In Matter of A.R., Ca2006-09-112 (10-1-2007)
In Matter of A.R., Ca2006-09-112 (10-1-2007)
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 2} On June 3, 2000, appellant, then 11 years old, was charged with rape in violation of R.C.
{¶ 3} On June 23, 2003, a new complaint was filed against appellant, charging him with rape in violation of R.C.
{¶ 4} On September 13, 2003, the gross sexual imposition charge against appellant was dismissed in exchange for appellant entering an admission to the rape charge. The trial court adjudicated appellant delinquent on the rape charge and committed him to the Ohio Department of Youth Services for a minimum period of one year and a maximum period not to exceed his 21st birthday. The court also adjudicated appellant delinquent for violating the terms of his monitored time and committed him to the legal custody of ODYS for a minimum term of six months and a maximum term not to exceed his 21st birthday.
{¶ 5} The trial court ordered appellant to serve the commitments consecutively. However, the court suspended the commitments on the condition that appellant complete the sex offender treatment program at the Mary Haven Youth Center, comply with all court orders, and commit no further offenses. The court also ordered that the matter be scheduled for a sex offender registration hearing upon appellant's release from Mary Haven.
{¶ 6} On June 28, 2004, appellant was adjudicated delinquent on a charge of attempted escape from Mary Haven. The trial court terminated appellant's commitment to *Page 3 Warren CA2006-09-112 that institution and ordered him to serve his previously suspended commitment to ODYS on the 2003 rape charge. The court further ordered that the matter be scheduled for a sex offender registration hearing upon appellant's release from ODYS.
{¶ 7} On July 31, 2006, appellant was paroled from ODYS and placed on supervised release. On September 13, 2006, the trial court, over appellant's objection, held a juvenile sex offender classification hearing pursuant to R.C.
{¶ 8} Appellant now appeals, assigning the following as error:
{¶ 9} "THE TRIAL COURT ERRED TO THE PREJUDICE OF DEFENDANT-APPELLANT IN CONDUCTING A POST-DISPOSITIONAL SEXUAL CLASSIFICATION HEARING."
{¶ 10} Appellant asserts that the trial court did not have authority to hold a juvenile sex offender classification hearing under R.C.
{¶ 11} Initially, we agree with appellant that the trial court erred by classifying him as a juvenile sex offender registrant and habitual sex offender under R.C. 2153.83(B) following his release from ODYS, instead of so classifying him under R.C.
{¶ 12} R.C.
{¶ 13} R.C.
{¶ 14} "(A) The court that adjudicates a child a delinquent child shall issue as part of the dispositional order an order that classifies the child a juvenile offender registrant and specifies that the child has a duty to comply with sections
{¶ 15} "(1) The act for which the child is adjudicated a delinquent child is a sexually oriented offense that is not a registration-exempt sexually oriented offense or is a child-victim oriented offense that the child committed on or after January 1, 2002.
{¶ 16} "(2) The child was fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, or seventeen years of age at the time of committing the offense.
{¶ 17} "(3) The court has determined that the child previously was convicted of, pleaded guilty to, or was adjudicated a delinquent child for committing any sexually oriented offense or child-victim oriented offense, regardless of when the prior offense was committed and regardless of the child's age at the time of committing the offense."
{¶ 18} In this case, the trial court was required to classify appellant as a juvenile sex offender registrant under R.C.
{¶ 19} First, the act for which appellant was adjudicated delinquent, i.e., rape in violation of R.C.
{¶ 20} Second, rape is not a "registration exempt sexually oriented offense." R.C.
{¶ 21} Third, appellant committed the rape on June 23, 2003 and, therefore, the act *Page 6
for which he was adjudicated delinquent was committed on or after January 1, 2002. See R.C.
{¶ 22} Fourth, appellant was 14 years old when he committed the rape for which he was adjudicated delinquent. See R.C.
{¶ 23} Fifth, as we have already mentioned, appellant had been previously adjudicated a delinquent child for committing a sexually oriented offense. Specifically, he was adjudicated delinquent in 2001 for gross sexual imposition in violation of R.C.
{¶ 24} Consequently, the trial court was obligated under R.C.
{¶ 25} The question remaining before us is whether the trial court's error in failing to classify appellant as a juvenile sex offender registrant under R.C.
{¶ 26} In arriving at this decision, we have found relevant the Ohio Supreme Court's recent decision in State v. Bezak,
{¶ 28} "In Jordan, * * * this court resolved a conflict between appellate court decisions addressing trial courts that failed at sentencing hearings to inform offenders about postrelease control but incorporated the notice into a sentencing entry. Id. at ¶ 1. * * *.
