State v. Morton, Unpublished Decision (2-28-2002)
State v. Morton, Unpublished Decision (2-28-2002)
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
Donald Morton, defendant-appellant, appeals from the judgments of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas in three separate cases that are consolidated for the purpose of review.On July 15, 1999, appellant entered a guilty plea to receiving stolen property, in violation of R.C.
The court granted appellant's Motion for Judicial Release in the receiving stolen property case on February 28, 2000. The prosecution did not oppose the motion. Further, execution of the seventeen-month sentence was suspended and appellant was placed on probation for a period of five years. In addition to general conditions of probation, the following special conditions were imposed: undergo intensive supervision; complete restitution to Budget Rental Car; pay court costs; perform eighty hours of community service; maintain verifiable employment and a verifiable address; complete a drug and alcohol assessment, as well as treatment and aftercare, if recommended; participate in random urine screens; and commit no new violations of law. A condition to pay child support, as ordered by the Franklin County Child Support Enforcement Agency, was added by an entry journalized on May 22, 2000.
On October 17, 2000, appellant entered a guilty plea to one count of forgery, in violation of R.C.
While subject to community control, appellant was arrested in connection with the theft of merchandise from a Kroger store on January 1, 2001. He was subsequently indicted on one count of theft, in violation of R.C.
Appellant entered a guilty plea to theft and stipulated the community control violations in the other cases. In separate sentencing entries, the court revoked probation on the receiving stolen property conviction, re-sentenced appellant on the forgery conviction and imposed sentence on the guilty plea to theft. The court ordered appellant to serve the balance of his seventeen-month sentence for receiving stolen property and imposed sentences of eleven months each at the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction for the forgery and theft offenses. The court ordered all three terms of incarceration to be served consecutively. Financial sanctions were also imposed, including: payment of court costs in the receiving stolen property case;4 restitution in a remaining balance to Budget Rental Car of $730; and restitution to Huntington National Bank in an amount still owed of $750.5
On appeal, appellant presents the following assignments of error challenging the sentences imposed by the trial court:
FIRST ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR:
The sentence imposed by the trial court was contrary to the sentencing criteria contained in R.C.
2929.14 (E).
SECOND ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR:
The trial court made erroneous findings as to the factors supporting consecutive terms of imprisonment.
THIRD ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR:
The trial court erred in ordering restitution in the absence of proof that Appellant's offenses posed a threat of personal injury or death to another.
In response to the first and second assignments of error, appellee concedes that the trial court failed to make the requisite findings to support the imposition of consecutive sentences. While the trial court has broad discretion when sentencing within the statutory limits provided, it must express findings on the record that give its reasons for selecting the sentences imposed and it must identify specific reasons to support the imposition of consecutive prison terms. State v. Norvett (Dec. 31, 2001), Franklin App. No. 01AP-572, unreported, at 2-4; and State v. Johnson (Jan. 30, 2001), Franklin App. No. 00AP-428, unreported, at 24. As appellee concedes, the requisite findings do not appear in the records of these cases and, therefore, the first and second assignments of error are sustained.
In considering appellant's third assignment of error, we must look to the statutes in effect on the dates of the respective offenses to decide if the imposition of restitution as a financial sanction was within the trial court's statutory authority. See State v. Morris (2001),
At the time of both offenses, a sentencing court could require payment of restitution "by the offender to the victim of the offender's crime * * * in an amount based on the victim's economic loss." R.C.
Each of the offenses to which appellant entered a guilty plea was an offense against property involving theft or fraud. There is no evidence in the record to show that appellant's conduct posed a threat of personal injury or death. Therefore, his conduct was not "criminally injurious conduct," as defined above. Effective March 23, 2000, the statutory provisions relating to a sentencing court's authority to order restitution as a financial sanction were amended so as to change the definition of "economic loss" to mean "any economic detriment suffered by a victim as a result of the commission of a felony." R.C.
We have consistently held with respect to offenses committed prior to the effective date of the statutory change in the definition of "economic loss," that the imposition of a restitution order as a financial sanction in sentencing was limited to crimes involving violence or the threat of violence. State v. Baire (Oct. 11, 2001), Franklin App. No. 01AP-309, unreported, at 14-15; citing State v. Ward (1999),
Having sustained all three assignments of error, the judgments of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas are reversed and these cases are remanded for re-sentencing consistent with this opinion.
Judgments reversed and causes remanded.
BRYANT and LAZARUS, JJ., concur.
McCORMAC, J., retired of the Tenth Appellate District, assigned to active duty under authority of Section
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