State v. Clemons

2011 Ohio 1177
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 9, 2011
Docket10 BE 7
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 2011 Ohio 1177 (State v. Clemons) 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. Clemons, 2011 Ohio 1177 (Ohio Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Clemons, 2011-Ohio-1177.]

STATE OF OHIO, BELMONT COUNTY

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS

SEVENTH DISTRICT

STATE OF OHIO, ) ) CASE NO. 10 BE 7 PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, ) ) - VS - ) OPINION ) DAVID FLOYD CLEMONS, ) ) DEFENDANT-APPELLANT. )

CHARACTER OF PROCEEDINGS: Criminal Appeal from Common Pleas Court, Case No. 09CR13.

JUDGMENT: Affirmed in part; Reversed in part; Remanded.

APPEARANCES: For Plaintiff-Appellee: Attorney Thomas Hampton Special Prosecuting Attorney P.O. Box 310 160 East Main Street Barnesville, Ohio 43713

For Defendant-Appellant: Attorney Timothy Young Ohio State Pubic Defender Attorney Peter Galyardt Assistant State Public Defender 250 East Broad Street, Suite 1400 Columbus, Ohio 43215

JUDGES: Hon. Joseph J. Vukovich Hon. Cheryl L. Waite Hon. Mary DeGenaro Dated: March 9, 2011

VUKOVICH, J.

