State v. Hamilton

919 N.E.2d 237, 183 Ohio App. 3d 819
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 4, 2009
DocketNo. 22895
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 919 N.E.2d 237 (State v. Hamilton) 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. Hamilton, 919 N.E.2d 237, 183 Ohio App. 3d 819 (Ohio Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

Donovan, Presiding Judge.

{¶ 1} This matter is before the court on the notice of appeal of Frank Robert Hamilton III, filed August 14, 2008. On December 12, 2007, the grand jurors of Montgomery County returned an indictment charging Hamilton with discharge of a firearm on or near prohibited premises, in violation of R.C. 2923.162(A)(3) and (C)(4), a felony of the first degree, along with a firearm specification. Hamilton pleaded not guilty.

[820]*820{¶ 2} On May 14, 2008, Hamilton filed a motion to dismiss the indictment, arguing that the indictment “fails to specify any requisite degree of culpability, an essential element of the offense alleged to have been committed by Defendant.” The state filed a motion to amend the indictment and a memorandum contra Hamilton’s motion to dismiss.

{¶ 3} On June 4, 2008, the trial court issued a decision and entry denying the motion to dismiss and granting the motion to amend the indictment. The trial court determined, “Crim.R. 7 permits the amendment of an indictment before, during or after trial provided no change is made in the name or identity of the crime charged. * * *

{¶ 4} “After the amendment in Mr. Hamilton’s case, the indictment on which the Defendant will proceed to trial will not omit the essential mens rea element, and the Defendant will have due notice of all the elements of the offense.” The trial court further noted that Hamilton did not allege that he would be misled or prejudiced by the amendment.

{¶ 5} On June 11, 2008, Hamilton filed a motion to reconsider the court’s decision denying the motion to dismiss the indictment, which the trial court denied.

{¶ 6} On June 20, 2008, Hamilton pleaded no contest to discharge of a firearm on or near prohibited premises, in exchange for the state’s agreement to drop the firearm specification and to agree to a sentence of community control. Hamilton was sentenced to a period of five years of community-control sanctions.

(¶ 7} Hamilton asserts one assignment of error as follows:

{¶ 8} “The trial court erred and denied defendant’s constitutional right to answer only to an indictment of crime by a duly constituted grand jury, by failing to dismiss the defective indictment and allowing the state to amend the fatally defective indictment.”

(¶ 9} According to Hamilton, “the amended indictment changed the ‘identity’ of the charge against Mr. Hamilton since the original indictment did not charge a crime at all.” The state responds that “the addition of an essential element of the charge did not amend the substance of the indictment.” The state relies upon State v. O’Brien (1987), 30 Ohio St.3d 122, 30 OBR 436, 508 N.E.2d 144. On March 20, 2009, the state filed a notice of additional authority, further directing our attention to State v. Rice, Hamilton App. No. C-080444, 2009-Ohio-1080, 2009 WL 635183 (referencing O’Brien in dicta).

{¶ 10} In O’Brien, the defendant was indicted upon, inter alia, two counts of endangering children, and he moved to dismiss the two counts on the basis that each failed to include the element of recklessness. O’Brien, 30 Ohio St.3d at 122-123, 30 OBR 436, 508 N.E.2d 144. The trial court overruled the motion to [821]*821dismiss, and a jury was impaneled. Id. at 123, 30 OBR 436, 508 N.E.2d 144. At the conclusion of the state’s case-in-chief, the trial court dismissed one count of endangering children, and after the defense rested, the state moved to amend the remaining endangering-children charge to include the mens rea of recklessness. Id. The trial court granted the state’s motion, and the court of appeals reversed the decision of the trial court, determining that “the omission of the mental state element fatally flawed the indictment, and that allowing appellant to cure such an error permitted the jury to convict the accused on a charge essentially different from that upon which the grand jury indicted him.” Id.

{¶ 11} The Supreme Court of Ohio subsequently noted on appeal that Crim.R. 7 “controls the sufficiency of and amendments to criminal indictments.” O’Brien, 30 Ohio St.3d at 124, 30 OBR 436, 508 N.E.2d 144. The rule provides: “The indictment shall * * * contain a statement that the defendant has committed a public offense specified in the indictment. * * * The statement may be made in ordinary and concise language without technical averments or allegations not essential to be proved. The statement may be in the words of the applicable section of the statute, provided the words of that statute charge an offense, or in words sufficient to give the defendant notice of all the elements of the offense with which the defendant is charged.” Crim.R. 7(B).

{¶ 12} Further, O’Brien considered Crim.R. 7(D), which provides: “The court may at any time before, during, or after a trial amend the indictment * * * in respect to any defect, imperfection, or omission in form or substance, or of any variance with the evidence, provided no change is made in the name or identity of the crime charged.” O’Brien, 30 Ohio St.3d at 125, 30 OBR 436, 508 N.E.2d 144.

{¶ 13} O’Brien determined that the addition of the term “recklessness” to the indictment did not change the name or the identity of the crime of endangering children, and the addition did not change the penalty or the degree of the offense charged, and the court found that the amendment was proper pursuant to Crim.R. 7(D). O’Brien, 30 Ohio St.3d at 126, 30 OBR 436, 508 N.E.2d 144.

{¶ 14} In the next step of its analysis, O’Brien applied the remainder of Crim.R. 7(D) to O’Brien’s indictment. Id. The rule further provides: “If any amendment is made to the substance of the indictment, * * * the defendant is entitled to a discharge of the jury on the defendant’s motion, if a jury has been impaneled, and to a reasonable continuance, unless it clearly appears from the whole proceedings that the defendant has not been misled or prejudiced by the defect or variance in respect to which the amendment is made, or that the defendant’s rights will be fully protected by proceeding with the trial, or by postponement thereof to a later day with the same or another jury.”

{¶ 15} The court noted that the addition of recklessness to the indictment amended its substance, but it noted that O’Brien did not move for the discharge [822]*822of the jury after the indictment was amended. O’Brien, 30 Ohio St.3d at 126, 30 OBR 436, 508 N.E.2d 144. According to the court, “[ejven had appellee done so, we find that it would have been proper for the trial court to overrule the motion as the appellee would have been unable to show that he had been misled or prejudiced by the permitted amendment. Appellee had notice of both the offense and the applicable statute. Appellee’s knowledge of the appropriate mental state standard is evidenced by his continuing efforts, before and during trial, to dismiss the indictment on the basis that such element was not included, in the indictment.” Id.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Hamilton
922 N.E.2d 967 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
919 N.E.2d 237, 183 Ohio App. 3d 819, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hamilton-ohioctapp-2009.