State v. Ohio, Unpublished Decision (5-29-2003)
State v. Ohio, Unpublished Decision (5-29-2003)
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 2} The defendant was indicted on one count of robbery in violation of R.C.
{¶ 3} "I. The trial court subjected defendant-appellant to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Ohio and United States Constitutions when it sentenced him to four (4) years incarceration."
{¶ 4} "II. The sentence imposed by the trial court upon the defendant should be reversed and decreased pursuant to Ohio Revised Code R.C.
{¶ 5} Having a common basis in law and fact, we address together the defendant's interrelated assignments of error. The defendant challenges the trial court's imposition of a prison term exceeding the minimum in the absence of an adult criminal record. The defendant alleges that the trial court failed to make all of the required findings and that the findings that the court did make are unsupported by the record. The defendant specifically maintains that his sentence is so greatly disproportionate to the offense to which he pled, so as to "shock the sense of justice of the community." We disagree.
{¶ 6} R.C.
{¶ 7} "(A) Except as provided in division (C), (D)(1), (D)(2), (D)(3), (D)(4), or (G) of this section and except in relation to an offense for which a sentence of death or life imprisonment is to be imposed, 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 and is not prohibited by division (G)(1) of section
{¶ 8} "* * * (3) states: `For a felony of the third degree, the prison term shall be one, two, three, four, or five years* * *'"
{¶ 9} The trial court did not sentence the defendant to the minimum prison term, but instead imposed a four-year term of incarceration. Therefore, because the defendant had not served a prior prison term, the trial court was required to make a finding 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." R.C.
{¶ 10} "* * * Now, certainly for the reasons that I have set forth on the record, that you have caused serious physical harm, you have a prior adjudication and history of delinquency, in addition to that there was serious harm caused to this young man, and you were a group of people out of control, you were part of a group of people out of control beating a helpless young child while he was held down to the ground, I am going to make a finding that the shortest term of imprisonment demeans the seriousness of the crime and the shortest term of imprisonment will not adequately protect the public from the offender or others.
{¶ 11} "Certainly the Court can make a finding that you committed the worst form of the offense. I don't know any worse form other than to hold a child down who is disabled and beat him senseless.
{¶ 12} "However * * * I am willing to make redemption.***I am not going to impose the maximum sentence * * *" (T. 25-26).
{¶ 13} In this case, the trial court complied with R.C.
{¶ 14} "What you were doing was getting in that car to go seek your own vigilantly justice because you thought the victim in this case should not have been picking on [the co-defendant's] little brother (sic.) So you thought you would take matters into your own hands." (T. 23) We find that the trial court complied with the mandates of R.C.
{¶ 15} The defendant's final contention is that his sentence is inconsistent with sentences for similar crimes committed by similar offenders pursuant to R.C.
{¶ 16} "does not require the trial court to engage in an analysis on the record to determine whether defendants who have committed similar crimes have received similar punishments. Rather, the statute indicates the trial court's comments made at the hearing should reflect the court considered that aspect of the statutory purpose in fashioning the appropriate sentence. State v. Edmonson (1999),
{¶ 17} We find that the trial court's comments made at the hearing reflect that the court considered the appropriate aspects of the statutory purpose in fashioning the defendant's sentence.
Judgment affirmed.
FRANK D. CELEBREZZE, JR., J., AND ANTHONY O. CALABRESE, JR., J., CONCUR.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.