State v. Parker

863 N.E.2d 1032, 113 Ohio St. 3d 207
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedApril 18, 2007
DocketNo. 2006-0236
StatusPublished
Cited by72 cases

This text of 863 N.E.2d 1032 (State v. Parker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Parker, 863 N.E.2d 1032, 113 Ohio St. 3d 207 (Ohio 2007).

Opinions

O’Connor, J.

{¶ 1} In this case, we are called upon to determine whether the triple-count provision in R.C. 2945.71(E) applies when an incarcerated accused is initially arraigned on multiple charges in municipal court, but on some of those charges the defendant is bound over to the common pleas court.

I. Background

{¶ 2} Jeremy Parker, appellee, was arrested on November 6, 2002, in connection with the discovery of a methamphetamine lab in Ashtabula County. As a result of his arrest, Parker was incarcerated and three separate complaints were filed in the Ashtabula Municipal Court, charging Parker with illegal manufacture of drugs, possession of drugs, and carrying a concealed weapon.

{¶ 3} The Ashtabula Municipal Court set bond for each of the three charges. A lower bond was set for the charge of carrying a concealed weapon, a misdemeanor, than for the two felony drug charges. After a November 15, 2002 preliminary hearing, Parker was bound over to the Ashtabula County Court of Common Pleas on the felony drug charges. The misdemeanor charge remained pending in the municipal court.

{¶ 4} On December 3, 2002, the state filed a motion in the common pleas court requesting that Parker’s bond on the felony drug charges be modified to a personal recognizance bond. The motion was granted, but for unspecified reasons, Parker did not execute his recognizance bond until January 24, 2003. He then remained jailed on the misdemeanor charge, which still required bail in the form of cash or a surety bond.

{¶ 5} Parker was eventually indicted by the Ashtabula County Grand Jury on the felonies on January 23, 2003. According to the parties’ briefs, on January 28, 2003, Parker posted the required bond on the concealed-weapon charge and was released, and, on motion of the city solicitor, the municipal court dismissed the concealed-weapon charge the next day.

{¶ 6} Parker was thus incarcerated on the felony charges from November 6, 2002, until January 24, 2003, when he posted the personal recognizance bond. This is a total of 79 days, and is the disputed time for the purposes of the R.C. 2945.71(E) triple-count provision.

{¶ 7} The trial court denied Parker’s motion to dismiss on speedy-trial grounds. Parker pleaded no contest on September 23, 2003.

[209]*209{¶ 8} The Eleventh District Court of Appeals reversed, holding that because the triple-count provision applied, Parker must be given credit for 302 days before being brought to trial, 32 more than allowed by R.C. 2945.71.

{¶ 9} If the triple-count provision does not apply, Parker had credit for only 144 days and was not entitled to dismissal on the basis of a speedy-trial violation.

II. Analysis

{¶ 10} The question presented requires this court to clarify the rule announced in State v. MacDonald (1976), 48 Ohio St.2d 66, 2 O.O.3d 219, 357 N.E.2d 40. In MacDonald, we held that the triple-count provision applies “only to those defendants held in jail in lieu of bail solely on the pending charge.” Id. at syllabus. The question now is, after a defendant is charged with two felonies and a misdemeanor arising from the same criminal incident, and the felonies are transferred to another jurisdiction that grants a personal recognizance bond, but the misdemeanor is subject to a cash or surety bond in the original jurisdiction, does the defendant remain incarcerated “solely on the pending charge”?

{¶ 11} We begin by noting our lengthy history of Sixth Amendment jurisprudence, including the application of R.C. 2945.71. “The right to a speedy trial is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, made obligatory on the states by the Fourteenth Amendment. Section 10, Article I of the Ohio Constitution guarantees an accused this same right. State v. MacDonald (1976), 48 Ohio St.2d 66, 68, 2 O.O.3d 219, 220, 357 N.E.2d 40, 42. Although the United States Supreme Court declined to establish the exact number of days within which a trial must be held, it recognized that states may prescribe a reasonable period of time consistent with constitutional requirements. Barker v. Wingo (1972), 407 U.S. 514, 523, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 2188, 33 L.Ed.2d 101, 113. In response to this authority, Ohio enacted R.C. 2945.71, which designates specific time requirements for the state to bring an accused to trial.” State v. Hughes (1999), 86 Ohio St.3d 424, 425, 715 N.E.2d 540.

{¶ 12} As Chief Justice Moyer wrote in Brecksville v. Cook (1996), 75 Ohio St.3d 53, 55-56, 661 N.E.2d 706:

{¶ 13} “Ohio’s speedy trial statute was implemented to incorporate the constitutional protection of the right to a speedy trial provided for in the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and in Section 10, Article I of the Ohio Constitution. State v. Broughton (1991), 62 Ohio St.3d 253, 256, 581 N.E.2d 541, 544; see Columbus v. Bonner (1981), 2 Ohio App.3d 34, 36, 2 OBR 37, 39, 440 N.E.2d 606, 608. The constitutional guarantee of a speedy trial was originally considered necessary to prevent oppressive pretrial incarceration, to minimize the anxiety of the accused, and to limit the possibility that the defense will be [210]*210impaired. State ex rel. Jones v. Cuyahoga Cty. Ct. of Common Pleas (1978), 55 Ohio St.2d 130, 131, 9 O.O.3d 108, 109, 378 N.E.2d 471, 472.

{¶ 14} “Section 10, Article I of the Ohio Constitution guarantees to the party accused in any court ‘a speedy public trial by an impartial jury.’ ‘Throughout the long history of litigation involving application of the speedy trial statutes, this court has repeatedly announced that the trial courts are to strictly enforce the legislative mandates evident in these statutes. This court’s announced position of strict enforcement has been grounded in the conclusion that the speedy trial statutes implement the constitutional guarantee of a public speedy trial.’ (Citations omitted.) State v. Pachay (1980), 64 Ohio St.2d 218, 221, 18 O.O.3d 427, 429, 416 N.E.2d 589, 591. We are acutely conscious of the magnitude of the rights we interpret today. We have also previously explained, however, that ‘the prescribed times for trial set forth in R.C. 2945.71 are not absolute in all circumstances, but a certain measure of flexibility was intended by the General Assembly by the enactment of R.C. 2945.72, wherein discretionary authority is granted to extend the trial date beyond the R.C. 2945.71 time prescriptions.’ State v. Wentworth (1978), 54 Ohio St.2d 171, 173, 8 O.O.3d 162, 163-164, 375 N.E.2d 424, 426. It is against these principles that we analyze the issues now before us.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
863 N.E.2d 1032, 113 Ohio St. 3d 207, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-parker-ohio-2007.