State v. Hodge

2010 Ohio 6320, 128 Ohio St. 3d 1
Ohio Supreme Court·Decided December 29, 2010·No. 2009-1997·Published·Cited by 254 cases

Opinions

Cupp, J.

{¶ 1} In State v. Foster, 109 Ohio St.3d 1, 2006-Ohio-856, 845 N.E.2d 470, this court held some sections and provisions of Ohio’s sentencing statutes unconstitutional based on the decisions of the United States Supreme Court in Blakely v. [2] Washington (2004), 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403, and Apprendi v. New Jersey (2000), 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435.

{¶ 2} Among the provisions held unconstitutional in Foster were those requiring a trial judge to make certain findings prior to imposing consecutive sentences, R.C. 2929.14(E)(4), and creating presumptively concurrent terms, R.C. 2929.41(A). To remedy this constitutional defect, these provisions were severed from the remaining, valid portions of the statutory sentencing framework. After the decision in Foster, trial judges who imposed consecutive sentences did not need to apply the provisions severed by Foster but instead were to apply the law that was displaced by the enactment of the severed provisions. The trial court in this case, as allowed by our decision in Foster, imposed consecutive sentences without making factual findings under R.C. 2929.14(E)(4) or presuming that sentences were to run concurrently under R.C. 2929.41(A).

{¶ 3} Subsequent to Foster, the United States Supreme Court, in Oregon v. Ice (2009), 555 U.S. 160, 129 S.Ct. 711, 172 L.Ed.2d 517, upheld the constitutional validity of an Oregon statute similar to Ohio’s pre-Foster sentencing statutes that requires Oregon’s trial judges to make factual findings prior to imposing consecutive sentences.

{¶ 4} The defendant in the case now before us asks us to hold that Oregon v. Ice reinstated or revived the Ohio statutory provisions pertaining to consecutive sentences that were held unconstitutional in Foster. He also argues that certain defendants who were sentenced to consecutive terms after Foster must be resentenced pursuant to the provisions that were invalidated in Foster.

{¶ 5} For the reasons that follow, we determine in the circumstances present here that Ice does not revive the disputed statutory provisions and that defendants who were sentenced by trial judges who did not apply those provisions are not entitled to resentencing. We accordingly affirm the judgment of the court of appeals.

{¶ 6} Although we affirm the judgment below, we acknowledge that given the holding and reasoning of the United States Supreme Court in Ice, the General Assembly is no longer constrained by Foster’s holdings regarding the constitutionality of the consecutive-sentencing provisions invalidated in Foster and may, if it chooses to do so, respond with enactment of a statutory provision in light of Ice’s holding.

I. Facts and Procedural History

{¶ 7} Defendant-appellant, Kenneth Hodge, pleaded guilty in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court to nine felonies with firearm specifications. In an entry on September 18, 2008, the trial court merged several counts and imposed an aggregate prison sentence of 18 years — three years for each of five counts of [3] aggravated robbery and three additional years for accompanying firearm specifications. The three-year sentences for the multiple firearm specifications were imposed concurrently with each other and consecutively to the aggravated-robbery sentences.1 In imposing consecutive sentences on the aggravated-robbery counts, the trial court did not make the findings required by R.C. 2929.14(E)(4) and 2929.41(A) in reliance on this court’s holding in Foster that those statutes were unconstitutional.

{¶ 8} On appeal, Hodge argued in his sole assignment of error that the trial court erred by imposing consecutive sentences without making findings under R.C. 2929.14(E)(4) and 2929.41(A), asserting that Foster’s holding that those statutes were unconstitutional is no longer valid in light of Oregon v. Ice. He asserted that the statutes are, therefore, revived because they have never been specifically repealed by the General Assembly. In rejecting this argument, the First District Court of Appeals cited several decisions of other appellate districts that refused to accept the same argument2 and briefly stated that it agreed with the reasoning of those decisions: “We remain bound by the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision in Foster. The Ohio Supreme Court has not directly addressed the effect of Oregon v. Ice on Ohio’s sentencing law. Absent a contrary decision by the Ohio Supreme Court, Foster still applies to consecutive sentences. The trial court did not err when it imposed consecutive sentences without making findings of fact.” State v. Hodge (Sept. 16, 2009), 1st Dist. No. C-080968.

{¶ 9} We accepted Hodge’s appeal under our discretionary jurisdiction for the purpose of reviewing the question whether, as a consequence of the decision in Ice, Ohio trial courts imposing consecutive sentences must first make the findings specified in R.C. 2929.14(E)(4) in order to overcome the presumption for concurrent sentences of R.C. 2929.41(A). 124 Ohio St.3d 1472, 2010-Ohio-354, 921 N.E.2d 245.

II. Analysis

{¶ 10} In Foster, 109 Ohio St.3d 1, 2006-Ohio-856, 845 N.E.2d 470, this court applied the principles developed in Blakely, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403, and Apprendi, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435, to determine that a number of provisions in Ohio’s sentencing statutes violated the [4] jury-trial guarantee of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Particularly relevant to this case, we held in Foster at paragraph three of the syllabus: “Because R.C. 2929.14(E)(4) and 2929.41(A) require judicial finding of facts not proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt or admitted by the defendant before the imposition of consecutive sentences, they are unconstitutional.”

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

State v. Hodge, 2010 Ohio 6320, 128 Ohio St. 3d 1 (Ohio 2010).

2010 Ohio 6320 (State v. Hodge) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

State v. Fullmer
2019 Ohio 3556 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2019)
State v. Yarbrough
2018 Ohio 3428 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2018)
State v. Littlepage
2018 Ohio 2959 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2018)
State v. Wolke
2018 Ohio 2119 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2018)
State v. Roberts
2017 Ohio 9014 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2017)
State v. Kozic
2016 Ohio 8556 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2016)
State v. Bonnell (Slip Opinion)
2014 Ohio 3177 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2014)
State v. Amos (Slip Opinion)
2014 Ohio 3160 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2014)
State v. Boyle
2014 Ohio 1271 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2014)
State v. Dunham
2014 Ohio 1042 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2014)
State v. Bever
2014 Ohio 600 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2014)
State v. Salim
2014 Ohio 357 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2014)
State v. Burkhart
2013 Ohio 4396 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2013)
State v. White
2013 Ohio 4225 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2013)
State v. Ducker
2013 Ohio 3657 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2013)
State v. Teets
2013 Ohio 1928 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2013)
State v. Hess
2013 Ohio 10 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2013)
State v. Martin
2012 Ohio 6282 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2012)
State v. Atchison
2012 Ohio 6036 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2012)
State v. Wells
2012 Ohio 5529 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2012)