State v. Moran

2022 Ohio 3610, 198 N.E.3d 922
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided October 11, 2022·No. 2020-L-114, 2020-L-115, 2020-L-116, 2020-L-117·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO ELEVENTH APPELLATE DISTRICT LAKE COUNTY

STATE OF OHIO, CASE NOS. 2020-L-114 2020-L-115

Plaintiff-Appellee, 2020-L-116 2020-L-117

-v-

JOEY L. MORAN, Criminal Appeals from the Court of Common Pleas

Defendant-Appellant.

Trial Court Nos. 2019 CR 001299 2019 CR 001300

2019 CR 001301

2019 CR 001302

OPINION

Decided: October 11, 2022 Judgment: Affirmed

Charles E. Coulson, Lake County Prosecutor, and Teri R. Daniel, Assistant Prosecutor, Lake County Administration Building, 105 Main Street, P.O. Box 490, Painesville, OH 44077 (For Plaintiff-Appellee).

Vanessa R. Clapp, Lake County Public Defender, and Melissa A. Blake, Assistant Public Defender, 125 East Erie Street, Painesville, OH 44077 (For Defendant- Appellant).

THOMAS R. WRIGHT, P.J.

{¶1} Appellant, Joey L. Moran, appeals the trial court’s October 21, 2020 sentencing entry. On remand from the Supreme Court of Ohio, we affirm.

I. Introduction

{¶2} In State v. Moran, 11th Dist. Lake Nos. 2020-L-114, et seq., 2021-Ohio-

1987 (“Moran I”), this court affirmed Moran’s convictions in four cases. Thereafter, we certified a conflict with respect to our holding that Moran’s challenges to the Reagan Tokes Law were not ripe for review. Subsequently, the Supreme Court of Ohio decided State v. Maddox, ––– Ohio St.3d ––––, 2022-Ohio-764, ––– N.E.3d ––––, in which it concluded that such challenges are ripe for review, and it reversed Moran I for further proceedings consistent with Maddox. In re Cases Held for the Decision in State v. Maddox, 167 Ohio St.3d 409, 2022-Ohio-1352, 193 N.E.3d 553.

{¶3} In Moran I, Moran raised the following constitutional challenges to the Reagan Tokes Law in his second through fifth assigned errors, as follow:

[2.] The defendant-appellant’s indeterminate prison sentence of four to six years in trial court Case No. 19 CR 001300, which was ordered pursuant to the ‘Reagan Tokes Act,’ aka Senate Bill 201, must be rever[s]ed as the Reagan Tokes Act is unconstitu[t]ionally void for vagueness.

[3.] The defendant-appellant’s indeterminate prison sentence of four to six years in trial court Case No. 19 CR 001300, which was ordered pursuant to the ‘Reagan Tokes Act,’ aka Senate Bill 201, must be rever[s]ed as the Reagan Tokes Act unconstitutionally violates the separation of powers.

[4.] The defendant-appellant’s indeterminate prison sentence of four to six years in trial court Case Number 19 CR 001300, which was ordered pursuant to the ‘Reagan Tokes Act,’ aka Senate Bill 201, violates his constitutional right to trial by jury as guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 5 of the Ohio Constitution.

[5.] The defendant-appellant’s indeterminate prison sentence of four to six years in trial court Case Number 19 CR 001300 which was ordered pursuant to the ‘Reagan Tokes Act,’ aka Senate Bill 201, violates his constitutional rights to fair trial and

due process as guaranteed by the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article I, Sections 5 & 10 of the Ohio Constitution.

{¶4} Initially, we note that the constitutionality of the Reagan Tokes Law has been addressed by other Ohio appellate courts, each of which has declared that the sentencing scheme does not facially violate an inmate’s constitutional rights. See, e.g., State v. Barnes, 2d Dist. Montgomery No. 28613, 2020-Ohio-4150; State v. Hacker, 2020- Ohio-5048, 161 N.E.3d 112 (3d Dist.); State v. Bontrager, 2022-Ohio-1367, 188 N.E.3d 607 (4th Dist.); State v. Ratliff, 2022-Ohio-1372, 190 N.E.3d 684 (5th Dist.); State v. Maddox, 2022-Ohio-1350, 188 N.E.3d 682 (6th Dist.); State v. Delvallie, 2022-Ohio-470, 185 N.E.3d 536 (8th Dist.) (en banc); State v. Guyton, 12th Dist. Butler No. CA2019-12- 203, 2020-Ohio-3837. The issue is currently pending before the Supreme Court of Ohio. See, e.g., State v. Hacker, Sup. Ct. Case No. 2020-1496, and State v. Simmons, Sup. Ct. Case No. 2021-0532.

II. Standard of Review

{¶5} We review the constitutionality of a statute de novo, i.e., independently and without deference to the trial court’s decision. State v. Jenson, 11th Dist. Lake No. 2005- L-193, 2006-Ohio-5169, ¶ 5. “An enactment of the General Assembly is presumed to be constitutional, and before a court may declare it unconstitutional it must appear beyond a reasonable doubt that the legislation and constitutional provisions are clearly incompatible.” State ex rel. Dickman v. Defenbacher, 164 Ohio St. 142, 128 N.E.2d 59 (1955), paragraph one of the syllabus; State v. Romage, 138 Ohio St.3d 390, 2014-Ohio- 783, 7 N.E.3d 1156, ¶ 7 (“enactments of the General Assembly enjoy a strong presumption of constitutionality”). “This means that courts must avoid an unconstitutional

construction where it is reasonably possible to do so.” Jenson at ¶ 5, citing United Air Lines, Inc. v. Porterfield, 28 Ohio St.2d 97, 100, 276 N.E.2d 629 (1971). “Further, the party challenging the statute bears the burden of proving the unconstitutionality of the statute beyond a reasonable doubt.” Woods v. Telb, 89 Ohio St.3d 504, 511, 733 N.E.2d 1103 (2000), citing State v. Thompkins, 75 Ohio St.3d 558, 560, 664 N.E.2d 926 (1996).

{¶6} A party may challenge a statute as unconstitutional as applied to a particular set of facts or, as here, on its face. Harrold v. Collier, 107 Ohio St.3d 44, 2005-Ohio- 5334, 836 N.E.2d 1165, ¶ 37. “A facial challenge to a statute is the most difficult to bring successfully because the challenger must establish that there exists no set of circumstances under which the statute would be valid. The fact that a statute might operate unconstitutionally under some plausible set of circumstances is insufficient to render it wholly invalid.” Id., citing United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739, 745, 107 S.Ct. 2095, 95 L.Ed.2d 697 (1987).

III. The Reagan Tokes Law

{¶7} The Reagan Tokes Law, effective as of March 22, 2019, implemented a system of indefinite sentencing for non-life felonies of the first and second degree committed on or after the effective date. Pursuant to the Reagan Tokes Law, a sentencing court imposing a prison term under R.C. 2929.14(A)(1)(a) or (2)(a) is required to order a minimum prison term under that provision and a maximum prison term as determined by R.C. 2929.144(B).

{¶8} “Of the many changes to Ohio’s criminal sentencing scheme that were brought about by the Reagan Tokes Law, the change that is most pertinent to our present discussion centers around R.C. 2967.271(B)-(F), which permits prison authorities within

the executive branch to hold defendants in confinement during the indefinite portion of their sentence for conduct that violates prison rules and regulations.” State v. Eaton, 6th Dist. Lucas No. L-21-1121, 2022-Ohio-2432, ¶ 13.

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State v. Moran, 2022 Ohio 3610, 198 N.E.3d 922 (Ohio Ct. App. 2022).

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