State v. Campbell, Unpublished Decision (10-26-2007)
State v. Campbell, Unpublished Decision (10-26-2007)
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 2} Campbell was convicted in 2002 upon guilty pleas to child endangering and rape. He did not timely appeal his convictions. Instead, between 2003 and 2005, he sought leave to file a delayed appeal and twice sought relief from his convictions under R.C.
{¶ 3} In 2006, Campbell filed with the common pleas court a "Motion to Vacate Void Sentence * * * As Permitted by Civ.R. 60(B)(5), Incorporated by * * * Crim.R. 57(B)." In his motion, Campbell cited the United States Supreme Court's decisions in Apprendi v. New Jersey,1 Blakely v.Washington,2 and United States v. Booker,3 as well as the Ohio Supreme Court's 2006 decision in State v. Foster,4 in support of his contention that the trial court, by sentencing him to nonminimum prison terms, had denied him the right to a jury trial guaranteed under the
{¶ 4} Campbell presents on appeal two assignments of error that, when reduced to their essence, challenge the court's judgment overruling his Civ.R. 60(B) motion. The challenge is untenable.
{¶ 6} We decided Perdue in the wake of the Ohio Supreme Court's decision in State v. Bush.7 In Bush, the supreme court held that a court, confronted with a collateral challenge to a criminal conviction in "an irregular `no-name' motion," that is, a motion that fails to delineate a statute or rule under which relief may be granted, must "classify" or "categorize" the motion "to know the criteria by which the motion should be judged. "8
{¶ 7} Perdue had moved to "[c]orrect" his sentences "pursuant to * * * Criminal Rule 57." The common pleas court construed Perdue's motion as a petition for postconviction relief under RC.
{¶ 8} Unlike Perdue, Campbell did not seek relief from his sentences in a "no-name" motion. Instead, like the defendant in our earlier decision in State v. Lehrfeld,9 Campbell unambiguously invoked Civ.R 60(B). In Lehrfeld, we relied upon Civ.R. 57(B) to reject the state's blanket assertion that Civ.R 60(B) could not afford a criminal defendant relief from a judgment of conviction.10 And applying Bush, we rejected the *Page 4
state's suggestion that the common pleas court could have recast and reviewed Lehrfeld's Civ.R. 60(B) motion as a postconviction petition under RC.
{¶ 9} This issue, whether a common pleas court may recast a Civ.R. 60(B) motion as an R.C.
{¶ 11} Civ.R 60(B)(5) permits a court to grant relief from a judgment for "any * * * reason justifying relief," upon a motion filed within "a reasonable time." The defendant in State v. Lehrfeld sought Civ.R 60(B) relief on the ground that the trial court, in sentencing him to community control, had failed as required by RC.
{¶ 12} In contrast, Campbell, sentenced four years before the decision in Foster, could not have presented a Foster-based challenge either in a timely appeal as of right16 or in a postconviction petition.17 Because the criminal rules provide no procedure for mounting aFoster challenge after the time has expired for filing an appeal as of right or a postconviction petition, we hold that Crim.R. 57(B) permitted Campbell to avail himself of the procedure afforded by Civ.R. 60(B) to raise his Foster claim.18
{¶ 14} As a general rule, a trial court has no jurisdiction to reconsider a final judgment of conviction. But it does retain jurisdiction to correct a void sentence,19 because "[t] he effect of determining that a judgment is void is * * * as though such proceedings had never occurred; the judgment is a mere nullity and the parties are in the same position as if there had been no judgment."20
{¶ 15} The supreme court in Foster applied Apprendi, Blakely, andBooker to declare unconstitutional, and to excise from the Revised Code, those portions of the *Page 6 sentencing statutes that created the presumption of a minimum sentence and that required judicial factfinding to overcome the presumption.21 The court held that the defendants' sentences, imposed under statutes deemed unconstitutional, were void. The "ordinary" remedy, the court stated, was to vacate the "void" sentence and remand to the trial court for a new sentencing hearing.22 But the court, declaring itself constrained by the United States Supreme Court's "mandate" in Booker, limited this remedy to "cases on direct review. "23
{¶ 16} More recently, in State v. Payne, the supreme court effectively conceded its error in characterizing as "void" a sentence imposed under a statute declared unconstitutional in Foster.24 The court noted the distinction between a "void sentence * * * that a court imposes despite lacking subject-matter jurisdiction or the authority to act" and a "voidable sentence * * * that a court has jurisdiction to impose, but * * * impose[s] irregularly or erroneously."25 The court determined that a "pre-Foster" sentence within the statutory range, imposed by a trial court with subject-matter and personal jurisdiction, but under an unconstitutional statute, constituted an "erroneous exercise of trial court jurisdiction" and thus was "voidable."26 The court then went on to reaffirm Foster's remedy, holding that a "defendant with a voidable sentence [under Foster was] entitled to resentencing[,] [but] only upon a successful challenge on direct appeal."27
{¶ 18} Campbell's incarceration under sentences imposed under unconstitutional statutes might well provide a "reason justifying relief from" those sentences. But the supreme court's decisions inFoster and Payne preclude him from claiming an entitlement to the remedy of resentencing. Therefore, we cannot say that the trial court, in overruling Campbell's Civ.R. 60(B)(5) motion, abused its discretion. Accordingly, we overrule the assignments of error and affirm the court's judgment.
Judgment affirmed.
DlNKELACKER AND WlNKLER, JJ., CONCUR.
RALPH WINKLER, retired, from the First Appellate District, sitting by assignment.
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