State v. Walton, Unpublished Decision (01-23-2002)
State v. Walton, Unpublished Decision (01-23-2002)
Opinion of the Court
This cause was heard upon the record in the trial court. Each error assigned has been reviewed and the following disposition is made: Appellant-defendant Howard Walton appeals the order of the Medina County Court of Common Pleas convicting him of burglary and sentencing him to fourteen months in the Lorain Correctional Institution. This Court affirms.
A jury found Walton guilty of the lesser included offense of burglary in violation of R.C.
Walton timely appealed, and has set forth two assignments of error for review.
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN SENTENCING THE DEFENDANT-APPELLANT TO FOURTEEN MONTHS IN PRISON FOR A FELONY OF THE FOURTH DEGREE BECAUSE WHEN IT IMPOSED SENTENCE IT MADE A FINDING WHICH THE JURY HAD SPECIFICALLY REJECTED.
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN SENTENCING THE DEFENDANT-APPELLANT TO MORE THAN THE MINIMUM PRISON SENTENCE WHEN HE HAD NOT PREVIOUSLY SERVED A PRISON TERM.
In both assignments of error, Walton has argued that the trial court erred in imposing a prison sentence of fourteen months. For ease of discussion, both assignments of error will be addressed together.
Walton first assigns as error the fact that the trial court made a finding that the jury had rejected. Walton was indicted on one count of aggravated burglary. However, the jury found him guilty of the lesser included offense of burglary.
In order to find an individual guilty of aggravated burglary, the jury must find that the defendant inflicted, attempted or threatened to inflict physical harm on another. R.C.
Our standard of review is controlled by R.C.
This Court has previously set forth the process that a trial court must follow when sentencing one who has been convicted of a felony. State v.Halgrimson (Nov. 8, 2000), Lorain App. No. 99CA007389, unreported, appeal not allowed by (2001),
In sum, if a trial court finds that one of the factors listed in R.C.
A prison term may also be imposed when the trial court does not make a finding that at least one factor under R.C.
In this case, the trial court found that one of the factors listed in 2929.13(B), physical harm to a person, was present in the case. The court also found that a prison term was consistent with the terms of felony sentencing. After a review of Walton's criminal record, the trial court concluded that Walton was not amenable to community control. In addition, the trial court found that Walton's relationship with the victim facilitated the offense. R.C.
Assuming, without deciding, that the trial court erred in finding that physical harm to a person existed, such error would be harmless. Walton could have received a prison sentence based on the court's finding that Walton's relationship with the victim facilitated the offense and that Walton was not amenable to community control without a finding that one of the factors listed in 2929.13(B) existed. Sims, supra.
In his second assignment of error, Walton contends the trial court erred in sentencing him to more than the minimum prison sentence because he had not previously served a prison term.
R.C.
(A) * * * if the court imposing a sentence upon an offender for a felony elects or is required to impose a prison term on the offender pursuant to this chapter, the court shall impose a definite prison term that shall be one of the following:
* * *
(4) For a felony of the fourth degree, the prison term shall be six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, or eighteen months.
* * *
(B) * * * if the court imposing a sentence upon an offender for a felony elects or is required to impose a prison term on the offender and if the offender previously has not served a prison term, the court shall impose the shortest prison term authorized for the offense pursuant to division (A) of this section, unless the court finds on the record that the shortest prison term will demean the seriousness of the offender's conduct or will not adequately protect the public from future crime by the offender or others.
The Supreme Court of Ohio has interpreted this statute to require that unless a court imposes the shortest term authorized on a felony offender who has never served a prison term, the record of the sentencing hearing must reflect that the court found that either or both of the two statutorily sanctioned reasons for exceeding the minimum term in R.C.
The record reflects that the trial court considered the purposes of felony sentencing under R.C.
Judgment affirmed.
The Court finds that there were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
We order that a special mandate issue out of this Court, directing the Court of Common Pleas, County of Medina, State of Ohio, to carry this judgment into execution. A certified copy of this journal entry shall constitute the mandate, pursuant to App.R. 27.
Immediately upon the filing hereof, this document shall constitute the journal entry of judgment, and it shall be file stamped by the Clerk of the Court of Appeals at which time the period for review shall begin to run. App.R. 22(E).
Costs taxed to appellant.
Exceptions.
BATCHELDER, P.J., BAIRD, J., CONCUR.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.