State v. Kelly

797 N.E.2d 104, 154 Ohio App. 3d 285, 2003 Ohio 4783
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 10, 2003
DocketNo. 02CA0093-M.
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 797 N.E.2d 104 (State v. Kelly) 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. Kelly, 797 N.E.2d 104, 154 Ohio App. 3d 285, 2003 Ohio 4783 (Ohio Ct. App. 2003).

Opinions

Per Curiam.

{¶ 1} Appellant, Edward Kelly IV, appeals from the judgment of the Medina Municipal Court, which found him guilty of driving under the influence and enhanced his sentenced based upon a prior juvenile adjudication. We affirm.

I

{¶ 2} In 1998, appellant was adjudicated a juvenile traffic offender for DUI. As a result of that adjudication, appellant was placed on probation and was sentenced to commitment in the detention facility for a period of five days. The court suspended the commitment, conditioned upon appellant’s compliance with the rules of probation.

{¶ 3} On September 4, 2001, appellant was charged with driving under the influence (“DUI”), in violation of R.C. 4511.19(A)(1). He originally entered a plea of not guilty; however, he subsequently changed his plea to no contest.

*287 {¶ 4} Appellant filed a motion challenging the use of his prior juvenile adjudication to enhance his current offense, arguing that his juvenile adjudication cannot be used to enhance a subsequent offense because the adjudication was uncounseled and he had not waived his right to counsel. A hearing was held on appellant’s motion. The court found that appellant had established a prima facie case that his juvenile conviction was uncounseled and that he had not validly waived his right to counsel. However, the court found that his juvenile adjudication resulted in no actual incarceration and, therefore, the juvenile adjudication could be used to enhance the penalties of his current conviction. Appellant was sentenced to ten days’ incarceration for a second DUI within six years. This appeal followed.

II

Assignment of Error

“The lower court erred * * * in finding that defendant’s juvenile adjudication could be used as a prior conviction for sentencing on the adult OMVI conviction.”

{¶ 5} In his sole assignment of error, appellant argues that the trial court erred in using a prior juvenile adjudication to enhance the penalty for his current DUI conviction. We agree.

{¶ 6} R.C. 4511.99 sets forth the penalties for DUI convictions based upon the offender’s prior convictions for DUI. Pursuant to R.C. 4511.99(A)(2)(a), if the offender has previously pleaded guilty to, or has been convicted of, one violation of R.C. 4511.19(A) or (B) within the preceding six year period, the penalty for the second offense consists of a mandatory sentence of ten days’ imprisonment. If the offender has not previously been convicted of DUI within the preceding six years, the mandatory sentence is three days; however, the court may suspend the three days if the court places the offender on probation and requires the offender to attend a drivers’ intervention program. R.C. 4511.19(A)(1). In the case sub judice, if the court uses appellant’s prior juvenile adjudication to enhance the penalties for the current offense, appellant will be subject to the mandatory ten-day sentence.

{¶ 7} R.C. 2901.08 provides that a prior juvenile adjudication is considered a prior conviction for purposes of determining the offense with which a person is charged and in determining the proper sentence to be imposed. R.C. 2901.08 states:

“If a person is alleged to have committed an offense and if the person previously has been adjudicated a * * * juvenile traffic offender for a violation of a law or ordinance, the adjudication as a * * * juvenile traffic offender is a *288 conviction for a violation of the law or ordinance for purposes of determining the offense with which the person should be charged and, if the person is convicted of or pleads guilty to an offense, the sentence to be imposed upon the person relative to the conviction or guilty plea.”

{¶ 8} At least one court has found that R.C. 2901.08 applies to juvenile adjudications of DUI. See State v. Glover (Aug. 19, 1999), 5th Dist. No. 99CA30, 1999 WL 668681.

{¶ 9} A defendant facing an enhancement of penalties for an offense due to a prior conviction may challenge the use of the prior conviction on the basis that the prior conviction was constitutionally infirm. See, generally, State v. Brandon (1989), 45 Ohio St.3d 85, 543 N.E.2d 501; State v. Adams (1988), 37 Ohio St.3d 295, 525 N.E.2d 1361; State v. Gerwin (1982), 69 Ohio St.2d 488, 23 O.O.3d 420, 432 N.E.2d 828. The defendant must present sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie showing of the. constitutional infirmity of the prior conviction. Adams, at paragraph two of the syllabus. Once a prima facie showing is made, the burden then shifts to the state to prove that the defendant was afforded his right to counsel. State v. Maynard (1987), 38 Ohio App.3d 50, 52-53, 526 N.E.2d 316. A valid waiver will be not presumed upon a silent record. See, e.g., Boykin v. Alabama (1969), 395 U.S. 238, 242, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 23 L.Ed.2d 274.

{¶ 10} In Nichols v. United States (1994), 511 U.S. 738, 749, 114 S.Ct. 1921, 128 L.Ed.2d 745, the United States Supreme Court held that a sentencing court may consider a defendant’s prior uncounseled conviction when it imposes sentence on a subsequent offense if the defendant did not validly waive his right to counsel in the previous case, so long as the prior uncounseled conviction did not result in a term of imprisonment. See, also, Gerwin, 69 Ohio St.2d 488, 23 O.O.3d 420, 432 N.E.2d 828.

{¶ 11} In this case, the trial court determined that appellant had established a prima facie case that his prior juvenile adjudication was uncounseled and that he had not validly waived his right to counsel. Appellant contends that because he was uncounseled in his juvenile adjudication, the prior adjudication cannot be used to enhance a subsequent sentence.

{¶ 12} In addressing a similar issue, this court recently stated:

“In State v. Brandon, (1989), 45 Ohio St.3d 85, 86, 543 N.E.2d 501, the Supreme Court of Ohio stated: ‘It is unquestioned that an indigent defendant may not be sentenced to a term of imprisonment unless the state has afforded said defendant the right to assistance of counsel.’ Where an indigent defendant is not represented by counsel, has not validly waived counsel, and is sentenced to a term of incarceration, ‘such a conviction may not be used to *289 enhance a sentence in any subsequent conviction.’ (Emphasis sic.) Id. at 87, 543 N.E.2d 501. Crim.R. 44(B) provides, in relevant part:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
797 N.E.2d 104, 154 Ohio App. 3d 285, 2003 Ohio 4783, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-kelly-ohioctapp-2003.