State v. Reichelderfer, Unpublished Decision (4-30-1999)
State v. Reichelderfer, Unpublished Decision (4-30-1999)
Opinion of the Court
Defendant-appellant Charles Reichelderfer appeals from a judgment of the trial court convicting and sentencing him on his pleas of no contest to Rape of a Child Under the Age of Thirteen, and for Gross Sexual Imposition Upon a Child Under the Age of Thirteen, and classifying him as a Sexual Predator. Reichelderfer contends that the Sexual Predator statute, R.C.
We conclude, based upon previous decisions of this court that we approve and follow, that there is no merit to Reichelderfer's constitutional attacks upon the Sexual Predator statute. We further conclude, based upon a previous decision of this court, that Reichelderfer misconstrues R.C.
At a later hearing, the trial court considered a report by Dr. Barbara Bergman. No live testimony was taken. The trial court imposed sentence and adjudicated Reichelderfer to be a sexual predator, in accordance with R.C.
From his conviction, sentence, and sexual predator classification, Reichelderfer appeals.
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED TO THE PREJUDICE OF DEFENDANT-APPELLANT, IN THAT THE PROVISIONS OF THE SEXUAL PREDATOR STATUTE, AS APPLIED THROUGH R.C.
2950.01 ET SEQ., IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL PURSUANT TO BOTH OHIO AND UNITED STATES CONSTITUTIONS AS SAID LAW IF VAGUE AND OVER BROAD.
This assignment of error is overruled upon the authority ofState v. Fortman (March 27, 1998), Montgomery App. No. 16565, unreported, which we approve and follow.
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED TO THE PREJUDICE OF DEFENDANT-APPELLANT, IN THAT THE PROVISIONS OF THE SEXUAL PREDATOR STATUTE, AS APPLIED THROUGH R.C.
2950.01 ET SEQ., IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL PURSUANT TO BOTH OHIO AND UNITED STATES CONSTITUTIONS AS SAID LAW DENIES EQUAL PROTECTION OF THE LAW AND DUE PROCESS OF LAW.
A sexual predator classification does not involve a fundamental right. State v. Thomas (March 27, 1998), Greene App. No. 97-CA-86, which we approve and follow. Accordingly, the sexual predator classification scheme will survive Equal Protection scrutiny if a rational basis can be found for treating different classifications of offenders differently. Reichelderfer contends that Ohio's Sexual Predator statute offends federal and Ohio Equal Protection analysis because it treats defendants in custody within the state penal system for a sexually oriented offense on or after January 1, 1997, differently from those who are no longer in custody after that date. R.C.
Under this assignment of error, Reichelderfer also contends that the Sexual Predator classification statute offends the Due Process clauses of the Ohio and federal constitutions. However, we cannot distinguish the argument he makes on this point from the argument he makes in support of his claim that the statute is unconstitutionally vague and overbroad, which we have already rejected upon the authority of State v. Fortman, supra.
Reichelderfer's Second Assignment of Error is overruled.
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED TO THE PREJUDICE OF THE DEFENDANT AS IT FAILED TO GIVE CREDIT FOR JAIL TIME SERVED AWAITING FINAL DISPOSITION OF HIS CASE PURSUANT TO
2929.01 ET SEQ., AS R.C.2929.13 (F) IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL IN THAT IT VIOLATES THE EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE OF THEFOURTEENTH AMENDMENT.
R.C.
We previously considered this argument in State v. Day
(October 2, 1998), Montgomery App. No. 16902, unreported. In that case, we held that although the trial court is precluded from reducing the term of imprisonment for these offenses, pursuant to R.C.
Formerly, trial courts were required by Crim.R. 32.2 to recite, in the termination entry, the amount of time that a convicted defendant spent incarcerated before sentencing. However, Crim.R. 32.2 was amended, effective July 1, 1998, and no longer contains this requirement. The Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections understandably would appreciate a trial court's recitation, in its termination entry, of the amount of time that a convicted defendant has spent in jail upon the charge for which he was convicted, so that the Department may perform its duty pursuant to R.C.
In the case before us, the termination entry is not silent on the subject of jail time credit. To the contrary, it contains the following provision:
The defendant is to receive credit for the following:
(NOT ENTITLED TO JAIL TIME CREDIT) days spent in confinement;
This provision is legally erroneous. If, as the State appears to concede, Reichelderfer was incarcerated, before sentencing, upon the charge for which he was convicted, he is entitled, pursuant to R.C.
We agree with Reichelderfer that the trial court erred by providing, in the termination entry, that he is not entitled to jail time credit. Reichelderfer's Third Assignment of Error is sustained.
GRADY, P.J., and BROGAN, J., concur.
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