State v. Miller, Unpublished Decision (4-29-1998)
State v. Miller, Unpublished Decision (4-29-1998)
Opinion of the Court
On the afternoon of March 1, 1997, Magdelena Reiter was in the parking lot of a Montgomery Ward store in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. As Reiter opened the door of her car, Miller accosted her and demanded her car keys. Reiter, who was eighty-eight years old, refused. Miller then took the keys from her, pushed her to the ground, and started the car. A bystander, fearing that Miller would run Reiter over with the car, ran to the scene and pulled Reiter to safety. Miller was stopped and arrested a short time later by an officer of the Boston Hills Police Department.
Miller was indicted by the Summit County Grand Jury on one count of robbery in violation of R.C.
Miller asserts one assignment of error:
The sentence of defendant in this case is erroneous and must be reversed, since said sentence is contrary to law, not supported by the record in this case, and failed to set forth the mandatory findings required by O.R.C.
2929.14 (B), in violation of defendant's rights as guaranteed to him by theFifth ,Sixth andFourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
At the time the trial court imposed sentence, Miller had not previously served a prison term. He argues that the trial court improperly imposed a sentence greater than the minimum sentence without making a finding required by R.C.
Miller was sentenced under Senate Bill 2. The sentence for a second degree felony, such as robbery, is a definite term of two, three, four, five, six, seven, or eight years. R.C.
The State argues that, while the trial court never explicitly found either condition in R.C.
Our review of the record in this case reveals that the trial court had a basis for imposing the maximum sentence, and that it indicated its reason at the sentencing hearing. The trial court indicated on the record that it had authority under the new sentencing statute to sentence Crangle to the maximum penalty because this was his third conviction for a sexual offense against a child. By explicitly referring to the new statute and the fact that Crangle had two prior convictions for offenses similar to the one at issue, the trial court must have implicitly found that Crangle was an offender who posed a great likelihood of committing future crimes. We find no error in such a conclusion.
Id. at 3.
We find the State's argument well taken. In the case at bar, the following exchange occurred at Miller's sentencing hearing:
THE COURT: What you did is a very violent act.
THE DEFENDANT: I know.
THE COURT: It's something that I can't erase from my mind when I consider what happened, and much more harm could have happened to somebody; whether it be this lady, or somebody else.
And you also, I'm sure, heard about the accusation that as you moved the car away, there was fear that you were going to —
THE DEFENDANT: Yeah.
THE COURT: — use that car to hurt somebody.
* * *
* * * And when you start — when you do a criminal act and it affects a person, a human being, as far as I'm concerned, you've crossed the line.
Based on the trial court's comments, it must have implicitly found that imposing the minimum sentence would demean the seriousness of Miller's conduct. Therefore, the trial court complied with the mandate of R.C.
Based on the entire record, we cannot find clearly and convincingly that the sentence imposed in the case at bar is unsupported by the record or is contrary to law. Accordingly, Miller's sole assignment of error is overruled.
Miller's assignment of error is overruled. The judgment of the Summit County Court of Common Pleas is affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
The Court finds that there were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
We order that a special mandate issue out of this court, directing the County of Summit Common Pleas Court to carry this judgment into execution. A certified copy of this journal entry shall constitute the mandate, pursuant to App.R. 27.
Immediately upon the filing hereof, this document shall constitute the journal entry of judgment, and it shall be file stamped by the Clerk of the Court of Appeals at which time the period for review shall begin to run. App.R. 22(E).
Costs taxed to appellant.
Exceptions. _______________________________ JOHN W. REECE
FOR THE COURT
SLABY, P. J.
QUILLIN, J., J. CONCUR.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.