¶{1} Defendant-appellant David Floyd Clemons appeals from two rape convictions and eight unlawful sexual conduct with a minor convictions, which were entered in the Belmont County Common Pleas Court after a jury trial. Appellant argues that he should not have been tried and convicted for third-degree felony unlawful sexual conduct with a minor where the offense would have only constituted a fourth-degree felony at the time of commission. This argument has merit as a defendant must be charged with the version of the offense in effect at the time of the crime’s commission. Appellant’s eight convictions of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor are hereby amended to eight convictions for corruption of a minor, and this case is remanded so that appellant shall be resentenced under the lower degree of felony. ¶{2} Appellant also contends that only five of these eight counts were specifically set forth in the teenage victim’s testimony. He urges that the other three counts were set forth by mere estimate or inference in violation of his Due Process and Double Jeopardy rights. However, besides detailing five specific incidents, the victim stated that they had sexual intercourse “way over” ten times during a four-month period in 1998 and specified that they had sex on the couch in the living room of appellant’s home more than ten times. This is a definite minimum, as opposed to an estimate of a maximum number of times. As such, appellant’s request that we dismiss three counts is overruled. ¶{3} Regarding his suppression motion, appellant urges that his private conversation with his wife in the police interrogation room was improperly recorded in violation of the Fourth Amendment and Ohio’s electronic surveillance laws. Under the totality of the facts and circumstances, the trial court could rationally find that appellant had no reasonable expectation of privacy regarding his conversation in the police interrogation room after his arrest. ¶{4} Finally, appellant takes issue with the content of his recorded interview, which was not redacted even though it contained the detective’s accusations that appellant molested other individuals. He states that there was not substantial proof that these other acts occurred. However, appellant did not object to playing the jury the entire interview. We do not find plain error or reversible ineffective assistance of counsel. STATEMENT OF THE CASE ¶{5} In 2009, appellant was indicted on eight counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor for his 1998 acts of sexual conduct with his daughter’s friend. See R.C. 2907.04(A). The victim was thirteen and fourteen at the time of the relationship. Appellant was also indicted on two counts of raping his daughter, who was as young as four at the time of the first incident. See R.C. 2907.02(A)(1)(b) (constituting the offense of rape of a child under the age of ten). It was alleged that these rapes took place between January 1, 1994 and December 31, 1996. ¶{6} Appellant filed a motion to suppress statements he made to his wife in the police interrogation room, which had been recorded without his knowledge. The court denied his motion. Thereafter, a jury found appellant guilty as charged. ¶{7} In a March 1, 2010 entry, the court sentenced appellant to three years on each of the first eight counts and ten to twenty-five years on the two rape counts all to run consecutively, for a total sentence of forty-four to seventy-four years in prison. The within appeal followed. ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR NUMBERS ONE AND TWO ¶{8} Appellant’s first two assignments of error provide: ¶{9} “THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED PLAIN ERROR WHEN IT CONVICTED DAVID CLEMONS OF THIRD-DEGREE FELONIES FOR VIOLATION OF R.C. 2907.04(A)(B)(3) AND SENTENCED MR. CLEMONS TO CONSECUTIVE THREE-YEAR SENTENCES. BOTH THE CONVICTIONS AND SENTENCES ARE CONTRARY TO LAW UNDER THE VERSION OF R.C. 2907.04 THAT WAS EFFECTIVE IN 1998, THE DATE THAT THE OFFENSES WERE COMMITTED.” ¶{10} “THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED PLAIN ERROR WHEN IT CONVICTED DAVID CLEMONS OF EIGHT COUNTS OF UNLAWFUL SEXUAL CONDUCT WITH A MINOR UNDER POST-2000 AMENDMENT VERSION OF R.C. 2907.02(A)(B)(3) IN VIOLATION OF THE EX POST FACTO CLAUSE OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION AND THE RETROACTIVITY CLAUSE OF THE OHIO CONSTITUTION.” ¶{11} Appellant was convicted of eight counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. See R.C. 2907.04(B). The elements of this offense exist when a person who is eighteen years of age or older engages in sexual conduct with another, who is not the spouse of the offender, when the offender knows the other person is thirteen years of age or older but less than sixteen years of age, or the offender is reckless in that regard. R.C. 2907.04(A). The offenses were indicted as third degree felonies because appellant, who was in his mid-thirties, was ten or more years older than the victim. See R.C. 2907.04(B)(3). A felony of the third degree is subject to a maximum sentence of five years in prison. See R.C. 2929.14(A)(3). Appellant was sentenced to three years on each of the eight counts to run consecutively. ¶{12} However, this version of R.C. 2907.04 was not effective until October 17, 2000. Prior thereto, R.C. 2907.04 labeled this same conduct the offense of corruption of a minor. The highest degree of this offense was a fourth degree felony. R.C. 2907.04(B) (if the offender was more than four years older than the victim). A fourth degree felony is subject to a maximum sentence of only eighteen months in prison. See R.C. 2929.14(A)(4). ¶{13} The indictment alleged that the eight counts of unlawful sexual conduct occurred in 1998, and the trial testimony confirmed this time frame. Accordingly, if appellant had been charged and convicted with the statute in effect at the time of the offenses, the convictions would be fourth degree instead of third degree felonies. ¶{14} In his first assignment of error, appellant thus argues that the amended version applies prospectively only and his sentence to a third-degree felony was contrary to law. In his second assignment, he argues that imposing the elevated degree of felony upon him and the resulting increased punishment, violated the constitutional bars on ex post facto and retroactive laws. ¶{15} Appellant did not raise this issue below, and thus we review for plain error. See Crim.R. 52(B). A party asserting plain error bears the burden of showing that: (1) an error occurred; (2) the error was obvious; and (3) the error affected the outcome of the trial. State v. Davis, 116 Ohio St.3d 404, 2008-Ohio-2, ¶378; Crim.R. 52(B). The recognition of plain-error review can only be done under exceptional circumstances in order to prevent a manifest miscarriage of justice. State v. Rohrbaugh, 126 Ohio St.3d 421, 2010-Ohio-3286, ¶6, citing State v. Long (1978), 53 Ohio St.2d 91. Moreover, counsel can be considered to have rendered ineffective assistance where there was deficient performance in the failure to object to a matter and the result of the proceeding would have been different but for that failure. See Strickland v.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2011 Ohio 1177, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-clemons-ohioctapp-2011.