State v. Haudenschild

2024 Ohio 407
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided February 5, 2024·No. 23-COA-014·Published·Cited by 14 cases

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS

ASHLAND COUNTY, OHIO

FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

JUDGES:

STATE OF OHIO : Hon. Patricia A. Delaney, P.J.

: Hon. W. Scott Gwin, J.

Plaintiff-Appellee : Hon. John W. Wise, J.

:

-vs- :

: Case No. 23-COA-014 ROBERT S. HAUDENSCHILD :

:

Defendant-Appellant : OPINION

CHARACTER OF PROCEEDING: Appeal from the Ashland County Court of Common Pleas, Case No. 22-CRI-249

JUDGMENT: Affirmed

DATE OF JUDGMENT ENTRY: February 5, 2024

APPEARANCES: For Plaintiff-Appellee For Defendant-Appellant

CHRISTOPHER TUNNELL CHRISTOPHER C. BAZELEY Ashland County Prosecutor 9200 Montgomery Road, Ste. 8A 110 Cottage Street, Third Floor Cincinnati, OH 45242 Ashland, OH 44805

Ashland County, Case No. 23-COA-014 2

Gwin, J.

{¶1} Defendant-appellant Robert Haudenschild [Haudenschild] appeals his sentence after a negotiated guilty plea in the Ashland County Court of Common Pleas, Ashland, Ohio.

Facts and Procedural History

{¶2} On January 13, 2023, the Ashland County Grand Jury returned an Indictment charging Haudenschild with: 1). Endangering Children in violation of R.C. 2919.22(B)(5) / 2919.22, a felony of the second degree, with a Human Trafficking specification pursuant to R.C. 2941.1422(A); 2). Trafficking in Persons – Commercial Sex in violation of R.C. 2905.32(A)(1) / 2905.32 (E), a felony of the first degree; 3). Corrupting Another with Drugs, in violation of R.C. 2925.02(A)(4)(a) / 2925.02(C)(3), a felony of the fourth degree; 4). Rape in violation of R.C. 2907.02(A)(1)(a) / 2907.02(B), a felony of the first degree; 5). Disseminating Matter Harmful to Juvenile in violation of R.C. 2907.31(A)(1) / 2907.31(F), a felony of the fifth degree; 6)., 7). and 8). Sexual Battery in violation of R.C. 2907.03(A)(5) / 2907.03(B), felonies of the third degree; 9). Importuning in violation of R.C. 2907.07(D)(1) / 2907.07(F)(5), a felony of the fifth degree; and 10). Gross Sexual Imposition, in violation of R.C. 2097.05(A)(1) / 2907.05(C)(1), [victim greater than 13 but less than 16 years old], a felony of the fourth degree.

{¶3} On March 9, 2023, the state filed a Motion to Dismiss count two of the Indictment [Trafficking in Persons – Commercial Sex] and the Human Trafficking specification on the Child Endangerment charge to count one of the Indictment. [Docket Entry No. 25]. The trial judge granted the motion by Judgment Entry filed March 13, 2023. [Docket Entry No. 27].

{¶4} On May 17, 2023, Haudenschild, through counsel, filed a motion seeking to continue the jury trial and schedule a change of plea hearing. [Docket Entry No. 44]. The trial judge granted the motion by Judgment Entry filed May 19, 2023, and scheduled the case for a change of plea hearing. [Docket Entry No. 46].

{¶5} On June 22, 2023, Haudenschild appeared with counsel via video and entered a guilty plea to the first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth counts in the amended indictment; the third count charging appellant with Rape was dismissed by the state. The trial judge accepted Haudenschild’s guilty pleas, found him guilty and deferred sentencing pending the completion of a pre-sentence investigation report. T., Change of Plea, June 22, 2023 at 20-21.

{¶6} On July 31, 2023, Haudenschild appeared with counsel via video for sentencing. The trial court sentenced him to terms of incarceration for Endangering Children, eight to twelve years; Corrupting Another with Drugs, eighteen months; Dissemination, twelve months; Sexual Battery, sixty months for each of the three charges; Importuning, twelve months; and Gross Sexual Imposition, eighteen months.

