State v. Williams, Unpublished Decision (5-31-2002)
State v. Williams, Unpublished Decision (5-31-2002)
Opinion of the Court
Williams was a participant in a robbery during which the victim was shot. Williams was indicted on one count of aggravated robbery, R.C.
Williams entered guilty pleas to both charges pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement. In exchange, the State dismissed the gun specifications. The trial court sentenced Williams to five years imprisonment on the aggravated robbery and four years on the felonious assault, the sentences to run concurrently.
Williams has timely appealed to this court from his conviction and sentence.
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY FAILING TO GIVE THE MANDATORY NOTIFICATIONS REQUIRED BY O.R.C.2929.19 (B)(3) TO DEFENDANT, JOSEPH R. WILLIAMS, AT THE SENTENCING HEARING.
R.C.
Subject to division (B)(4) of this section, if the sentencing court determines at the sentencing hearing that a prison term is necessary or required, the court shall do all of the following:
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(b) Notify the offender that, as part of the sentence, the parole board may extend the stated prison term for certain violations of prison rules for up to one-half of the stated prison term;
(c) Notify the offender that the offender will be supervised under section
2967.28 of the Revised Code after the offender leaves prison if the offender is being sentenced for a felony of the first degree or second degree, for a felony sex offense, or for a felony of the third degree in the commission of which the offender caused or threatened to cause physical harm to a person;
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(e) Notify the offender that, if a period of supervision is imposed following the offender's release from prison, as described in division (B)(3)(c) or (d) of this section, and if the offender violates that supervision or a condition of post-release control imposed under division (B) of section
2967.131 of the Revised Code, the parole board may impose a prison term, as part of the sentence, of up to one-half of the stated prison term originally imposed upon the offender;(f) Require that the offender not ingest or be injected with a drug of abuse and submit to random drug testing as provided in section
341.26 ,753.33 , or5120.63 of the Revised Code, whichever is applicable to the offender who is serving a prison term, and require that the results of the drug test administered under any of those sections indicate that the offender did not ingest or was not injected with a drug of abuse.
Pursuant to R.C.
In State v. McDargh, supra, we disposed of this same claim in the following manner:
Appellant does not indicate how he was prejudiced by the trial court's failure to comply with the requirements of R.C.
2929.19 (B)(3)(f).R.C.
5120.63 (B) requires that the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections establish and administer a statewide random drug testing program in state correctional institutions. Nothing in R.C.2929.19 (B)(3)(f) requires the trial court to notify the defendant that he may be subjected to random drug testing while the defendant is incarcerated.The same rationale applies here. The requirements which R.C.
2929.19 (B)(3)(f) imposes were intended to facilitate drug testing of prisoners in state institutions by discouraging a defendant who is sentenced to a prison term from using drugs. If a defendant at that point is incarcerated, as almost all defendants are, the utility of this admonition is elusive, at best. However, the General Assembly has come to favor such prescriptions imposed by statute on the judicial branch, and the courts of this state are instructed to give them the utmost deference whether they are sensible or not. Even so, in this particular instance the court's failure to comply with the statutory requirement is harmless error because Defendant Dixon suffered no prejudice to his rights as a result.
State v. Leonard Dixon (Dec. 28, 2001), Clark App. No. 01CA17, unreportedat 15-16.
Williams, likewise, has failed to offer any explanation of how he wasprejudiced by the trial court's failure to comply with R.C.
THE TRIAL COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION BY FAILING TO GIVE SUFFICIENT CONSIDERATION TO THE MITIGATING FACTORS SET FORTH IN O.R.C.Williams complains that the trial court abused its discretion when itimposed on him a like five year prison sentence imposed on hisco-defendant, Adrian Burke, because the trial court failed to giveadequate consideration to certain mitigating factors: that Williams hadno prior convictions as an adult, that he was not the shooter, and thathe is remorseful for his actions. The permissible sentencing range for aggravated robbery, a first degreefelony, is 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 years. R.C.2929.12 WHEN SENTENCING MR. WILLIAMS.
The second assignment of error is overruled. The judgment of the trial court will be affirmed.
WOLFF, P.J. and YOUNG, J., concur.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.