State v. Yodice, Unpublished Decision (12-31-2002)
State v. Yodice, Unpublished Decision (12-31-2002)
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 2} On March 3, 2000, the grand jury indicted appellant with the following charges: two counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor, in violation of R.C.
{¶ 3} On March 1, 2001, appellant filed a motion to dismiss asserting that venue was improper because if any crimes were committed, they occurred in New Jersey. Thereafter, on March 14, 2001, he filed a supplemental motion to dismiss claiming that R.C.
{¶ 4} A sexual predator classification hearing was held on July 30, 2001, where the court found by clear and convincing evidence that appellant was a sexual predator. On August 7, 2001, appellant was sentenced to a term of one year on counts one through six and post release control up to a maximum of five years. Appellant timely filed the instant appeal and now assigns the following as error:
{¶ 5} "[1.] Evidence is insufficient, as a matter of law, to prove by clear and convincing evidence that appellant is likely to engage in the future in one or more sexually oriented offenses.
{¶ 6} "[2.] The provisions contained [in] R.C. 2950 are unconstitutional under Section
{¶ 7} "[3.] O.R.C. 2950 as applied to appellant constitutes double jeopardy, in violation of the
{¶ 8} "[4.] The court erred in not finding that the six indictments were allied offenses.
{¶ 9} "[5.] The motion to dismiss should have been granted on the grounds that these statutes are void for vagueness and overbreadth as it relates to digital images transferred over the Internet."
{¶ 10} Under the first assignment of error, appellant argues that the evidence was insufficient to prove by clear and convincing evidence that he was a sexual predator as the state did not prove that he was likely to engage in one or more sexually oriented offenses in the future.
{¶ 11} We do not apply a de novo standard of review when reviewing a sexual predator determination; instead, we examine whether the trial court's determination was against the manifest weight of the evidence.State v. Davis (Apr. 19, 2002), 11th Dist. No. 2000-L-190, 2002 WL 603061, at 2.
{¶ 12} In making a sexual predator determination, the trial court must identify the factors under R.C.
{¶ 13} To adjudicate a defendant as a sexual predator, the trial court need not find that a majority of these factors support such a determination; rather, the defendant may be so adjudicated even if only one or two of these factors are present, so long as the totality of the circumstances provides clear and convincing evidence that the defendant is likely to commit a sexually-oriented offense in the future. Id., citing State v. Clutter (Jan. 28, 2000), 4th Dist. No. 99CA19, 2000 WL 134730, at 3. See, also, R.C.
{¶ 14} The Supreme Court of Ohio has held that a single sexually oriented conviction alone may support a sexual predator adjudication.State v. Eppinger (2001),
{¶ 15} Here, appellant argues that clear and convincing evidence did not exist to support a finding that he was a sexual predator. As support for this assertion, appellant points out that he was thirty-nine years of age, had no prior criminal record, there was no victim in the case as the charge concerned digital images, there were no drugs and alcohol involved, appellant did not suffer from any mental illness or disability, and he did not intend to engage in criminal sexual conduct.
{¶ 16} Appellant argues that the state relied heavily on the nature of the offenses previously pled to in order to justify the sexual predator classification. Appellant argues that a trial court cannot find a defendant to be a sexual predator based strictly on facts surrounding the underlying crime. This is simply incorrect because as previously stated, the underlying facts of an offense may be sufficiently egregious that an offender may be determined to be a sexual predator based only on those circumstances.
{¶ 17} The state conceded that appellant had no prior criminal record. However, the state claims that there were minor victims in the case because the images transferred involved minors ranging from an infant to age ten or twelve. Furthermore, the psychologist for the Lake County Court of Common Pleas testified that appellant did have a mental illness or disability. The psychologist stated that appellant qualified for pedophilia, nonexclusive to children, and there was pattern of abuse because there was "a pattern of obsessionally engaging in contact with people (apparently children and adults) through e-mail and chat rooms regarding sexual issues as well as masturbating to pornography and during chats with other adults while on-line, and sending pornography to other people (children and adults)." Further, the psychologist noted that appellant took very little accountability for his offending behaviors and was in denial and rationalized his behaviors. The psychologist, therefore, recommended that appellant "clinically poses a high risk to commit a sexual offense similar to the one that he has committed here in the instant offense." He added that appellant posed a "low to moderate risk to commit a hands on sexual offense." Therefore, the psychologist concluded that appellant posed "a low to medium risk overall of sexual re-offending."
