State v. Tabor, 07ap-267 (10-30-2007)
State v. Tabor, 07ap-267 (10-30-2007)
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
{¶ 1} Appellant, Tony A. Tabor ("appellant"), filed this appeal seeking reversal of a judgment by the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas imposing a prison sentence for a community control violation. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the trial court's judgment.{¶ 2} In case No. 05CR-2322, appellant was indicted on four counts: Counts One and Two alleged that appellant committed robbery in violation of R.C.
{¶ 3} Appellant pled guilty to Counts One and Three. The trial court sentenced him to a period not to exceed six months to be served at the Franklin County Community Based Correctional Facility, and also imposed five years of community control. At the sentencing hearing, the court informed appellant that:
Under State versus Brooks I have to let you know you have seven years on Count One and four years on Count Three. Mr. Stead's right, they will be consecutive hanging over your head. You so much as spit on the sidewalk you'll be going. Do you understand?
In addition, in its sentencing entry, the court stated:
After the imposition of Community Control, the Court pursuant to R.C.
2929.19 (B)(4) notified the Defendant, orally and in writing, what could happen if he violates Community Control. The Court further indicated that if the Defendant violates Community Control he will receive a prison term of seven (7) years as to Count One and four (4) years as to Count Three.
(Emphasis sic.)
{¶ 4} Subsequently, appellant was indicted in case No. 06CR-5342 on two counts of robbery and one count of receiving stolen property. Appellant agreed to plead guilty to the lesser included offense of theft on Count One, and the court imposed a sentence of one year of incarceration. At the hearing in which the court accepted appellant's plea in case No. 06CR-5342, appellant stipulated that he had violated the terms of his *Page 3 community control in case No. 05CR-2322. In case No. 05CR-2322, the court imposed seven years of incarceration on Count One, and four years of incarceration on Count Three, with those sentences to be served concurrently with the one-year sentence imposed in case No. 06CR-5342. Although the court noted that the seven-and four-year sentences imposed in case No. 05CR-2322 were to be served consecutively to each other, the court's sentencing entry states that they are to be served concurrently.
{¶ 5} Appellant filed this appeal, alleging a single assignment of error:
The Court of Common Pleas erred by imposing a prison sentence for a community control violation when, at the original sentencing hearing, it failed to notify appellant of the specific term that would be imposed in the event of such a violation pursuant to Ohio Revised Code §
2929.19 (B)(5).
{¶ 6} R.C.
The court shall notify the offender that, if the conditions of the sanction are violated, if the offender commits a violation of any law, or if the offender leaves this state without the permission of the court or the offender's probation officer, the court may impose a longer time under the same sanction, may impose a more restrictive sanction, or may impose a prison term on the offender and shall indicate the specific prison term that may be imposed as a sanction for the violation, as selected by the court from the range of prison terms for the offense * * *.
(Emphasis added.)
{¶ 7} The Ohio Supreme Court has held that the use of the word "specific" in R.C.
{¶ 8} Appellant argues that the trial court's statement that "you have seven years on Count One and four years on Count Three * * * they will be consecutive hanging over your head" was not sufficiently definite for purposes of complying with R.C.
{¶ 9} In this case, the words used by the trial court to describe the sentence to be imposed if appellant violated community control did not include a statement that the sentence would fall within a range of possible sentences, nor did it use any other indefinite words or phrases, such as identifying what sentence the court "could" impose. *Page 5
The trial court's statement that "you have seven years on Count One and four years on Count Three" clearly communicated the court's intention to impose those sentences. Consequently, the trial court's statement regarding the sentence that would be imposed if appellant violated the conditions of his community control was in compliance with R.C.
{¶ 10} Accordingly, we overrule appellant's assignment of error and affirm the judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.
Judgment affirmed.
*Page 1BRYANT and McGRATH, JJ., concur.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.