State v. Fugate, Unpublished Decision (11-13-2000)
State v. Fugate, Unpublished Decision (11-13-2000)
Opinion of the Court
In the summer of 1996, appellant caused substantial injuries to a man when he attempted to run over him with a motor vehicle in the parking lot of the "Airport Saloon" in Middletown, Ohio. Appellant was indicted on one count of felonious assault and he later pled guilty to a reduced charge of attempted felonious assault. The trial court adjudicated appellant guilty of attempted felonious assault. At a sentencing hearing held on March 25, 1997, the trial court sentenced appellant to a term of three years in prison and ordered him to pay restitution to the victim in the amount of the victim's medical expenses. However, the trial court filed a judgment entry the very next day that inconsistently stated that appellant's term of imprisonment was for two years. The error in the judgment entry was presumably not noticed and therefore not corrected.
On October 22, 1997, the trial court granted judicial release to appellant and placed him on community control for a period not to exceed five years. Appellant was later convicted of domestic violence. As a result of this felony conviction, the trial court conducted a "probation violation hearing" and determined that appellant violated a condition of his judicial release in which he promised to obey all federal, state, and local laws. The trial court discovered at the hearing that its sentencing entry conflicted with the information Butler County Adult Probation recorded during the original sentencing hearing. The trial court reviewed the audiotapes from the sentencing hearing in the presence of appellant, his attorney, and the attorney for the state. The tapes revealed that the trial court actually stated on the record that appellant would be sentenced to a three-year term of imprisonment for his crime. Over appellant's objections, the trial court corrected the original judgment of conviction entry with a nunc pro tunc entry on February 3, 2000.
Since appellant violated a condition of his judicial release, the trial court revoked appellant's release and community control sanctions. The trial court credited appellant for time served and sentenced him to serve the balance of his three-year term of imprisonment consecutively to the sentence imposed as a result of his conviction for domestic violence. Appellant appeals the decision of the trial court and raises four assignments of error.
Assignment of Error No. 1:
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED AND VIOLATED APPELLANT'S RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS OF LAW BY JOURNALIZING AN ENTRY WHICH INCREASES APPELLANT'S SENTENCE FROM TWO YEARS TO THREE YEARS[.]
Appellant argues in his first assignment of error that the trial court was without authority to file a nunc pro tunc entry so that the judgment of conviction reflected the sentence imposed by the trial court at the sentencing hearing. Appellant argues that the trial court's entry increased his sentence in violation of the Double Jeopardy Clauses of the Ohio and United States Constitutions.
The Double Jeopardy Clauses of the United States and Ohio Constitutions bar a trial court from modifying a sentence by increasing it after execution of that sentence has commenced. United States v. Benz (1931),
Crim.R. 36 specifically authorizes the trial court to correct "[c]lerical mistakes in judgments, orders, or other parts of the record, and errors in the record arising from oversight or omission * * * at any time." A trial court may use a nunc pro tunc entry to correct mistakes in judgments, orders and other parts of the record so the record speaks the truth. State v. Gruelich (1988),
The transcript of appellant's original sentencing hearing demonstrates that the trial court sentenced appellant to serve a sentence of three years in prison. As the trial court recognized, the conflict between the pronouncements made to appellant in open court and the trial court's sentencing entry is the result of a typographical or clerical error. The trial court's March 3, 1997 nunc pro tunc entry merely corrected the error so that the sentencing entry would accurately reflect the penalty imposed at the sentencing hearing. The trial court's entry did not increase appellant's original sentence and violate appellant's right to be free from double jeopardy. Appellant's first assignment of error is overruled.
Assignment of Error No. 2:
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED TO [APPELLANT'S] PREJUDICE IN FAILING TO SENTENCE [APPELLANT] TO THE MINIMUM SENTENCE TERM[.]
In his second assignment of error, appellant argues that the trial court erred when it failed to sentence him to the shortest prison term authorized for attempted felonious assault. Appellant is essentially attempting to assign error to the sentence originally imposed by the trial court.
R.C.
When a trial court grants judicial release to a defendant, the trial court reserves the right to reimpose the defendant's original prison sentence if the defendant violates any condition of his judicial release. R.C.
The trial court filed the original judgment entry of appellant's sentence on March 26, 1997. Appellant did not appeal his sentence within thirty days of that entry and cannot challenge his original sentence at this time. Appellant's second assignment of error is overruled.
Assignment of Error No. 3:
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED TO [APPELLANT'S] PREJUDICE BY IMPOSING A CONSECUTIVE SENTENCE OF THREE YEARS[.]
In his third assignment of error, appellant argues that the trial court erred by ordering him to serve the remainder of his sentence for attempted felonious assault consecutively to the sentence he received for the crime he committed while on judicial release. Appellant maintains that the trial court failed to engage in the statutory analysis mandated in R.C.
2929.14 (E)(4).
Ordinarily, a trial court may impose consecutive terms of imprisonment only if it makes the findings required pursuant to R.C.
If the court grants a motion for judicial release under this section, the court shall order the release of the eligible offender, shall place the eligible offender under an appropriate community control sanction * * * and shall reserve the right to reimpose the sentence that it reduced pursuant to the judicial release if the offender violates the sanction. If the court reimposes the reduced sentence pursuant to this reserved right, it may do so either concurrently with, or consecutive to, any new sentence imposed upon the eligible offender as a result of the violation that is a new offense.
Contrary to the general felony sentencing scheme, R.C.
The trial court determined that appellant violated a condition of his judicial release when he was convicted of domestic violence. The trial court ordered appellant to serve the remainder of his three-year term of imprisonment consecutively to the sentence that he received for domestic violence. The trial court was not required to make any findings before doing so. Appellant's third assignment of error is overruled.
Assignment of Error No. 4:
COUNSEL REQUESTS THE COURT TO MAKE AN INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF THE RECORD TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE PROCEEDINGS ARE FREE FROM PREJUDICIAL ERROR.
In the fourth assignment of error, appellant's counsel states that he "has received correspondences [sic]" from appellant "eluding [sic] to potential issues for appeal in addition and/or other than those set forth by counsel * * *." Appellant cites Anders v. California (1967),
In Anders, the United States Supreme Court established a procedure comporting with an indigent criminal defendant's Sixth Amendment right to the assistance of appellate counsel whereby appointed counsel may move to withdraw from the case if, after reviewing the entire record, he or she conscientiously decides that the appeal is wholly frivolous.
Counsel for appellant does not claim that the instant appeal is wholly frivolous. Contrary to Anders, appellate counsel filed a brief with three assignments of error to review. Anders does not authorize appellate counsel to interject a catch-all assignment into a criminal appeal, and there is no duty, constitutional or otherwise, requiring this court to independently review the record for prejudicial error in each criminal appeal. State v. Moby (Nov. 6, 2000), Butler App. No. CA2000-02-021, unreported; State v. Purdon (Nov. 10, 1997), Brown App. No. CA97-03-009, unreported; App.R. 12(A)(2). "An appellate court is not a performing bear, required to dance to each and every tune played on an appeal." State v. Watson (1998),
__________________________ POWELL, P.J.
WALSH and VALEN, JJ., concur.
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