State v. Gottschall, 10-06-37 (8-6-2007)
State v. Gottschall, 10-06-37 (8-6-2007)
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 2} Defendant-Appellant, Mark J. Gottschall, appeals the judgment of the Mercer County Court of Common Pleas denying his motion for resentencing. On appeal, Gottschall asserts that the trial court erred by refusing to resentence him. Finding that Gottschall's sentence is not void and that the trial court did not err by refusing to resentence him, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.
{¶ 3} In June 2003, in case 10-06-37, the Mercer County Grand Jury indicted Gottschall on four counts of rape in violation of R.C.
{¶ 4} In December 2003, Gottschall withdrew his not guilty plea in case 10-06-37 and entered a negotiated plea of no contest to the four sexual battery counts in exchange for a dismissal of the four rape counts, which the trial court accepted.
{¶ 5} In January 2004, in case 10-06-37, the trial court classified Gottschall as a sexually oriented offender and sentenced him to a four-year prison term on each of the four sexual battery counts, to be served concurrently. Additionally, in case 10-06-38, Gottschall withdrew his not guilty plea and entered a negotiated plea of no contest to the two sexual battery counts in exchange for a dismissal of the remaining counts, which the trial court accepted.
{¶ 6} In February 2004, in case 10-06-38, the trial court classified Gottschall as a habitual sex offender and sentenced him to a four-year prison term on both sexual battery counts, to be served concurrently. Also, the trial court ordered that the sentence be served consecutively to Gottschall's sentence in case *Page 4 10-06-37, for an aggregate prison term of eight years. Gottschall did not appeal either sentence.
{¶ 7} In August 2006, Gottschall moved for resentencing in both cases pursuant to State v. Foster,
{¶ 8} In November 2006, the trial court denied Gottschall's motions for resentencing, finding that Foster did not apply to his cases.
{¶ 9} It is from this judgment that Gottschall appeals, presenting the following assignments of error for our review.
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN NOT RESENTENCING THE APPELLANT AS HE WAS INITIALLY SENTENCED UNDER AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL STATUTE.
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN NOT RESENTENCING THE APPELLANT AS HIS INITIAL SENTENCING WAS VOID AND THEREFORE LEGALLY OF NO EFFECT.
{¶ 10} Due to the nature of Gottschall's assignments of error, we elect to address them together.
{¶ 12} In Foster, the Ohio Supreme Court addressed constitutional issues concerning felony sentencing, holding that portions of Ohio's felony sentencing framework were unconstitutional and void, including R.C.
{¶ 13} Additionally, the Court also limited retroactive application of its holding to the cases before it and to "those pending on direct review," id. at ¶ 104, stating that it was mandated to do so by the United States Supreme Court in U.S. v. Booker (2005),
{¶ 14} The United States Supreme Court has extensively analyzed and discussed the development of the retroactivity doctrine and its application to the *Page 6
criminal context in its attempts to fashion a workable rule. See, e.g.Linkletter v. Walker (1965),
{¶ 15} Significantly, the Supreme Court declined to extendGriffith to cases which became final before a new constitutional rule was announced. Teague v. Lane (1989),
{¶ 16} However, Teague adopted the following narrow exceptions to its general rule that new constitutional rules do not apply retroactively to final criminal cases: (1) where the new rule places "1certain kinds of primary, private individual conduct beyond the power of the criminal law-making authority to proscribe,'" id. at 307, quotingMackey,
{¶ 17} Regarding criminal sentencing in particular, Booker determined that specific provisions in the federal sentencing guidelines requiring judicial fact-finding before imposition of certain sentences violated a criminal defendant's constitutional rights. Following the precedent established in Griffith, the Court limited application of its holding solely to cases pending on direct review or not yet final, and did not apply either of the Teague exceptions. Likewise, Foster limited its holding to those cases pending on direct review or not yet final, as it was required to do under Griffith, Teague, and Booker. *Page 8
{¶ 18} Here, Gottschall argues that Foster's limiting of its holding to cases pending on direct review does not preclude resentencing for cases that are not pending on direct review. However, the above-cited cases make clear that defendants whose cases were final at the timeFoster was decided cannot avail themselves of its holding, absent application of one of the Teague exceptions, neither of which apply in this context. Gottschall's sentences were valid at the time it was imposed, as those portions of the statutes deemed unconstitutional inFoster were still in effect during his sentencing, and the trial court complied with existing law in sentencing him according to those provisions. Gottschall failed to appeal from his sentences and, therefore, is precluded from doing so now.
{¶ 19} Moreover, Gottschall's reliance upon State ex rel Cruzado v.Zaleski,
{¶ 20} Additionally, we also note that Gottschall failed to meet the requirements of the post-conviction relief statute, R.C.
{¶ 21} Accordingly, we overrule Gottschall's two assignments of error.
{¶ 22} Having found no error prejudicial to the appellant herein, in the *Page 10 particulars assigned and argued, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.
Judgments affirmed. SHAW and WILLAMOWSKI, JJ., concur.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.