State v. Newport, Unpublished Decision (2-2-2000)
State v. Newport, Unpublished Decision (2-2-2000)
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
Defendant O'Dell Newport appeals the July 22, 1999 judgment and order of the Auglaize County Court of Common Pleas. On April 1, 1999 and as the result of plea negotiations, defendant entered a plea of guilty to three felonies of the third degree: two counts of sexual battery in violation of R.C.On August 23, 1999, defendant filed this appeal, and now asserts three assignments of error with the trial court's judgment.
The trial court committed an error of law by imposing a sentence contrary to R.C.
2929.11 through R.C.2929.18 . Ohio Revised Code Chapter 2950 et seq., as applied to defendant-appellant, in unconstitutional in that it violates defendant's protections of Section 1, Article I and Section16 , ArticleI of the Ohio Constitution as decided in State v. Williams (Jan. 29, 1999), Lake App. No. 97-L-191.The trial court determination that defendant was a sexual predator, as defined in Ohio Revised Code [
2950.01 (E)], is contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence.
We will first address defendant's second assigned error. Defendant asserts that R.C. Chapter 2950, the sexual offender classification statute, violates Article I, Sections 1 and 16 of the Ohio State Constitution. However, we have repeatedly held that Chapter 2950 survives both constitutional challenges. See,e.g., State v. Marker (Sept. 1, 1999), Seneca App. No. 13-99-05, unreported, 1999 WL 692 410; State v. James (December 8, 1999), Hardin App. No. 6-99-5, unreported, 1999 WL 1114497. Accordingly, we overrule defendant's second assignment of error.
Defendant's third assignment of error asserts that the trial court's judgment finding him to be a sexual predator as defined in R.C.
In making a determination under divisions (B)(1) and (3) of this section as to whether an offender is a sexual predator, the judge shall consider all relevant factors, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(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.
R.C.
Applying these principles to the instant case, we conclude that the trial court's determination that defendant is a sexual predator is supported by sufficient evidence to meet the clear and convincing standard. Defendant pled guilty to three separate offenses against the same minor victim, his step-granddaughter. The specific incidents to which defendant pled guilty occurred in 1990, 1996 and 1997. Evidence contained in the presentence investigation report indicates that the State's case against the defendant included several damaging admissions to the police by the defendant, a taped phone conversation between the defendant and the victim during which the defendant admitted his wrongdoing, and a lengthy victim impact statement where the victim described the serious effects defendant's continued abuse has had on her life.
Furthermore, a supplement to the report indicated that in 1981 defendant had been terminated from his job as a custodian at a junior high school because of several allegations of "inappropriate conduct" with female students, including allegations that he grabbed the anatomy of at least two young women. The defendant did not mention these incidents during his presentence investigation interview, but rather indicated that he had "retired" from the custodial position. At defendant's sexual predator hearing, the trial court asked defendant why he had been fired from his custodial position, and defendant responded that "they said I had been feeling the girls but that's all lies." The trial court apparently did not believe the defendant's denials, and also found that "the Defendant was not truthful with the Probation Officer concerning the circumstances of leaving his employment."
Finally, we note that although on appeal defendant has objected to the trial court's consideration of the presentence investigation materials, defendant's trial counsel did not object to the sealed admission of those materials. Applying the plain error standard for admission of sexual predator evidence mandated by State v. Cook,
Based on the foregoing, we conclude that the evidence before the trial court, if believed, was sufficient to support the trial court's conclusion that defendant "pleaded guilty to committing a sexually oriented offense and is likely to engage in the future in one or more sexually oriented crimes" by clear and convincing evidence. R.C.
Defendant's first assignment of error argues that the trial court erred by imposing on him maximum and consecutive sentences. Defendant argues both that the trial court failed to comply with the legislature's requirements as enumerated in R.C.
As to defendant's first argument, we have reviewed the transcript of defendant's sentencing hearing and conclude that the trial court has satisfied the requirements of the felony sentencing statutes. See generally R.C.
In relation to its imposition of a maximum sentence, the court found that a minimum sentence would "demean the seriousness of the offense," see R.C.
Similarly, when considering the imposition of consecutive sentences, the trial court found that consecutive sentences were "necessary to protect the public from future crime and to punish the offender * * *." See R.C.
Finally, defendant argues that the trial court's sentencing findings are clearly and convincingly without support in the record. See R.C.
For these reasons, the defendant's three assigned errors are overruled, and the judgment of the Common Pleas Court of Auglaize County is affirmed.
Judgment affirmed. HADLEY, P.J., and BRYANT, J., concur.
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