State v. Douglas, Unpublished Decision (2-9-2006)

2006 Ohio 536
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 9, 2006
DocketNos. 85525, 85526.
StatusUnpublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 2006 Ohio 536 (State v. Douglas, Unpublished Decision (2-9-2006)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law.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State v. Douglas, Unpublished Decision (2-9-2006), 2006 Ohio 536 (Ohio Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION
{¶ 1} Defendant, Alden Douglas, appeals the trial court's denial of his motions to withdraw guilty pleas in two separate cases. He also appeals the sentences imposed in those cases. This court consolidated the two appeals.

{¶ 2} In Case No. 452746, defendant was indicted on one count of theft of a motor vehicle, a fifth degree felony. In Case No. 449904, he was indicted on one count of aggravated burglary1 and one count of felonious assault, a second degree felony. The court held one plea hearing for both cases and defendant agreed to plead guilty to attempted theft of a motor vehicle and felonious assault with the notice of a prior conviction and the repeat violent offender specification. The aggravated burglary count was nolled.

{¶ 3} Three weeks later, defendant filed a pro se motion to withdraw his pleas in both cases. A week after that, he made an oral motion for new counsel, which the court appointed a week later. A month after new counsel was appointed, the court held a hearing on defendant's motion to withdraw his pleas. After denying this motion, the court proceeded to sentence defendant to one year in the attempted theft of a motor vehicle case and four years in the felonious assault case. Defendant timely appealed, stating seven assignments of error. Because assignments of error one, two, four, and seven are dispositive of the case, we will discuss them together.2 They state:

I. MR. DOUGLAS' CHANGE OF PLEA WAS NOT KNOWINGLY, INTELLIGENTLY AND VOLUNTARILY MADE WHERE THE TRIAL COURT FAILED TO INFORM HIM OF THE POTENTIAL OF POST-RELEASE CONTROL SUPERVISION.

II. MR. DOUGLAS' CHANGE OF PLEA IN CASE NO. 449904 WAS NOT KNOWINGLY, INTELLIGENTLY AND VOLUNTARILY MADE WHERE THE TRIAL COURT FAILED TO INFORM HIM OF THE POTENTIAL OF POST-RELEASE CONTROL SUPERVISION.

IV. IN CASE NO 449904, THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN NOT PERMITTING MR. DOUGLAS TO WITHDRAW HIS PRIOR GUILTY PLEA PRIOR TO SENTENCING.

VII. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN NOT PERMITTING MR. DOUGLAS TO WITHDRAW HIS PRIOR GUILTY PLEA PRIOR TO SENTENCING.

{¶ 4} Defendant states that his plea was not knowing, intelligent and voluntary because the trial court failed to inform him that he would be subject to postrelease control and the possibility of an additional six-month sentence for violating postrelease control.3

{¶ 5} The state points out that defendant failed to raise the issue of postrelease control at the hearing on his motion to withdraw his plea. This court may, however, consider plain error, especially when it concerns a basic right. The state also argues that the trial court substantially complied with Crim.R. 11 at the plea hearing. In support of this claim, the state notes that defendant was being supervised under postrelease control for a previous offense at the time he entered his plea and the court informed him that additional sanctions in the current postrelease control might be imposed if he pleaded guilty. The state reasons, therefore, that defendant "understood these penalties and nonetheless pled guilty to the indictment." State's Brief at 4. Neither the Criminal Rule nor the statute provides, however, that defendant's presumed prior understanding of a sentence may substitute for the actual dialogue between the court and the defendant at the time the plea is made. More importantly, defendant was not informed at all that postrelease control would be a part of the sentence to the crimes for which he was entering a plea. The state's arguments are, therefore, unpersuasive.

{¶ 6} At a plea hearing, the trial court must comply with the requirements of Crim.R. 11, which states in pertinent part:

(2) In felony cases the court may refuse to accept a plea of guilty or a plea of no contest, and shall not accept a plea ofguilty or no contest without first addressing the defendant personally and doing all of the following:

(a) Determining that the defendant is making the plea voluntarily, with understanding of the nature of the charges and of the maximum penalty involved, and, if applicable, that the defendant is not eligible for probation or for the imposition of community control sanctions at the sentencing hearing. (Emphasis added.)

Crim.R. 11(C)(2)(a). The acceptance of a guilty plea is also controlled by R.C. 2943.032, which states:

Prior to accepting a guilty plea or a plea of no contest to an indictment, information, or complaint that charges a felony, the court shall inform the defendant personally that, if the defendant pleads guilty or no contest to the felony so charged or any other felony and if the court imposes a prison term upon the defendant for the felony, all of the following apply:

* * *

E) If the offender violates the conditions of a post-releasecontrol sanction imposed by the parole board upon the completionof the stated prison term, the parole board may impose upon theoffender a residential sanction that includes a new prison termup to nine months. (Emphasis added.)

R.C. 2943.032.

{¶ 7} The statute requires the trial court to inform a defendant who is entering a guilty plea of all the above possible repercussions of the plea. The language of the statute, which uses the word "shall," is mandatory, not permissive. As this court recently held, "R.C. 2943.032(E) requires that, prior to accepting a guilty plea for which a term of imprisonment will be imposed, the trial court must inform a defendant regarding post-release control sanctions in a reasonably thorough manner. * * * `Post-release control constitutes a portion of the maximum penalty involved in an offense for which a prison term will be imposed. Without an adequate explanation of post-release control from the trial court, appellant could not fully understand the consequences of his plea as required by Crim.R. 11(C).'" State v. Oko, Cuyahoga App. No. 85049, 2005-Ohio-3705 ¶ 10, quoting State v. Griffin, Cuyahoga App. No. 83724 at 7,2004-Ohio-4344, citing State v. Jones (2001), Cuyahoga App. No. 77657, 2001 Ohio App. LEXIS 2330.

{¶ 8} Both the civil rule and the statute require, therefore, that the defendant be informed of the maximum sentence to which he could be subject before a court is permitted to accept a guilty plea. This court has previously and consistently held: "If defendants are not informed of the maximum penalty when they plead guilty or no contest, their pleas are not knowing, intelligent, and voluntary." State v. Pendelton, Cuyahoga App. No. 84514, 2005-Ohio-3126 ¶ 6. See also State v. Owens, Cuyahoga App. No. 84987, 2005-Ohio-3570; State v. Evans, Cuyahoga App. Nos. 84966 86219. This maximum sentence includes any postrelease control that defendant may be subject to. Id.

{¶ 9} In the case at bar, the court completely failed to address the postrelease control issue as it pertained to the crime for which defendant was entering his plea. It never mentioned that the crimes were subject to postrelease control.

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Related

State v. Jones
2011 Ohio 1202 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2011)
State v. Douglas, 91029 (3-12-2009)
2009 Ohio 1068 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2009)
State v. Douglas, 85525 (6-24-2008)
2008 Ohio 3133 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2008)
State v. Douglas, Unpublished Decision (11-7-2007)
2007 Ohio 5941 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2007)
State v. Douglas, 88367 (5-31-2007)
2007 Ohio 2625 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2007)

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Bluebook (online)
2006 Ohio 536, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-douglas-unpublished-decision-2-9-2006-ohioctapp-2006.