State v. Porter

2018 Ohio 3123, 106 N.E.3d 125
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided August 6, 2018·No. NOS. CA2017-07-101; CA2017-07-103·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinions

PIPER, J.

{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant/cross-appellee, DeShawn Porter, appeals the manner in which the Warren County Court of Common Pleas determined his jail-time credit after sentencing Porter to two years in prison. Plaintiff-appellee/cross-appellant, the state of Ohio, appeals the same trial court's decision awarding jail-time credit for days that Porter spent on house arrest.

{¶ 2} Porter pled guilty to one count of burglary and was sentenced to two years in prison. Porter was incarcerated for several months before he was granted judicial release and placed on three years of community control. Thereafter, Porter violated the terms of his community control by absconding and absenting himself from the jurisdiction without the trial court's permission. Porter also tested positive for drug use. The trial court then imposed more restrictive community control sanctions, which included electronically-monitored house arrest and a curfew.

{¶ 3} Porter violated the terms of his community control again when he tested positive for cocaine. The trial court revoked Porter's community control and imposed the original two-year prison term. The trial court awarded jail-time credit, which included the time that Porter spent on house arrest but did not include the amount of time Porter was subject to a curfew.

{¶ 4} Porter now appeals the trial court's calculation of jail-time credit, raising one assignment of error:

{¶ 5} THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT FAILED TO GIVE APPELLANT JAIL-TIME CREDIT FOR TIME SPENT ON HOUSE ARREST, WITH A CURFEW.

{¶ 6} The state also appeals the trial court's sentence, raising the following cross-assignment of error:

{¶ 7} THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED ERROR WHEN IT GRANTED PORTER 96 DAYS OF JAIL-TIME CREDIT FOR THE TIME HE SPENT ON ELECTRONICALLY-MONITORED HOUSE ARREST.

{¶ 8} Given that the two assignments of error are interrelated, we will address them together.

{¶ 9} As previously stated, the trial court revoked Porter's community control after Porter's second violation. In determining jail-time credit toward the two-year sentence, the trial court gave Porter credit for the time he was under house arrest, but did not award time for which Porter was subject to a curfew.

{¶ 10} This court has addressed these issues in previous decisions of which all parties and the trial court are aware.

*127This court has specifically determined that defendants are not confined for the purposes of granting jail-time credit when subject to curfew restrictions. State v. Bowling , 12th Dist. Warren, 2017-Ohio-8539, 88 N.E.3d 965. Although Porter asks us to depart from the precedent set forth in Bowling , we decline to do so and, instead, reiterate the legal analysis set forth therein.

{¶ 11} Ohio statutes specifically instruct sentencing courts to reduce a prison term by the total number of days that the defendant was "confined." R.C. 2967.191 ; R.C. 2949.08(B). However, the statutes do not define or offer guidance on how the term "confined" should be used by Ohio courts. Nevertheless, we noted in Bowling that curfew is not defined as a period of "confinement" under the terms of the Ohio Revised Code. Instead, and pursuant to R.C. 2929.01(G), the term curfew "means a requirement that an offender during a specified period of time be at a designated place."

{¶ 12} We also addressed the Ohio Supreme Court's decisions related to the issue of jail-time credit in State v. Nagle , 23 Ohio St.3d 185, 492 N.E.2d 158 (1986) ; and State v. Napier , 93 Ohio St.3d 646, 758 N.E.2d 1127 (2001). In Nagle , the defendant was ordered to attend a residential rehabilitation facility pursuant to the terms of his conditional probation. However, the defendant left the treatment before it was completed and was subsequently resentenced by the trial court. The court held that the defendant was not entitled to jail-time credit for time spent in the rehabilitation facility because "in none of [the examples of confinement under R.C. 2949.08(C) ] may the defendant leave official custody of his own volition." 23 Ohio St.3d at 186, 492 N.E.2d 158.

{¶ 13} In Napier , the court found that the defendant was entitled to jail-time credit for time spent at a community based correctional facility because the time spent there was confinement. Napier was only able to leave the facility after submitting a detailed written description of when he was leaving the facility, where he was going, and when he planned to return. The court reasoned that Napier was not free to come and go and was thus "subject to the control of the staff regarding personal liberties." 93 Ohio St.3d at 648, 758 N.E.2d 1127.

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State v. Porter, 2018 Ohio 3123, 106 N.E.3d 125 (Ohio Ct. App. 2018).

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