State v. Haudenschild

2024 Ohio 407
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 5, 2024
Docket23-COA-014
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 2024 Ohio 407 (State v. Haudenschild) 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. Haudenschild, 2024 Ohio 407 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Haudenschild, 2024-Ohio-407.]

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]. Ashland County, Case No. 23-COA-014 3

{¶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, Ashland County, Case No. 23-COA-014 4

{¶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

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2024 Ohio 407, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-haudenschild-ohioctapp-2024.