State v. Criss, Unpublished Decision (6-21-2001)
State v. Criss, Unpublished Decision (6-21-2001)
Opinion of the Court
A review of the record reveals that, on October 9, 1999, Lindy Dawson found appellant in her home sniffing from a plastic bag an unknown substance suspected to be paint thinner. Appellant was subsequently indicted for one count of burglary, in violation of R.C.
At the sentencing hearing conducted on June 21, 2000, the court stated:
Kevin, I will find that you are not amenable to supervision based upon your history. In addition to the fact that your criminal offenses from `91 and this case are carbon copies of one another almost.
To sentence you to a short term or the shortest term would not adequately protect the public from you or punish you in this case.
I will sentence you to four years in the Lorian [sic] Correctional Institution and order court costs in this case. The Court further finds that you are eligible for an intensive prison program.
Appellant thereafter filed a motion to reconsider this sentence, which the court denied. Appellant is now before this court and assigns two errors for our review.
The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States prohibits the infliction of cruel and unusual punishment and is made applicable to the states by reason of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Robinson v. California (1962),
The burglary offense to which appellant pleaded constitutes a third degree felony punishable by a one, two, three, four, or five year term of imprisonment. R.C.
Appellant urges this court, nonetheless, to find that the trial court imposed this sentence because of his status as an inhalant addict. This is a mischaracterization of the trial court's actions. Appellant's sentence was based on a conviction for burglary. He was not convicted nor was he sentenced for being an inhalant addict. Certainly his status as an addict had some bearing on his decision to burglarize the home of Lindy Dawson. It was not because of this status, however, that he was convicted and accordingly sentenced. See State v. Collier (1988),
Moreover, appellant's reliance on Hazlett v. Martin Chevrolet, Inc. (1986),
Nor can we say that the sentence imposed is disproportionate so as to shock the moral sense of the community. From the record before this court, it is apparent that the trial court based its decision to impose the sentence that it did on the presentence investigation report completed prior to sentencing. The trial court stated:
THE COURT: Then in 1997 you did the same sort of offense. You were placed on probation with supervision with the Mentally Disorder [sic] Offender's Program with the additional conditions imposed, and those conditions were that you submit to urinalysis, probation department to test for Tulio, and obtain employment. If not employed, perform 200 hours of community work service.
You violated the probation and a violation hearing was held. An in the following month you were sentenced January 12th, of 1998. There was a probation hearing February 26th of 1998 and you were continued on probation supervision.
Four months later you were found to have violated again, and your supervision was continued, but you had to remain in county jail until a bed became available for you at a treatment program. The order of the Court was that you complete all in and out-patient treatment, and a month after that on July 6th, a capias was issued for your arrest. Were you sent to a treatment program and you left the treatment program?
DEFENDANT: At one, yeah.
THE COURT: Why did you leave that program?
DEFENDANT: Well, they had me on medication for, you know, anxiety and stuff. I couldn't sleep right. I had my brother pick me up and they said it was okay to be picked-up as long as I get back there at a certain time. I didn't get back here, so I just stayed. I knew I was in trouble and I just stayed away. * * * THE COURT: So, ultimately, in July of 1998 the Court found that you violated and sentenced you to ten months in prison. You were released in April of 1999. Two months later you were picked-up and convicted for possession of a [sic] intoxicants. Yes.
DEFENDANT: Yes.
THE COURT: Then six months after this, you went into someone [sic] woman's house?
DEFENDANT: Yes.
Based on the excerpts above, it cannot be said that the trial court's decision to impose a four-year prison term is disproportionate so as to constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Given appellant's past history and lack of follow-through and/or rehabilitation with traditional alternatives to imprisonment, it was certainly within the trial court's discretion to find that a lesser sentence would have minimal deterrent effect.
Appellant's first assignment of error is not well taken and is overruled.
The overriding purpose of felony sentencing is to protect the public from future crime by the offender and others and to punish the offender. R.C.
To achieve those purposes, the sentencing court shall consider the need for incapacitating the offender, deterring the offender and others from future crime, rehabilitating the offender, and making restitution to the victim of the offense, the public, or both.
While a court that imposes a sentence under R.C. Chapter 2929 has the discretion to determine the most effective manner in which to achieve this purpose, it must consider the factors set forth in R.C.
Appellant claims that length of his sentence is unwarranted because the victim did not suffer serious injury nor did appellant hold a position of trust. Moreover, he claims that his longstanding psychological and psychiatric problems militate against the sentence imposed when he could be a candidate for rehabilitation through the imposition of community controlled sanctions. We disagree.
There is nothing in the record to support that the trial court did not consider the factors set forth in R.C.
Appellant's second assignment of error is not well taken and is overruled.
It is ordered that appellee recover from appellant 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. The defendant's conviction having been affirmed, any bail pending appeal is terminated. Case remanded to the trial court for execution of sentence.
A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to Rule 27 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure.
____________________________ TIMOTHY E. McMONAGLE, JUDGE:
DIANE KARPINSKI, A.J. and JAMES J. SWEENEY, J., CONCUR.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.