State v. Lindsay, Unpublished Decision (9-4-2007)

2007 Ohio 4490
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 4, 2007
DocketNo. 8-06-24.
StatusUnpublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 2007 Ohio 4490 (State v. Lindsay, Unpublished Decision (9-4-2007)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law.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State v. Lindsay, Unpublished Decision (9-4-2007), 2007 Ohio 4490 (Ohio Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

OPINION *Page 2
{¶ 1} The defendant-appellant, Paul Lindsay, appeals the judgment of conviction and sentence filed by the Logan County Common Pleas Court.

{¶ 2} On May 19, 2003, Lindsay was convicted of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor in Logan County Common Pleas Court case number CR02-12-0239. The trial court sentenced Lindsay to 15 months in prison and notified him on the record that upon release from prison, he may be placed on post-release control for a period of five years. However, the court's sentencing judgment entry in that case, which was filed on June 4, 2003, stated that Lindsay could be placed on post-release control for three years. No appeal was filed in case number CR02-12-0239.

{¶ 3} In July 2004, Lindsay was released from prison and placed on post-release control for five years. On July 24, 2004, Lindsay attended a party at the home of Melinda Johnston. There were approximately 25-30 guests, many of whom were underage and drinking alcoholic beverages. Johnston consumed between 15 and 20 beers, and possibly some Jägermeister, and Lindsay was also drinking. Throughout the evening, Johnston and Lindsay talked, and Lindsay attempted to teach her a hip-hop dance move. Other than dancing together, there was no physical contact between Johnston and Lindsay. *Page 3

{¶ 4} During the early morning hours of July 25, 2004, Johnston took a prescription sleeping pill and went to bed after asking her boyfriend, Eric Taylor, to supervise the remaining party-goers. Lindsay followed her as she tried to go up the stairs, but she pushed him away, told him she was going to bed, and closed the door to the stairway. Johnston went to her bedroom and passed out on the bed, fully clothed. Taylor later went upstairs to check on her and covered her with a blanket. Sometime later, Taylor went upstairs and found Lindsay kneeling over Johnston, who was lying on the floor between the bed and the wall. Taylor went downstairs and asked several other guests if he was "seeing things." Three or four of the guests went upstairs and looked in Johnston's bedroom where they saw Lindsay's "naked butt" "moving up and down" over Johnston, who was not moving or making noise.

{¶ 5} After discussing their discovery outside of the bedroom, they re-entered the room to find Lindsay putting on his clothes and Johnston crying and complaining of a possible rape. Lindsay went outside, and several guests prevented him from leaving until the police arrived. Johnston called 9-1-1 and reported the offense as an "attempted rape." Upon arrival, the responding officer asked Lindsay what was happening, and Lindsay stated that he had stopped when she told him to. Knowing that the call was in response to a possible rape, the *Page 4 officers arrested Lindsay and took him to the police station. Johnston was examined at a local hospital that morning.

{¶ 6} On December 14, 2004, the Logan County Grand Jury indicted Lindsay on one count of rape, a violation of R.C. 2907.02(A)(1)(c), a first-degree felony, and one count of sexual battery, a violation of R.C. 2907.03(A)(3), a third-degree felony. The indictment also contained a notice that Lindsay had been on post-release control at the time of the new felony offenses, and stated that the trial court could impose a prison term "equal to the time remaining under post-release control or twelve (12) months, whichever is greater." The notice also stated that the sentence could be imposed consecutively to any sentence imposed for the offenses charged in the indictment.

{¶ 7} At arraignment, Lindsay pled not guilty to the charges. Discovery was filed, and Lindsay filed a motion to waive jury trial. Having granted Lindsay's motion, the court conducted a bench trial. Both the state and the defense presented testimony and moved exhibits into evidence, and on June 6, 2005, the trial court found Lindsay guilty on both charges.

{¶ 8} The state filed a motion to classify Lindsay as a sexual predator, and the court held a joint sentencing and sexual predator classification hearing. At the hearing, the court merged the rape and sexual battery convictions as allied offenses of similar import, and the state elected to proceed with sentencing on the *Page 5 rape conviction. The trial court considered a pre-sentence investigation report and counsels' arguments before imposing a prison term of six years. The court considered the forensic evaluation completed at the Forensic Psychiatry Center for Western Ohio, the factors in R.C.2950.09(E), and the facts of the case before classifying Lindsay as a sexual predator. The court also ordered that Lindsay serve "the time remaining on post-release control (4 years, six months, and six days) in prison and said term SHALL BE SERVED CONSECUTIVELY to the six (6) year term imposed herein for the new felony." (Emphasis in original) (J. Entry, Jul. 14, 2005, at 3).

{¶ 9} We granted Lindsay's motion for delayed appeal, and he now asserts four assignments of error for our review.

First Assignment of Error
The trial court violated Paul Lindsay's rights to due process and a fair trial when, in the absence of sufficient evidence, the trial court found Mr. Lindsay guilty of rape and sexual battery.

Second Assignment of Error
The trial court erred in sentencing Paul Lindsay to a prison term of four years, six months and six days for his violation of his post-release-control [sic] when the court was only authorized to impose a maximum of two years, six months and six days.

Third Assignment of Error
The trial court erred in sentencing Paul Lindsay to a sentence of four years, six months and six days for his violation of post-release-control [sic] when the court lacked personal jurisdiction *Page 6 over Paul Lindsay for the previous case depriving him of Due Process of the Law.

Fourth Assignment of Error
R.C. 2929.141 is unconstitutional because it is contrary to Crim.R. 49 and therefore in contravention to OH Const. art. IV § 5(B).

{¶ 10} In the first assignment of error, Lindsay contends there was insufficient evidence to convict him of either rape or sexual battery. Under the sufficiency of the evidence standard, an appellate court must determine "`whether, after viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt.'" State v. Bridge, 3d Dist. No. 1-06-30, 2007-Ohio-1764, quotingState v. Jenks (1981),

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Bluebook (online)
2007 Ohio 4490, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lindsay-unpublished-decision-9-4-2007-ohioctapp-2007.