Ohio 196, 968 N.E.2d 576, 197 Ohio App. 3d 677, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-carthon-ohioctapp-2012.