State v. Collier

2020 Ohio 3033
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided May 21, 2020·No. 108687·Published·Cited by 12 cases

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO

EIGHTH APPELLATE DISTRICT COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA

STATE OF OHIO, :

Plaintiff-Appellee, :

No. 108687

v. :

SHARON COLLIER, :

Defendant-Appellant. :

JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION

JUDGMENT: AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED

RELEASED AND JOURNALIZED: May 21, 2020

Criminal Appeal from the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Case No. CR-18-626420-A

Appearances:

Michael C. O’Malley, Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney, and James A. Gutierrez, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee.

Flannery│Georgalis, L.L.C., Edward Fadel, and Paul M.

Flannery; and Robinson Law Firm, L.L.C., and Emmett E.

Robinson, for appellant.

EILEEN T. GALLAGHER, A.J.:

Defendant-appellant, Sharon Collier, appeals from her convictions and sentence. She raises the following assignments of error for review:

1. The state’s violation of the terms of its plea agreement with Collier constituted plain error.

2. The trial court’s imposition of consecutive sentences should be vacated for failure to comply with R.C. 2929.14(C)(4).

3. The trial court committed plain error by failing to conclude, and counsel was constitutionally ineffective for failing to argue, that aggravated theft and money laundering were allied offenses.

4. Collier’s sentence is not supported by the record.

After careful review of the record and relevant case law, we affirm Collier’s convictions, but reverse the trial court’s imposition of consecutive sentences. The matter is remanded for the trial court to consider whether consecutive sentences are appropriate under R.C. 2929.14(C)(4) and, if so, to make all of the required findings on the record and incorporate those findings into its sentencing journal entry.

I. Procedural and Factual History In March 2018, Collier and her codefendants were named in a 91-

count indictment in Cuyahoga C.P. No. CR-18-626420-A-D. Collier was charged with one count of aggravated theft; one count of telecommunications fraud; 32 counts of forgery; and 54 counts of money laundering. The indictment stemmed from allegations that, over a three-year period of time, Collier made unauthorized withdrawals from company accounts while working as an office manager for Taylored Construction Services.

In April 2019, Collier accepted the negotiated terms of a plea agreement with the state. At the onset of the plea hearing, the state set forth the terms of the proposed plea agreement, expressing that Collier intended to plead guilty to one count of aggravated theft, seven counts of forgery, and two counts of money laundering. The remaining counts against Collier would be nolled. The state further expressed that Collier would be required to pay restitution in the amount of $210,000. However, “no threats or promises [were] made to [Collier] concerning any type of sentence.”

Following a Crim.R. 11 colloquy, Collier pleaded guilty to aggravated theft in violation of R.C. 2913.02(A)(3), as charged in Count 1 of the indictment; seven counts of forgery in violation of R.C. 2913.21(A)(1), as charged in Counts 6-12 of the indictment; and two counts of money laundering in violation of R.C. 1315.55(A)(1), as charged in Counts 38 and 40 of the indictment. The remaining counts were nolled. The trial court accepted Collier’s guilty pleas and referred her to the county probation department for a presentence-investigation report.

In June 2019, the trial court sentenced Collier to 36 months in prison on the aggravated theft offense, 36 months in prison on each money laundering offense, and 12 months in prison on each forgery offense. The prison terms imposed on the forgery offenses were ordered to run concurrently with each other, and concurrently with the prison term imposed on the aggravated theft offense. The prison terms imposed on the money laundering offenses were ordered to be served concurrently to each other, but consecutive to the prison term imposed on the aggravated theft offense, for a total prison term of 72 months. In addition, the trial court ordered restitution to the victim in the amount of $210,000.

Collier now appeals from her convictions and sentence.

II. Law and Analysis

A. Plea Agreement

In her first assignment of error, Collier argues the state breached the terms of the plea agreement by advocating for a six-year prison term despite its statement during the plea hearing that it would leave sentencing to the discretion of the trial court.

This court has recognized that “‘[a] plea bargain itself is contractual in nature and subject to contract-law standards.’” State v. Butts, 112 Ohio App.3d 683, 686, 679 N.E.2d 1170 (8th Dist.1996), quoting Baker v. United States, 781 F.2d 85, 90 (6th Cir.1986). A contract is generally defined as a promise that is actionable upon breach. Essential elements of a contract include an offer, acceptance, contractual capacity, consideration, and a manifestation of mutual assent. State v. Robinson, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 82801, 2004-Ohio-740, ¶ 12, citing Perlmuter Printing Co. v. Strome, Inc., 436 F.Supp. 409, 414 (N.D.Ohio 1976). A meeting of the minds as to the essential terms of the contract is a requirement to enforcing the contract. Id., citing Episcopal Retirement Homes, Inc. v. Ohio Dept. of Indus. Relations, 61 Ohio St.3d 366, 369, 575 N.E.2d 134 (1991). As such, the terms of a plea agreement must be explicit. State v. Padilla, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 98187, 2012-Ohio-5892, ¶ 11, citing United States v. Benchimol, 471 U.S. 453, 105 S.Ct. 2103, 85 L.Ed.2d 462 (1985).

Plea agreements should be construed strictly against the government.

United States v. Fitch, 282 F.3d 364 (6th Cir.2002). “When a plea rests in any significant degree on a promise or agreement of the prosecutor, so that it can be said to be part of the inducement or consideration, such promise must be fulfilled.” Santobello v. New York, 404 U.S. 257, 92 S.Ct. 495, 30 L.Ed.2d 427 (1971). “When an allegation is made that a plea agreement has been broken, the defendant must merely show that the agreement was not fulfilled.” State v. Legree, 61 Ohio App.3d 568, 573 N.E.2d 687 (6th Dist.1988). In the event of a breach, the trial court may allow the defendant to withdraw his or her plea, or it may order specific performance of the plea agreement, in which case the defendant shall be resentenced by a different judge. Santobello, 404 U.S. at 263. The appropriate remedy is left to the sound discretion of the trial court. Padilla at ¶ 14.

“In order to determine whether a plea agreement has been breached, courts must examine what the parties reasonably understood at the time the defendant entered his guilty plea.” State v. Latimore, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 92490, 2010-Ohio-1052, ¶ 7. In this case, the record reflects that upon identifying the counts to which Collier would be pleading guilty under the terms of the plea agreement, the prosecutor stated as follows:

Judge, there have been no threats or promises made to these defendants concerning this plea. And there have been no threats or promises made to these defendants concerning any type of sentence, Your Honor.

In fact, the sentencing of Ms. Collier we’re leaving to the wise discretion of the Court at the time of sentencing.

(Tr. 7.) The court then asked Collier if she wished to accept the terms of the plea agreement as set forth by the state. Collier responded “yes.” (Tr. 9.)

On appeal, Collier characterizes the prosecutor’s statement as “an agreement that the government would not make a sentencing recommendation” at the sentencing hearing. Thus, Collier contends that the state breached the terms of the plea agreement by arguing at the sentencing hearing that probation “would be an injustice” and that a six-year prison term was warranted. (Tr. 72.)

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