{¶7} The trial court ordered that each sentence, the maximum for that classification, would be served consecutively for a total aggregate term of maximum incarceration of 32 years. T. Sentencing, July 31, 2023 at 33. In addition, the trial court ordered that he serve a mandatory term of five years of Post Release Control (PRC).

Assignments of Error

{¶8} Haudenschild raises three Assignments of Error,

{¶9} “I. THE TRIAL COURT'S EXPRESS BIAS AGAINST HAUDENSCHILD AT SENTENCING IS A VIOLATION OF HIS RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS AND CONTRARY TO LAW.

{¶10} “II. THE TRIAL COURT FAILED TO CONSIDER THE AGGREGATE SENTENCE ARISING FROM ITS IMPOSITION OF CONSECUTIVE SENTENCES BUT RETALIATED AGAINST HAUDENSCHILD FOR EXERCISING A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT.

{¶11} “III. THE TRIAL COURT FAILED TO PROPERLY ADVISE HAUDENSCHILD OF THE CONDITIONS OF PRC AT SENTENCING.”

I.

{¶12} In his First Assignment of Error, Haudenschild contends that the trial court was improperly biased toward him at the sentencing hearing.

Standard of Appellate Review

{¶13} “A fair trial in a fair tribunal is a basic requirement of due process.” In re Murchison, 349 U.S. 133, 136, 75 S.Ct. 623, 99 L.Ed. 942 (1955); accord Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co., 556 U.S. 868, 876, 129 S.Ct. 2252, 173 L.Ed.2d 1208 (2009). For purposes of the due-process guarantee, fairness “requires the absence of actual bias in the trial of cases” and “a system of law [that] endeavor[s] to prevent even the probability of unfairness.” Murchison, 349 U.S. at 136. Thus, a “trial before a biased judge is fundamentally unfair and denies a defendant due process of law.” State v. LaMar, 95 Ohio St.3d 181, 2002-Ohio-2128, 767 N.E.2d 166, 34, citing Rose v. Clark, 478 U.S. 570, 577, 106 S.Ct. 3101, 92 L.Ed.2d 460 (1986); Marshall v. Jerrico, Inc., 446 U.S. 238, 242, 100 S.Ct. 1610, 64 L.Ed.2d 182 (1980) (“the Due Process Clause entitles a person to an

Ashland County, Case No. 23-COA-014 5

impartial and disinterested tribunal in both civil and criminal cases”). In fact, “[t]he presence of a biased judge on the bench is * * a paradigmatic example of structural constitutional error, which if shown requires reversal without resort to harmless-error analysis.” State v. Sanders, 92 Ohio St.3d 245, 278, 750 N.E.2d 90 (2001), citing Arizona v. Fulminante, 499 U.S. 279, 309-310, 111 S.Ct. 1246, 113 L.Ed.2d 302 (1991). Structural error typically “is grounds for automatic reversal,” so long as an objection has been raised in the trial court. State v. West, 168 Ohio St.3d 605, 2022-Ohio-1556, 200 N.E.3d 1048, ¶ 21. “Defendants should bring any potential structural errors to the trial court’s attention so they may be corrected; they should not wait to raise the claim on appeal with the thought that prejudice will be presumed if a structural error is found.” State v. Bond, 170 Ohio St.3d 316, 2022-Ohio-4150, 212 N.E.3d 880, ¶34 citing State v. Perry, 101 Ohio St.3d 118, 2004-Ohio-297, 802 N.E.2d 643, ¶ 23.

{¶14} In the case at bar, Haudenschild did not object during the sentencing hearing and assert that the judge displayed bias. Consequently, “our review is for plain error only.” Id. Bond, ¶ 28 (“assertions of structural error do not preclude an appellate court from applying the plain-error standard when the accused has failed to object”) (citations omitted). State v. Rossiter, 4th District Ross No. 21CA3762, 2023-Ohio-4809,

¶48.

Plain Error

{¶15} Normally, an appellate court need not consider error that was not called to the attention of the trial court at a time when the error could have been avoided or

1 West established that a plain-error analysis is necessary when a defendant seeks reversal based

on an error to which the defendant did not object at trial. But West left unresolved the extent to which the existence of structural error is relevant to that analysis. State v. Bond, 170 Ohio St.3d 316, 2022-Ohio- 4150, 212 N.E.3d 880, ¶ 10 (emphasis added).

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