State v. Caddy, Unpublished Decision (8-11-2006)
State v. Caddy, Unpublished Decision (8-11-2006)
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 2} A police investigation into Everson's death continued until May, 2005. During the investigation, Detective Daryl Smith learned that Everson arrived in Dayton on August 8, 2004 after leaving his home in Minnesota and traveling to Bennetsville, South Carolina, and Coshocton and Zanesville, Ohio. Smith obtained Everson's medical records and interviewed his family members to determine if Everson had a pre-existing kidney condition, and he also interviewed people Everson visited en route to Dayton, to determine if Everson suffered blunt force injuries prior to his arrival here. Blood and soil samples from Caddy's home were submitted for DNA analysis, and information on Caddy's computer was also submitted to a computer forensics analyst. Information on Caddy's computer revealed that he and Everson had entered into a master and slave relationship in which Everson was the slave. Everson "was to submit to physical torture * * * in the form of [b]eatings and rough sex" at Caddy's whim.
{¶ 3} After the investigation, on May 12, 2005, a Montgomery County Grand Jury indicted Caddy on one count of reckless homicide, in violation of R.C.
{¶ 4} A jury trial began on August 30, 2005, and at the end of the day, Caddy entered pleas of no contest to all three charges and the trial court found him guilty of each charge. The trial court sentenced Caddy on September 13, 2005 to five years on the reckless homicide charge, to be served consecutively with a one year sentence on the gross abuse of a corpse charge, and concurrently with an eight month sentence on the possession of criminal tools charge. Fines were imposed but the trial court suspended them. The trial court ordered restitution in the amount of $1860.82 to be paid to the victim's family and in the amount of $7500.00 to be paid to the State of Ohio.
{¶ 5} Caddy asserts three assignments of error. Caddy's first assignment of error is as follows:
{¶ 6} "THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT DENIED DEFENDANT-APPELLANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS THE CHARGE OF RECKLESS HOMICIDE BASED ON DEFENDANT-APPELLANT'S CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO A SPEEDY TRIAL."
{¶ 7} "[I]n issuing a second indictment against [a] defendant, the state [is] not subject to the speedy-trial limits of the original indictment, [where] the subsequent charges [are] based on new and additional facts which the state had no knowledge of at the time of the original indictment. Additional crimes based on different facts should not be considered as arising from the same sequence of events for the purposes of speedy-trial computation." State v. Baker (1997),
{¶ 8} Caddy asserts that "the State had all the evidence needed to indict the Defendant-Appellant on a charge of reckless homicide prior to the initial indictment." We disagree. Everson's cause of death was unknown until the Coroner's office completed the autopsy and issued a report in November, 2004, and the State accordingly did not know which, if any, type of homicide charge to pursue at the time of the original indictment. While Caddy acknowledged killing someone, it was unknown to the State whether Everson's death was accidental, a result of self-defense, or due to some form of manslaughter or murder. Even after the Coroner determined that Everson's death was a homicide, further investigation was required before the State could determine the circumstances of Everson's death and that Caddy, and not some other person, was responsible. Accordingly, pursuant to Baker, Caddy's speedy trial time pertaining to the reckless homicide charge began to run on May 12, 2005, when he was indicted on that charge, and his right to a speedy trial was not violated. Caddy's first assignment of error is overruled.
{¶ 9} We will address Caddy's second and third assignments of error together. They are as follows:
{¶ 10} "THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WITH IT IMPOSED MAXIMUM SENTENCES ON THE DEFENDANT-APPELLANT."
{¶ 11} and
{¶ 12} "THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT IMPOSED CONSECUTIVE SENTENCES ON THE DEFENDANT-APPELLANT."
{¶ 13} The State correctly concedes that, due to recent changes in Ohio's felony sentencing scheme, Caddy must be resentenced on the charges of reckless homicide and gross abuse of a corpse. The Ohio Supreme Court determined that R.C.
{¶ 14} State v. Foster,
Reversed and remanded for re-sentencing.
Wolff, J. and Fain, J., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- State of Ohio v. Matthew Morgan Caddy
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Unpublished