State v. Hutchison

580 N.E.2d 34, 63 Ohio App. 3d 721, 1989 Ohio App. LEXIS 3164
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 9, 1989
DocketNo. 13928.
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 580 N.E.2d 34 (State v. Hutchison) 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. Hutchison, 580 N.E.2d 34, 63 Ohio App. 3d 721, 1989 Ohio App. LEXIS 3164 (Ohio Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

Reece, Judge.

On April 28, 1985, defendant-appellant, Michael Hutchison, was indicted for one count of burglary. Appellant pleaded guilty to the lesser included offense of breaking and entering. On November 14, 1985, appellant was granted shock probation.

On February 23, 1987, appellant was indicted for one count of robbery, and was additionally arraigned as a probation violator on the 1985 case. After a jury trial, appellant was found guilty of robbery and was ordered to serve his sentence consecutively with the 1985 conviction. However, the court placed appellant on probation for a period of five years. The terms of the probation were: report to Adult Probation Department as directed, abide by the rules and regulations, attend Blick Clinic, enroll in vocational rehabilitation, and pay the costs of the prosecution. The trial court also found appellant to be a probation violator on the 1985 case and continued appellant’s probation on that case for one year.

On May 5, 1988, appellant, after threatening suicide, became a patient at Akron General Medical Center. On June 6, 1988, at appellant’s request, he *724 was transferred from a closed ward to an open ward. After the transfer, appellant left the hospital without the knowledge or permission of the probation department.

On September 14, 1988, appellant was arrested, on a capias, in Florida. Upon return to Ohio, appellant was charged with two probation violations, to which he pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. That plea was rejected by the trial court.

At the probation violation hearing, appellant was found guilty of both violations. The trial court imposed the original sentences and ordered them to be served consecutively. Additionally, the trial court ordered that the appellant receive treatment at Oakwood Forensic Center.

Assignment of Error III

“The court erred in rejecting Michael Hutchison’s plea of not guilty by reason of insanity and thereby not evaluating his violation in view of such a plea.
“A. Defendant Michael Hutchison was suffering from a mental illness sufficiently that he should not be held responsible for his behavior which led him to leave the jurisdiction and thus, he should not have been sentenced to the penitentiary.
“B. The court erred and abused its discretion in revoking Michael Hutchison’s probation and sentencing him to the penitentiary even if the court in sound discretion found Michael to be in violation of his probation, this due to his mental illness and legal insanity.”

Appellant contends that the trial court erred in rejecting his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Moreover, the trial court erred in sentencing him to the penitentiary when it failed to take into consideration his mental illness.

The United States Supreme Court has held that the revocation process is not part of a criminal prosecution. Morrissey v. Brewer (1972), 408 U.S. 471, 92 S.Ct. 2593, 33 L.Ed.2d 484. Furthermore, the United States Supreme Court in Gagnon v. Scarpelli (1973), 411 U.S. 778, 93 S.Ct. 1756, 36 L.Ed.2d 656, adopted for a probation revocation hearing the same minimum due process requirements which had been advanced in Morrissey, supra, for a parole violation hearing. The revocation decision has two analytically distinct components:

“ * * * The first step in a revocation decision thus involves a wholly retrospective factual question: whether the parolee has in fact acted in violation of one or more conditions of his parole. Only if it is determined that the parolee did violate the conditions does the second question arise: should *725 the parolee be recommitted to prison or should other steps be taken to protect society and improve chances of rehabilitation? * * *. The second question involves the application of expertise by the parole authority in making a prediction as to the ability of the individual to live in society without committing antisocial acts. This part of the decision, too, depends on facts, and therefore it is important for the board to know not only that some violation was committed but also to know accurately how many and how serious the violations were. * * * ” Morrissey, supra, at 479-480, 92 S.Ct. at 2599, 33 L.Ed.2d at 493.

Under the first step the issue to be determined is whether the defendant actually violated the conditions of his probation. The defense of insanity is irrelevant because the concern is whether the law was obeyed, not whether it was culpably broken. See Trumbly v. State (Alaska 1973), 515 P.2d 707; State v. O’Meal (1977), 116 Ariz. 307, 569 P.2d 249.

The purpose of the revocation process is to protect the public either by further attempted rehabilitation, or by revocation. In determining whether the probationer should be committed to prison, or whether other steps should be taken to protect society, and to improve the chances of rehabilitation, fundamental fairness requires the court to consider evidence of the defendant’s mental state. See People v. Breaux (1980), 101 Cal.App.3d 468, 161 Cal.Rptr. 653; State v. Johnson (1973), 9 Wash.App. 766, .514 P.2d 1073. Since the purpose of a probation revocation hearing is to determine whether the alternatives to incarceration which have been made available to the defendant should remain open for him, not to determine whether the defendant should be held responsible for the acts with which he is charged, a plea of insanity should not be permitted. See People, ex rel. Gallagher, v. Eighteenth Judicial Dist. Court (1978), 196 Colo. 499, 591 P.2d 1015; Knight v. Estelle (C.A.5, 1974), 501 F.2d 963.

However, the trial judge should take into consideration all factors, including physical and mental examinations, in the reevaluation and reassessment of the correctness of the sentence. See State v. Qualls (1988), 50 Ohio App.3d 56, 552 N.E.2d 957. For the foregoing reasons, the trial court did not err in rejecting the plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.

Moreover, the trial court considered appellant’s mental state when determining what disposition should be made after it was established that appellant violated his conditions of probation. Although appellant was sentenced to a state institution, the trial court ordered him to receive treatment at Oakwood Forensic Center.

Assignment of error three is not well taken.

*726

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
580 N.E.2d 34, 63 Ohio App. 3d 721, 1989 Ohio App. LEXIS 3164, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hutchison-ohioctapp-1989.