State v. Maser, Unpublished Decision (7-20-2000)
State v. Maser, Unpublished Decision (7-20-2000)
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
Defendant-appellant, Chad M. Maser, appeals from the September 24, 1999 judgment entry of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas resentencing appellant to five three-year consecutive terms of imprisonment as a result of appellant's guilty plea to five counts of gross sexual imposition. Appellant contends that the imposition of consecutive sentences was unlawful. We disagree and affirm.On March 31, 1998, appellant pleaded guilty to five separate counts of gross sexual imposition, in violation of R.C.
Appellant appealed. By opinion rendered April 20, 1999, this court affirmed the trial court's finding that appellant is a sexual predator. This court, however, reversed and remanded for resentencing because the trial court failed to make the necessary findings for imposition of consecutive sentences as required under R.C.
On remand, the trial court held a resentencing hearing on September 15, 1999. At the hearing, the trial court heard testimony from the detective on appellant's case, the victim, the victim's mother, and a psychologist retained by appellant. By judgment entry filed September 24, 1999, the trial court again sentenced appellant to five consecutive three-year terms of imprisonment. In so doing, the trial court specifically found that: (1) consecutive sentences were necessary to protect the public from future crime and to punish appellant; (2) consecutive sentences were not disproportionate to the seriousness of appellant's conduct and danger appellant poses to the public; (3) the harm caused by the multiple offenses was so great or unusual that no single prison term for any of the offenses would reflect the seriousness of appellant's conduct; and (4) appellant's history of criminal conduct demonstrated that consecutive sentences were necessary to protect the public from future crime by appellant.
It is from this judgment entry that appellant appeals, raising the following single assignment of error:
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED AND IMPOSED CONSECUTIVE SENTENCES IN VIOLATION OF THE
EIGHTH AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION, ARTICLEI , SECTION NINE OF THE OHIO CONSTITUTION AND OHIO REVISED CODE SECTIONS2929.11 ,2929.12 AND2929.14 .
Unless a specific sanction is required to be imposed or is precluded from being imposed by law, a trial court has the discretion to impose any sanction or combination of sanctions on an offender if such sanctions are allowed by law. R.C.
First, the record supports the trial court's determination under unlettered provisions of R.C.
Further, the nature of the underlying offenses to which appellant pleaded guilty in this case were particularly serious. The victim was eleven years old at the time of the offenses, appellant had lived in the same house as the victim for one and one-half years in a quasi-parental role, and the offenses occurred over a two-month period. The record also indicates that appellant's specific conduct included masturbating in front of the victim, digitally penetrating the victim's vagina, and placing his penis in the victim's mouth.
Second, the record supports the trial court's determination under R.C.
Third, the record supports the trial court's determination under R.C.
Finally, appellant argues that certain remarks by the trial court during the resentencing hearing suggest that the trial court was, in part, basing its sentence on appellant's HIV positive status. In context, however, the remarks reflect the trial court's concern for the possible consequences appellant's HIV status may have on the victim in the future. Nothing in the trial court's ruling on the record or in its judgment entry indicates that appellant's HIV status affected its decision on sentencing.
In sum, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in imposing consecutive sentences in this case. Appellant's single assignment of error is overruled, and the judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas is affirmed.
TYACK and PETREE, JJ., concur.
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