State v. Eads

2011 Ohio 6307, 968 N.E.2d 18, 197 Ohio App. 3d 493
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 9, 2011
Docket24696
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 2011 Ohio 6307 (State v. Eads) 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. Eads, 2011 Ohio 6307, 968 N.E.2d 18, 197 Ohio App. 3d 493 (Ohio Ct. App. 2011).

Opinions

Froelich, Judge.

{¶ 1} Justin T. Eads was convicted after a bench trial in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas of failure to verify his residence, as required by [495]*495R.C. 2950.06, and failure to notify the sheriff of his change of address, in violation of R.C. 2950.05. Because the underlying sex offenses were two counts of rape, both offenses under R.C. Chapter 2950 were first-degree felonies under the current version of R.C. 2950.99.

{¶ 2} After the trial court found him guilty, Eads moved for the court to reinstate community-control sanctions. Eads argued that R.C. 2950.99 does not require a mandatory prison term for first-time convictions for failure to notify and failure to verify, even if they are felonies of the first degree. The trial court overruled Eads’s motion and sentenced him to mandatory terms of three years in prison on each count, to be served concurrently. The court further ordered, however, that Eads’s sentence be stayed and that he be released on bond pending appeal.

{¶ 3} Eads appeals from his conviction and sentence, raising two assignments of error.

I

{¶ 4} Eads’s first assignment of error states:

{¶ 5} “It was plain error when the trial court found the defendant guilty when he had no duty to register and no duty to notify because current R.C. 2950 is unconstitutional as applied to him pursuant to State v. Williams.”

{¶ 6} In his first assignment of error, Eads claims that his classification as a Tier III sex offender under the current version of R.C. Chapter 2950 (S.B.10) is unconstitutional and, as a result, he could not be found guilty of failing to register and to notify under that statute.

{¶ 7} The original version of Ohio’s sex offender classification and registration law was enacted in 1963. See former R.C. Chapter 2950, 130 Ohio Laws 669. In 1996, the Ohio General Assembly enacted Ohio’s version of “Megan’s Law,” which “repealed prior versions of R.C. Chapter 2950 and created Ohio’s first comprehensive registration and classification system for sex offenders.” State v. Bodyke, 126 Ohio St.3d 266, 2010-Ohio-2424, 933 N.E.2d 753, ¶ 7, citing State v. Cook (1998), 83 Ohio St.3d 404, 407, 700 N.E.2d 570. Under Ohio’s Megan’s Law, judges classified sex offenders, after a hearing, as either a sexually oriented offender, habitual sex offender, or sexual predator, based on the judge’s consideration of various factors. Sex offenders were subject to registration, classification, and/or community-notification requirements in accordance with their specific classification.

{¶ 8} In 2006, the United States Congress passed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, which divided sex offenders into three tiers based solely upon the offense committed. Bodyke at ¶ 18. Later that same year, while [496]*496Megan’s Law was still in effect in Ohio, Eads, then a juvenile, committed acts of rape. In 2007, the Ohio General Assembly enacted 2007 Am.Sub.S.B. No. 10, which replaced Megan’s Law with Ohio’s version of the Adam Walsh Act (“S.B. 10”), effective January 1, 2008. Bodyke at ¶ 20; current R.C. Chapter 2950.

{¶ 9} In 2008, Eads was adjudicated delinquent in juvenile court for two counts of rape, based on his 2006 conduct. The juvenile court committed Eads to the Department of Youth Services and notified him that he would be required to register as a Tier III sex offender, but was not designated a public-registry-qualified juvenile-offender registrant and was not subject to community-notification provisions. We find no indication that Eads appealed from the juvenile court’s judgment.

{¶ 10} Eads registered with the sheriffs office on 11 occasions, which included four notifications to the sheriff of a change of address. However, in November 2010, Eads failed to timely verify his address (although he notified the sheriffs office by telephone that he was in Kentucky), and he was subsequently located in Berea, Kentucky.

{¶ 11} In January 2011, Eads was indicted for failing to verify his residence and failing to notify the sheriff of his change of address. After a bench trial, the trial court convicted Eads of both charges. In May 2011, the trial court sentenced him to three years on each count, and this appeal followed.

{¶ 12} In July 2011, the Supreme Court of Ohio rendered its decision in State v. Williams, 129 Ohio St.3d 344, 2011-Ohio-3374, 952 N.E.2d 1108. In that case, Williams was indicted in 2007 for unlawful sexual contact with a minor; Williams pled guilty to the charge. At his plea hearing, Williams was informed that he would not be subject to reporting requirements. Williams subsequently requested that he be sentenced under Megan’s Law, rather than S.B. 10, which was in effect at the time of Williams’s sentencing. The court applied S.B. 10 and informed Williams that he would be designated a Tier II sex offender. Williams appealed, arguing that S.B. 10 could not constitutionally be applied retroactively to a defendant whose offense occurred prior to the effective date of that statute.

{¶ 13} The Supreme Court of Ohio agreed with Williams. The court initially found that the Ohio legislature had expressly made S.B. 10 retroactive. It further concluded: “When we consider all the changes enacted by S.B. 10 in aggregate, we conclude that imposing the current registration requirements on a sex offender whose crime was committed prior to the enactment of S.B. 10 is punitive. Accordingly, we conclude that S.B. 10, as applied to defendants who committed sex offenses prior to its enactment, violates Section 28, Article II of the Ohio Constitution, which prohibits the General Assembly from passing retroactive laws.” Williams at ¶ 21. The court thus held: “We conclude that S.B. 10, as applied to Williams and any other sex offender who committed an [497]*497offense prior to the enactment of S.B. 10, violates Section 28, Article II of the Ohio Constitution, which prohibits the General Assembly from enacting retroactive laws.” (Emphasis added.) Id. at ¶ 22.

{¶ 14} The state asserts that res judicata bars Eads from reaping the benefit of Williams, because Eads failed to challenge his classification as a Tier III sex offender through a direct appeal from his 2008 juvenile court adjudication. The state argues that Eads cannot collaterally challenge his 2008 classification and that his argument is barred by res judicata.

{¶ 15} In general, “[a] new judicial ruling may be applied only to cases that are pending on the announcement date. State v. Evans (1972), 32 Ohio St.2d 185, 186, 61 O.O.2d 422, 291 N.E.2d 466. The new judicial ruling may not be applied retroactively to a conviction that has become final, i.e., where the accused has exhausted all of his appellate remedies. Id.; State v. Lynn (1966), 5 Ohio St.2d 106, 108, 34 O.O.2d 226, 214 N.E.2d 226.” Ali v. State, 104 Ohio St.3d 328, 2004-Ohio-6592, 819 N.E.2d 687, ¶ 6.

{¶ 16} In accordance with this general rule, the Ohio Supreme Court has consistently refused to apply new judicial pronouncements retroactively to convictions that had become final. See, e.g., Ali (State v. Comer,

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Bluebook (online)
2011 Ohio 6307, 968 N.E.2d 18, 197 Ohio App. 3d 493, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-eads-ohioctapp-2011.