State v. Johnson, Unpublished Decision (3-25-2002)
State v. Johnson, Unpublished Decision (3-25-2002)
Opinion of the Court
On March 2, 2001, appellant phoned Dr. Thomas Nymberg, informed him that her husband was suffering from a toothache, and requested that Dr. Nymberg phone in a prescription for a painkiller and an antibiotic. Dr. Nymberg did so and appellant picked up the prescriptions. When appellant's husband was interviewed three days later by a detective with the Warren County Drug Task Force, he stated that he was not suffering from any dental pain and had neither requested nor received the prescriptions.
On March 5, 2001, appellant went to the office of Dr. Bradley Monti, and posed as "Lori Johnson," her mother-in-law. She alleged to be suffering from dental pain, and Dr. Monti prescribed an antibiotic and a painkiller for her. Appellant filled the prescriptions at a Thriftway pharmacy. Later that day, appellant phoned Dr. Monti, told him that she had lost the prescriptions, and asked that he phone in the prescriptions to the Meijer pharmacy. Appellant went to the Meijer pharmacy and picked up the prescriptions. She was stopped by store security when she was observed concealing the medications in her purse and discarding the empty prescription containers. Security called the West Chester Police Department.
Appellant was charged with theft of drugs, a fourth-degree felony, and three counts of using deception to obtain drugs, fifth-degree felonies. At the time of the charges, appellant was under community control sanctions stemming from other drug-related offenses committed in Butler County. Based on her convictions, community control violation and revocation proceedings commenced. Appellant admitted to the probation violations and the trial court proceeded to sentence her.
Appellant pled guilty to all of the counts and was sentenced to serve seventeen months for the fourth-degree felony charge of theft of drugs. Consecutive to this, she was sentenced to concurrent, eleven-month prison terms on each of the three counts of using deception to obtain drugs, fifth-degree felonies. She appeals the sentences, raising three assignments of error.
Assignment of Error No. 1:
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED TO THE PREJUDICE OF DEFENDANT-APPELLANT BY FAILING TO SENTENCE HER TO THE MINIMUM PRISON TERMS FOR HER OFFENSES.
A trial court must impose the minimum prison term for an offender who, like appellant, has not previously served a prison term unless it finds on the record either that a minimum sentence would demean the seriousness of the offender's conduct or would not adequately protect the public from future crime by the offender or others. R.C.
The trial court specifically found in its judgment entry sentencing appellant that "the shortest prison term will demean the seriousness of the defendant's conduct; and the shortest prison term will not adequately protect the public from future crime by the defendant[.]" The trial court made the same findings on the record at the sentencing hearing and, although not required to do so, provided supporting reasons for its decision: appellant had a prior record of drug offenses, and had failed to respond favorably to community control sanctions in those cases. Additionally, appellant was convicted of similar charges in Hamilton and Warren Counties, and was under community control sanctions in all three counties for these offenses.
Accordingly, we find that the trial court's decision to sentence appellant to a term greater than the minimum prison term is supported by the record and is not contrary to law. The assignment of error is overruled.
Assignment of Error No. 2:
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED TO THE PREJUDICE OF DEFENDANT-APPELLANT BY IMPOSING CONSECUTIVE TERMS OF IMPRISONMENT WHICH SENTENCE WAS CONTRARY TO LAW.
Pursuant to R.C.
(a) The offender committed the multiple offenses while the offender was awaiting trial or sentencing, was under a sanction imposed pursuant to section
2929.16 ,2929.17 , or2929.18 of the Revised Code, or was under post-release control for a prior offense.(b) The harm caused by the multiple offenses was so great or unusual that no single prison term for any of the offenses committed as part of a single course of conduct adequately reflects the seriousness of the offender's conduct.
(c) The offender's history of criminal conduct demonstrates that consecutive sentences are necessary to protect the public from future crime by the offender.
R.C.
In the present case, the trial court first noted that consecutive sentences were necessary to protect the public from future crime and to punish appellant. The trial court also observed that consecutive sentences were not disproportionate to the seriousness of appellant's conduct and to the danger she posed to the public. Such findings satisfied the initial requirements of R.C.
We therefore conclude that the trial court made the necessary statutory findings for the imposition of consecutive sentences. The second assignment of error is overruled.
Assignment of Error No. 3:
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED TO THE PREJUDICE OF DEFENDANT-APPELLANT BY SENTENCING HER TO CONSECUTIVE TERMS OF IMPRISONMENT FOR OFFENSES ARISING OUT OF A SINGLE INCIDENT WHICH CONSECUTIVE TERMS AMOUNTED TO MORE THAN THE MINIMUM PRISON TERM FOR THE OFFENSE OF THE HIGHEST DEGREE.
In her final assignment of error, appellant contends that the trial court was required to make maximum sentence findings pursuant to R.C.
R.C.
Some courts have interpreted R.C.
In the present case, appellant was sentenced on separate, multiple offenses, which arose out of separate incidents. She was not sentenced to a maximum term on any one offense. Accordingly, R.C.
Judgment affirmed.
POWELL and VALEN, JJ., concur.
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