State v. C.K.J.

2016 Ohio 5637
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 1, 2016
Docket15AP-580 & 15AP-582
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2016 Ohio 5637 (State v. C.K.J.) 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. C.K.J., 2016 Ohio 5637 (Ohio Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. C.K.J., 2016-Ohio-5637.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO

TENTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

State of Ohio, : Nos. 15AP-580 Plaintiff-Appellant, : (C.P.C. No. 14EP-763)

v. : and 15AP-582 (C.P.C. No. 14EP-765) [C.K.J.], : (REGULAR CALENDAR) Defendant-Appellee. :

DECISION

Rendered on September 1, 2016

On brief: Ron O'Brien, Prosecuting Attorney, and Michael P. Walton, for appellant. Argued: Michael P. Walton.

On brief: Douglas A. Funkhouser Co., L.P.A., and Douglas A. Funkhouser, for appellee. Argued: Douglas A. Funkhouser.

APPEAL from the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas

HORTON, J. {¶ 1} Plaintiff-appellant, the State of Ohio, appeals from a judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas granting applications filed by defendant- appellee, C.K.J., to seal the record of convictions in case No. 03CR-7966 for attempted possession of drugs and attempted failure to comply ("FTC"), and a no-bill in case No. 03CR-5364, on charges of possession of drugs and FTC, pursuant to R.C. 2953.52. Because the trial court erred in its application of R.C. 2953.61, and because the trial court cannot seal the records of appellee, we reverse. I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY {¶ 2} On August 2, 2003, at approximately 2 a.m., State Trooper Caplinger witnessed appellee driving the wrong way on state route 104. Trooper Caplinger began a pursuit that would last six minutes and cover a distance of nearly five miles. Eventually, Nos. 15AP-580 and 15AP-582 2

Trooper Caplinger and Columbus Police Department officers stopped appellee's vehicle and he was arrested. In a search incident to arrest, cocaine was located in appellee's right front pants pocket. {¶ 3} In Municipal Court case No. 2003TRC-180385, appellee was charged with OVI (R.C. 4511.19(A)(1)), driving on the wrong side (R.C. 4511.35), and failure to wear a seatbelt (R.C. 4513.263(B)(1)). (State's Ex. C at 2.) On December 16, 2003, appellee pled guilty to the OVI charge. {¶ 4} In Municipal Court case No. 2003CRA-19239, appellee was charged with FTC (R.C. 2921.331(B)), and possession of cocaine (R.C. 2925.11(C)(1)). On August 6, 2003, appellee waived his right to a preliminary hearing and the felony charges were bound over to Common Pleas Court. {¶ 5} On November 24, 2003, the Grand Jury returned an indictment in case No. 03CR-7966, charging appellee with possession of cocaine and two counts of FTC. On January 28, 2004, the Grand Jury returned a no-bill in connection with case No. 03CR- 5364, which involved charges of FTC and possession of cocaine. On April 5, 2004, appellee entered a plea of guilty in case No. 03CR-7966 to the stipulated lesser included offenses of attempted possession of cocaine and attempted FTC. Appellee was sentenced to a two-year term of community control. (June 8, 2004 Judgment Entry.) {¶ 6} Over ten years later, on November 5, 2014, appellee filed an application to seal the record of his convictions in case No. 14EP-763. The same day, appellee filed an application to seal the record of the no-bill in case No. 14EP-765. The state filed an objection to each application, citing R.C. 2953.61, and the matter proceeded to a hearing on May 14, 2015. {¶ 7} Appellee testified during the hearing that he had possessed the cocaine to impress a woman he was planning on meeting that evening. Appellee admitted to consuming six beers in the hours leading up to the offenses. After learning that the woman he intended to impress was not going to meet him, appellee decided to drive home. On his drive home, appellee began driving the wrong way on state route 104 because he mistakenly assumed it was a two-way street. Appellee testified that he never saw or heard multiple police cars chasing and attempting to stop him, including Trooper Caplinger. In addition, appellee denied that he had used cocaine that evening. Nos. 15AP-580 and 15AP-582 3

{¶ 8} At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court made several relevant findings. The trial court found that appellee's possession of cocaine "was not as a result of or in connection with the same act as the drunk driving and the eluding." (July 22, 2015 Tr. at 32.) Next, the trial court went on to find that "the drunk driving was complete once he started going left of center and that he was already drunk driving when he was left of center, at that point, that act was complete, he was driving drunk or impaired." (Tr. at 33.) The trial court continued, finding that "if he had all the beers that he had, he was drunk driving all the way home." Id. Finally, the court found that "the drunk-driving act was already complete, [it] was separate than the fleeing." (Tr. at 34.) The trial court granted both applications from the bench. On May 15, 2015, the trial court journalized an entry in each case granting the applications to seal the record of convictions in case No. 14EP-763, and the record of the no-bill charges in case No. 14EP-765. {¶ 9} This consolidated appeal arises from the granting of the two applications. In case No. 15AP-580, the state has appealed the decision of the trial court granting the application to seal the record of case No. 03CR-7966, in which appellee was convicted of attempted possession of cocaine and attempted FTC. In case No. 15AP-582, the state has appealed the decision of the trial court granting the application to seal the record of case No. 03CR-5364, in which the Grand Jury returned a no-bill to charges of FTC and possession of cocaine. II. ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR {¶ 10} The state raises the following assignments of error: [I.] THE TRIAL COURT LACKED JURISDICTION TO SEAL THE RECORD OF CONVICTIONS, WHERE THE APPLICATION WAS BARRED BY R.C. 2953.61.

[II.] THE TRIAL COURT LACKED JURISDICTION TO SEAL THE RECORD OF A NO-BILL, WHERE THE APPLICATION WAS BARRED BY R.C. 2953.61.

[III.] THE TRIAL COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION IN ORDERING NON-SEALABLE RECORDS TO BE SEALED.

III. STANDARD OF REVIEW {¶ 11} In In re K.J., 10th Dist. No. 13AP-1050, 2014-Ohio-3472, ¶ 18, we set out the applicable standard of review: Nos. 15AP-580 and 15AP-582 4

As the trial court must make factual findings, but then must apply those facts to the law, we believe a hybrid standard of review is appropriate. Accordingly, in analyzing a trial court's ruling under R.C. 2953.61, a reviewing court should accord deference to the trial court's findings of fact, but engage in a de novo review of the trial court's application of those facts to the law. Compare State v. Burnside, 100 Ohio St.3d 152, 2003-Ohio-5372, ¶ 8, 797 N.E.2d 71 (standard of review for a motion to suppress evidence); State v. Williams, 134 Ohio St.3d 482, 2012-Ohio-5699, 983 N.E.2d 1245 (noting that under a merger analysis, "it is the jury making factual determinations, and the reviewing court owes deference to those determinations, but it owes no deference to the trial court's application of the law to those facts").

Furthermore, "[w]hen a court's judgment is based on an erroneous interpretation of the law, an abuse-of-discretion standard is not appropriate." State v. Futrall, 123 Ohio St.3d 498, 2009-Ohio-5590, ¶ 6. IV. APPLICATION BARRED BY R.C. 2953.61 {¶ 12} As the state's assignments of error are interrelated, we will address them together. The state argues that appellee was charged with multiple offenses based upon his conduct in the early morning hours of August 2, 2003, that two cases resulted in a mix of convictions and dismissed charges (case Nos. 2003TRC-180385 and 03CR-7966), while a third resulted in a no-bill (case No. 03CR-5364).

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2016 Ohio 5637, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-ckj-ohioctapp-2016.