State v. Pettigrew, Unpublished Decision (1-24-2003)

Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided January 24, 2003·No. C.A. Case No. 19257, T.C. Case No. 01 CR 1710/01.·Unpublished

Opinion

OPINION
{¶ 1} Linita Pettigrew pleaded guilty to endangering children in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas and was sentenced to two years of imprisonment. She appeals her sentence, raising two assignments of error.

{¶ 2} Pettigrew was charged by indictment with endangering children on November 8, 2001. The charge resulted from an incident in which her eight-month-old son sustained serious injuries to his head, including a linear fracture on his skull. On January 23, 2002, Pettigrew pled guilty to the offense as part of a plea bargain in which the state agreed not to oppose community control sanctions. The trial court stated that it would consider imposing community control sanctions rather than a prison term based upon Pettigrew's level of cooperation with the Montgomery County Children Services Board ("MCCSB"), the police department, and the prosecutor's office.

{¶ 3} A presentence investigation report ("PSI") was completed and submitted to the trial court prior to Pettigrew's March 6, 2002 sentencing. At the sentencing hearing, the trial court noted that Pettigrew had not sufficiently cooperated with MCCSB and had shown little regard for her child. Despite Pettigrew's attempts to explain her conduct, the court sentenced her to two years of imprisonment.

{¶ 4} Pettigrew appeals, raising two assignments of error, which we will address in reverse order.

{¶ 5} "II. The record does not demonstrate that the court gave adequate consideration to applicable statutory guidelines when imposing appellant's sentence."

{¶ 6} Under this assignment of error, Pettigrew argues that the trial court did not make required findings in sentencing her to jail time rather than community control sanctions.

{¶ 7} R.C. 2929.13(D) applied to Pettigrew's sentencing:

{¶ 8} "[F]or a felony of the * * * second degree * * * it is presumed that a prison term is necessary in order to comply with the purposes and principles of sentencing under section 2929.11 of the Revised Code. Notwithstanding the presumption established under this division, the sentencing court may impose a community control sanction or a combination of community control sanctions instead of a prison term on an offender of a felony of the * * * second degree * * * if it makes both of the following findings:

{¶ 9} "(1) A community control sanction or a combination of community control sanctions would adequately punish the offender and protect the public from future crime, because the applicable factors under section 2929.12 of the Revised Code indicating a lesser likelihood of recidivism outweigh the applicable factors under that section indicating a greater likelihood of recidivism.

{¶ 10} "(2) A community control sanction or a combination of community control sanctions would not demean the seriousness of the offense because one or more factors under section 2929.12 of the Revised Code that indicate that the offender's conduct was less serious than conduct normally constituting the offense are applicable, and they outweigh the applicable factors under that section that indicate that the offender's conduct was more serious than conduct normally constituting the offense."

{¶ 11} Thus, there was a presumption that Pettigrew's conviction for a second degree felony warranted a prison term, and no findings were required under this section because the court did not elect to deviate from the presumption and sentence Pettigrew to community control sanctions. Furthermore, the trial court complied with R.C. 2929.14(B) by sentencing Pettigrew, who had not previously served a prison term, to the minimum prison term authorized by statute. However, Pettigrew argues that the court failed to indicate that it engaged in the analysis set forth in R.C. 2929.12(B) and (C) regarding whether Pettigrew's conduct was more or less serious than conduct normally constituting the offense. We have stated that it is not necessary that a court specifically articulate that it considered these factors. See State v. Hamilton (May 14, 1999), Darke App. No. 1474. Rather, where the court's sentence is within the statutory guidelines, we presume that the court considered the factors contained in R.C. 2929.12 absent an affirmative showing that the court failed to do so. See State v. Garrison (1997), 123 Ohio App.3d 11, 18, 702 N.E.2d 1222. Pettigrew has made no such showing here. It appears from our reading of the record that the court reviewed the PSI, which conducted a detailed analysis of the factors of R.C. 2929.12. Furthermore, despite Pettigrew's assertions to the contrary, no factors exist to indicate that Pettigrew committed less serious conduct than that conduct normally constituting the offense of child endangering, and several factors existed indicating that her conduct was more serious than conduct normally constituting the offense. In any event, the trial court having already determined that a prison term was the appropriate sentence, the only remaining function of the R.C. 2929.12 factors was to inform the determination of the length of Pettigrew's sentence. Because the trial court sentenced Pettigrew to the minimum prison term for a second degree felony, there can be no prejudice in the trial court's failure to discuss the factors on the record.

{¶ 12} In short, the trial court adhered to the presumption that a prison term was necessary for a second degree felony and sentenced Pettigrew to the minimum term. In doing so, the court fully complied with the applicable statutes.

{¶ 13} The second assignment of error is overruled.

{¶ 14} "I. Appellant's sentence is contrary to the law and unsupported by the record."

{¶ 15} Under this assignment of error, Pettigrew argues that the record did not support a sentence of imprisonment rather than community control sanctions. She argues that the record did not support the trial court's conclusions.

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State v. Pettigrew, Unpublished Decision (1-24-2003), (Ohio Ct. App. 2003).

State v. Pettigrew, Unpublished Decision (1-24-2003) (State v. Pettigrew, Unpublished Decision (1-24-2003)) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

State v. Garrison
702 N.E.2d 1222 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1997)