{¶ 18} In the case at bar, appellant was communicating via the Internet over the course of several weeks with someone whom he thought was a thirteen-year-old teenage girl. During the numerous times he communicated with "this girl," who turned out to be a male detective from Lake County, he transmitted images which contained child pornography to "her." Furthermore, appellant's inability to acknowledge the extent and severity of his underlying sexual offense provides clear and convincing evidence that he is likely to engage in the future in one or more sexually oriented offenses. After reviewing the record and weighing the evidence and all reasonable inferences, we cannot conclude that the trial court lost its way. While the psychological evaluation was of the opinion that appellant would be at low to moderate risk to commit a sexual offense in the future, the totality of the circumstances support the trial court's conclusion that appellant was a sexual predator. Therefore, the trial court's designation of appellant as a sexual predator is supported by clear and convincing evidence. Appellant's first assignment of error is meritless.
{¶ 19} For his second assignment of error, appellant contends that the provisions contained in R.C. Chapter 2950 are unconstitutional as they are unreasonable and, thereby, constitute an invalid exercise of police power. In the third assignment of error, appellant alleges that R.C. Chapter 2950 as applied to appellant constitutes double jeopardy, in violation of the
{¶ 20} With regard to appellant's constitutional arguments, each of them has been considered and rejected by the Supreme Court of Ohio. State v. Williams (2000),
{¶ 21} Appellant's arguments regarding due process and fundamental rights have been expressly rejected by the Supreme Court of Ohio inWilliams,
{¶ 22} For his third assignment of error, appellant claims that R.C. Chapter 2950 is unconstitutional because it violates the Double Jeopardy Clause of the
{¶ 23} Under the fourth assignment of error, appellant asserts that the trial court erred in not finding that the six counts in the indictment were allied offenses.
{¶ 24} Appellant's argument fails because the offenses were committed separately and with a separate animus. R.C.
{¶ 25} In the case at bar, the indictment alleged that three of the offenses occurred on August 17, 1999, one offense was committed on August 19, 1999, one offense took place on August 24, 1999, and the final offense happened on September 30, 1999. Therefore, there were separate times involved and the images involved different children engaged in various acts. Since appellant committed the same offense against different victims, a separate animus exists for each offense for purposes of determining whether multiple convictions are permissible. Since each constitutes a separate crime with a separate animus, they do not constitute allied offenses of similar import. State v. Sanchez (Apr. 9, 1999), 11th Dist. No. 98-A-0006, 1999 WL 270055, at 6. Here, since appellant victimized different children, his crimes were separate and he could have been sentenced on each of them. Appellant's fourth assignment of error is overruled.
{¶ 26} In his final assignment of error, appellant posits that his motion to dismiss should have been granted because the statutes under which he was charged were void for vagueness and overbreadth as they relate to digital images transferred over the Internet. Specifically, appellant is challenging the constitutionality of R.C.
{¶ 27} However, this argument must also fail because appellant entered a plea of guilty to the charges. By pleading guilty, appellant has waived his right to challenge the court's ruling on his motion to dismiss.1 Once the trial court accepted the guilty plea, appellant waived any deprivation of his constitutional rights that occurred prior to the entry of the guilty plea. See Spates,
{¶ 28} For the foregoing reasons, appellant's assignments of error are not well-taken. The judgment of the Lake County Court of Common Pleas is affirmed.
WILLIAM M. O'NEILL, P.J., and DIANE V. GRENDELL, J., concur.
"As was noted above, after his motion to dismiss had been denied, appellant decided to enter a plea of guilty as to all pending charges. In considering the effect of pleading guilty, this court has expressly held that a criminal defendant's admission of guilt in open court constitutes a waiver of his right to challenge on appeal the merits of any action taken by the trial court previously in the case, unless that action affected the propriety of the plea itself. *** This holding is predicated upon the fact that a plea of guilty `"represents a break in the chain of events, which has preceded it in the criminal process."' "*** Moreover, it has also been held that the rule covers any alleged error concerning the indictment in a case. ***."
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