State v. Neville, Unpublished Decision (12-8-2004)
State v. Neville, Unpublished Decision (12-8-2004)
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant Edward James Neville appeals the decision of the Belmont County Common Pleas Court denying his motion for 146 days of jail time credit. The issue raised in this appeal is whether the trial court erred when it failed to count the 114 days Neville spent in jail in Pennsylvania while awaiting extradition towards his twelve-month sentence. For the reasons stated below, the trial court erred in failing to grant Neville credit for the 114 days he was confined in Pennsylvania awaiting extradition. Thus, the decision of the trial court is reversed.{¶ 3} On September 12, 2002, Neville pled guilty to both counts. Pending sentencing, he was released on a personal recognizance bond. Neville fled the State of Ohio and failed to appear at the sentencing hearing. A capias was issued and Neville was ultimately arrested in Pennsylvania on April 23, 2003. Neville was held in Pennsylvania awaiting extradition until August 14, 2003.
{¶ 4} On September 2, 2003, Neville was sentenced to six months for the Harassment by an Inmate charge and six months for the Vandalism charge. The trial court ordered the sentences to be served consecutive to each other. (09/02/03 Journal Entries). The trial court, at that time, granted Neville a total of 54 days credit for time served "together with future days while defendant awaits transportation to the appropriate institution." (09/02/03 Journal Entries). This amounted to 60 days for time served.
{¶ 5} On September 17, 2003, Neville filed a motion with the trial court requesting credit for an additional 146 days served. The motion did not contain a request for a hearing. The state filed a response claiming that credit for the additional days was not warranted. On October 6, 2003, the trial court overruled Neville's motion without holding a hearing. Neville appeals from that ruling raising one assignment of error.
{¶ 7} Neville argues that the trial court incorrectly calculated the number of days to be credited to his prison time. The basis of his argument is that pursuant to R.C.
{¶ 8} The record is clear that Neville did not request a stay of execution of his prison sentence pending appeal, and that his sentence was due to be complete in July 2004. Since Neville has completed his sentence this raises a question as to whether the appeal is now moot.
{¶ 9} As we have explained in prior cases, typically appeals challenging a felony conviction are not moot even if the entire sentence has been served before the appeal is decided because there are many adverse collateral disabilities that accompany a felony conviction even after the sentence has been served. Statev. Verdream, 7th Dist. No. 02CA222,
{¶ 10} Our rationale for holding the Verdream appeal moot equally applies to the instant matter where the sentence has been served and the only issue on appeal is whether the trial court improperly calculated jail time credit. Thus, this appeal is moot. Nonetheless, a court may decide the issues raised where the issues are capable of repetition, yet evade review. State v.Fox, 3d Dist. No. 16-2000-17, 2001-Ohio-2116, citing State exrel. Beacon Journal Publishing Co. v. Donaldson (1992),
{¶ 11} Sentencing issues raised in appeals of fourth and fifth degree felonies are capable of repetition, yet evade review. Fox, 3d Dist. No. 16-2000-17. Thus, they may be addressed. Likewise, fourth and fifth degree felony sentences where the issue concerns credit for time served awaiting extradition are also issues capable of repetition, yet evade review. For these reasons, this court is vested with jurisdiction to address the merits of Neville's assignment of error.
{¶ 12} As aforementioned, Neville's argument is that the trial court erred in calculating credit for time served pursuant to R.C.
{¶ 13} In addressing the trial court's obligation to properly calculate credit for time served pursuant to R.C.
{¶ 14} "It is the trial court's responsibility to properly calculate the amount of days for which such credit may be given.State v. Carroll, 5th Dist. No. 01CA48, 2002-Ohio-764, citingState ex rel. Corder v. Wilson (1991),
{¶ 15} "R.C.
{¶ 16} "`[B]y the total number of days that the prisoner was confined for any reason arising out of the offense for which the prisoner was convicted and sentenced, including confinement in lieu of bail while awaiting trial, confinement for examination to determine the prisoner's competence to stand trial or sanity, and confinement while awaiting transportation to the place where the prisoner is to serve [his] prison term.'
{¶ 17} "* * *
{¶ 18} "R.C.
{¶ 19} The state argues that R.C.
{¶ 20} We find this argument unpersuasive. R.C.
{¶ 21} Neville contends that his Pennsylvania confinement arose out of the offense, i.e. harassment and vandalism, for which he was convicted and sentenced. The state disagrees and argues that absconding from Ohio's jurisdiction was independent and unrelated to the harassment and vandalism charges and sentences. The state analogizes the case at hand to State exrel. Gillen v. Ohio Adult Parole Auth.,
{¶ 22} Neville did abscond from Ohio's jurisdiction. However, his stay in a Pennsylvania county jail was related only to the fact that a capias was issued because he failed to appear for the sentencing on the harassment and vandalism cases. The record is devoid of any indication that he was arrested for any other reason than because a capias was issued for his arrest. The sole reason for his stay in Pennsylvania was for failing to appear at the vandalism and harassment sentencing hearing.
{¶ 23} Considering the above facts and R.C.
{¶ 24} "[B]efore or after conviction, the accused may be released on his own recognizance. A failure to appear as required by such recognizance shall constitute an offense subject to the penalty provided in section
{¶ 25} R.C.
{¶ 26} Furthermore, despite the state's insistence, this case is not similar to the Gillen case. In Gillen, Gillen
claimed credit under R.C.
{¶ 27} As previously stated, the record is devoid of any indication that Neville was arrested for any other reason than for his failure to appear in Ohio for sentencing. Furthermore, the record is devoid of any indication that Neville was charged with failure to appear. Thus, he was entitled to credit for the 114 days he remained confined in Pennsylvania awaiting extradition. The trial court erred in denying his motion for credit for time served.
{¶ 28} Additionally, Neville also finds fault with the trial court's failure to hold a hearing on his motion for credit for time served. This argument fails for two reasons. First, there is no requirement that the trial court must hold a hearing on this type of motion. See Crim. R. 47. Second, the motion did not contain a request for a hearing. Thus, the trial court did not error in failing to hold a hearing.
{¶ 29} For the foregoing reasons, the trial court erred in denying Neville's motion for credit for time served. Thus, the trial court's decision is reversed. Unfortunately, since Neville's sentence has already been served in its entirety, this ruling has no affect on him.
Waite, P.J., concurs.
Donofrio, J., concurs.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- State of Ohio v. Edward James Neville
- Cited By
- 8 cases
- Status
- Unpublished