State v. Johnson, Unpublished Decision (9-30-1999)
State v. Johnson, Unpublished Decision (9-30-1999)
Opinion of the Court
On or about September 22, 1982, the grand jury issued a two-count indictment against appellant charging him with aggravated burglary and attempted rape. On September 27, 1982, appellant entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.
On or about February 24, 1983, the prosecutor moved to amend count two of the indictment to gross sexual imposition. Appellant retracted his former pleas of not guilty and pleaded guilty to the charges set forth in the amended indictment. The trial court then sentenced appellant to concurrent prison terms of four to twenty-five years for aggravated burglary and one to ten years for gross sexual imposition.
On June 3, 1998, the trial court conducted a sexual predator determination hearing. In a journal entry filed on July 9, 1998, the court found appellant to be a sexual predator. Therefrom, appellant has filed the instant appeal.
I.
COLLATERAL ESTOPPEL AND RES JUDICATA PREVENTED THE TRIAL COURT FROM REHEARING THE APPELLANT'S CASE WHERE THE TRIAL COURT INITIALLY FOUND R.C. §
2950.01 ET SEQ. INAPPLICABLE TO THE APPELLANT AND WHERE NO NOTICE OF APPEAL OR OTHER CHALLENGE WAS LEVIED AGAINST SUCH FINDING.
In his first assignment of error, appellant claims that the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel should have precluded the trial court from conducting appellant's sexual predator hearing. This contention is based upon a non-journalized entry wherein the trial court allegedly found R.C. Chapter 2950 unconstitutional. However, this entry has not been made part of the record on appeal; instead, both parties attached a copy of the entry to their appellate briefs.
Because the entry was not in the record below, we cannot consider it even though both parties attached a copy to their appellate briefs. See D B Immobilization Corp. v. Dues (1997),
In re Estate of Price (Oct. 26, 1995), Cuyahoga App. No. 68628, unreported.This court cannot consider matters dehors the record. State v. Ishmail (1978),
54 Ohio St.2d 402 . An exhibit attached to an appellate brief and not filed with the trial court is not part of the record. Middletown v. Allen (1989),63 Ohio App.3d 443 ,449 .
Accordingly, appellant's first assignment of error is overruled.
III.
THE EVIDENCE IS INSUFFICIENT, AS A MATTER OF LAW, TO PROVE "BY CLEAR AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE" THAT THE APPELLANT "IS LIKELY TO ENGAGE IN THE FUTURE IN ONE OR MORE SEXUALLY ORIENTED OFFENSES."
In his third assignment of error, appellant asserts that the evidence presented at his hearing was insufficient to prove by clear and convincing evidence that he is a sexual predator.
R.C.
In making a determination as to whether an offender is a sexual predator, the trial judge must consider all relevant factors, including, but not limited to the factors listed in R.C.
(a) The offender's age;
(b) The offender's prior criminal record regarding all offenses, including, but not limited to, all sexual offenses;
(c) The age of the victim of the sexually oriented offense for which sentence is to be imposed;
(d) Whether the sexually oriented offense for which sentence is to be imposed involved multiple victims;
(e) Whether the offender used drugs or alcohol to impair the victim of the sexually oriented offense or to prevent the victim from resisting;
(f) If the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any criminal offense, whether the offender completed any sentence imposed for the prior offense and, if the prior offense was a sex offense or a sexually oriented offense, whether the offender participated in available programs for sexual offenders;
(g) Any mental illness or mental disability of the offender;
(h) The nature of the offender's sexual conduct, sexual contact, or interaction in a sexual context with the victim of the sexually oriented offense and whether the sexual conduct, sexual contact, or interaction in a sexual context was part of a demonstrated pattern of abuse;
(i) Whether the offender, during the commission of the sexually oriented offense for which sentence is to be imposed, displayed cruelty or made one or more threats of cruelty;
(j) Any additional behavioral characteristics that contribute to the offender's conduct.
"The statute does not require the court to list the criteria, but only to "consider all relevant factors, including' the criteria in R.C.
The standard of "clear and convincing evidence" is the measure or degree of proof which is more than a mere "preponderance of the evidence," but not to the extent of such certainty as is required "beyond a reasonable doubt" in criminal cases. State v.Schiebel (1990),
In State v. Ward (Jan. 28, 1999), Cuyahoga App. No. 72371. unreported, the trial court adjudicated the defendant to be a sexual predator based solely upon his underlying conviction for the sexual offense of felonious sexual penetration. The only evidence submitted during the defendant's sexual predator determination hearing was a certified copy of his conviction. On appeal, this court held that a sexual predator determination could not be made solely upon an underlying conviction. Ward,supra, citing State v. Wilson (Sept. 11, 1998), Hamilton App. No. C-970880, unreported. Therefore, this court reversed the classification of the defendant as a sexual predator and remanded his case to the trial court for further consideration of the record in toto. Ward, supra.
In conformity with Ward, we find that insufficient evidence was presented below to support the determination that appellant is a sexual predator. During the hearing, the court was merely presented with the prosecutor's recitation of the fact of appellant's underlying conviction and the bare allegation that appellant had a prior sex conviction. We note that the factors listed in R.C.
We find that the prosecution failed to present the trial court with clear and convincing "evidence" that appellant is likely to engage in the future in one or more sexually oriented offenses. R.C.
IV.
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN IMPOSING REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS UPON APPELLANT, SINCE APPELLANT WAS SENTENCED PRIOR TO THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF R.C.
2950.04 , WHICH PROVIDES FOR THE MANNER OF OFFENDER REGISTRATION.
As for his twelfth assignment of error, appellant claims that the trial court erred in imposing the registration requirements of R.C.
The judgment of the trial court is affirmed in part and reversed in part, and this case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
It is ordered that appellant recover of appellee his costs herein taxed.
The court finds there were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
It is ordered that a special mandate issue out of this court directing the Common Pleas Court to carry this judgment into execution.
A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to Rule 27 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure.
JAMES M. PORTER, ADM.J. and TIMOTHY E. McMONAGLE, J. CONCUR.
___________________________________ LEO M. SPELLACY JUDGE
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.