State v. Stevens, Unpublished Decision (2-7-2003)
State v. Stevens, Unpublished Decision (2-7-2003)
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
{¶ 1} Defendant, Kevin Stevens, appeals from a sentence of fourteen months incarceration, which the trial court imposed upon Defendant's conviction for receiving stolen property. R.C.{¶ 2} Defendant presents three interrelated assignments of error:
{¶ 6} Receiving stolen property, R.C.
{¶ 7} Defendant doesn't argue that the court imposed a sentence it was not authorized by law to impose. Neither does he argue procedural error. Rather, he argues that the court misapplied the factors which R.C.
{¶ 8} Our review of error of the kind Defendant assigns is governed by R.C.
{¶ 9} Defendant argues both points; that his sentence is contrary to law because it isn't supported by the trial court's findings. More specifically, Defendant complains that the trial court relied on uncharged criminal conduct to impose a prison term on a finding that the victim had suffered economic harm as a result of the Defendant's crime.
{¶ 10} Defendant was convicted of receiving stolen property in violation of R.C.
{¶ 11} When electing which of the available sentences to impose in relation to the seriousness of an offense, the court is charged by R.C.
{¶ 12} The property involved in this offense was an automobile. In addressing the statutory factor, the court stated:
{¶ 13} "Court: I'm looking at this offense, and considering the purpose of
{¶ 14} "Stevens: Yea, that stuff was done prior.
{¶ 15} "Court: MmmHmm.
{¶ 16} "Stevens: I didn't do anything.
{¶ 17} "Court: MmmHmm
{¶ 18} "Stevens: I only had the car like 30 minutes, if that.
{¶ 19} "Court: And I find nothing under the less serious items." (T.2-5).
{¶ 20} Defendant asserted shortly before this colloquy that he had "rented" the car from "a guy just from the neighborhood" and that "I didn't think it was hot because he had the keys to it and everything."Id. This protestation of innocence, which was made in the sentencing hearing, is belied if not wholly foreclosed by Defendant's guilty plea. The court properly rejected it, and went on to find that the owner of the car had suffered serious economic harm as a result of the offense, making the offense one that was more serious in relation to the sentence the court could impose. We cannot find that the record fails to support the trial court's finding. State v. Wallace.
{¶ 21} Defendant further contends that the court unduly expanded the serious economic harm factor in R.C.
{¶ 22} The court did not find that Defendant committed the damage to the victim's car. It found that the car had been damaged after it was stolen, increasingly the economic loss to the victim of the theft offense, who was by extension also the victim of Defendant's "receiving" offense. The damage compounded the economic harm the victim suffered from the theft itself, making Defendant's offense of "receiving" the car in that condition more serious than it would have been had the car not been damaged. We cannot find that the court's conclusion is unsupported by the record.
{¶ 23} The assignments of error are overruled. The judgment of the trial court will be affirmed.
BROGAN, J. and YOUNG, J., concur.
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