{¶ 29} "We * * * held that `[w]hen sentencing a felony offender to a term of imprisonment, a trial court is required to notify the offender at the sentencing hearing about postrelease control and is further required to incorporate that notice into its journal entry imposing sentence.' State v. Jordan,
{¶ 30} "We next considered the question presented when a trial court fails to notify the offender of postrelease control at the sentencing hearing: Should the case be remanded for resentencing or should the postrelease control be eliminated from the offender's sentence? We held that `[b]ecause a trial court has a statutory duty to provide notice of postrelease control at the sentencing hearing, any sentence imposed without such notification is contrary to law.'" State v. Jordan,
{¶ 31} "We relied on our reasoning in State v. Beasley (1984),
{¶ 32} "As a result, we held in State v. Jordan that `[w]hen a trial court fails to notify an
offender about postrelease control at the sentencing hearing but incorporates that notice into *Page 8 Warren CA2006-09-112 its journal entry imposing sentence, it fails to comply with the mandatory provisions of R.C.
{¶ 33} "Our decision in State v. Jordan controls in this case. * * * Here, Bezak was not informed about the imposition of postrelease control at his sentencing hearing. As a result, the sentence imposed by the trial court is void. `The effect of determining that a judgment is void is well established. It 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.' (Citations omitted.)Romito v. Maxwell (1967),
{¶ 34} The Bezak court summarized its holding as follows:
{¶ 35} "We hold that when a trial court fails to notify an offender that he may be subject to postrelease control at a sentencing hearing, as required by former R.C.
{¶ 36} The Bezak court concluded by noting that because Bezak had already served the prison term ordered by the trial court, he could not be subject to resentencing in order to correct the trial court's failure to impose postrelease control at Bezak's original sentencing hearing. Id. at ¶ 18.
{¶ 37} Although Bezak involved a trial court's error in sentencing a felony offender, we nonetheless consider the case to be instructive in this case where the trial court erred in *Page 9 Warren CA2006-09-112 imposing a disposition on a child who has been adjudicated delinquent.
{¶ 38} Here, the trial court had a mandatory duty under R.C.
{¶ 39} Appellant may wish to argue that like the defendant inBezak who could not be subject to resentencing because he had already served the prison term ordered by the trial court, he should be similarly discharged from being classified as a juvenile sex offender registrant under R.C.
{¶ 40} However, while appellant was released from ODYS on July 31, 2006, the record indicates that appellant was paroled from ODYS and had a number of conditions placed on him as a result. Therefore, appellant has not completed the terms of his disposition, unlike the defendant inBezak who had completed his sentence. Instead, appellant remained subject to the juvenile court's continuing jurisdiction. See R.C.
{¶ 41} Furthermore, in Bezak, the state was attempting to increase the defendant's punishment by subjecting him to postrelease control after he had been led to believe that he had already served his sentence. TheBezak court found that the defendant could not be resentenced in those circumstances. Bezak at ¶ 18.
{¶ 42} In this case, by contrast, the state is not attempting to increase appellant's punishment by having him register under R.C.
{¶ 43} Consequently, appellant's case will be remanded to allow the trial court to enter a new disposition in his case in accordance with R.C.
{¶ 44} Appellant's assignment of error is sustained to the extent indicated.
{¶ 45} The trial court's judgment is reversed and this cause is remanded for a new dispositional proceeding in accordance with the law of this state.
YOUNG, P.J. and BRESSLER, J., concur.
{¶ b} "(B)(1) The court that adjudicates a child a delinquent child, on the judge's own motion, may conduct at the time of disposition of the child or, if the court commits the child for the delinquent act to the custody of a secure facility, may conduct at the time of the child's release from the secure facility, a hearing for the purposes described in division (B)(2) of this section if all of the following apply: {¶ c} "(a) The act for which the child is adjudicated a delinquent child is a sexually oriented offense that is not a registration-exempt sexually oriented offense or is a child-victim oriented offense that the child committed on or after January 1, 2002. {¶ d} "(b) The child was fourteen or fifteen years of age at the time of committing the offense. {¶ e} "(c) The court was not required to classify the child a juvenile offender registrant under section {¶ f} "(2) A judge shall conduct a hearing under division (B)(1) of this section to review the effectiveness of the disposition made of the child and of any treatment provided for the child placed in a secure setting and to determine whether the child should be classified a juvenile offender registrant. The judge may conduct the hearing on the judge's own initiative or based upon a recommendation of an officer or employee of the department of youth services, a probation officer, an employee of the court, or a prosecutor or law enforcement officer. If the judge conducts the hearing, upon completion of the hearing, the judge, in the judge's discretion and after consideration of the factors listed in division (E) of this section, shall do either of the following: {¶ g} "(a) Decline to issue an order that classifies the child a juvenile offender registrant and specifies that the child has a duty to comply with sections {¶ h} "(b) Issue an order that classifies the child a juvenile offender registrant and specifies that the child has a duty to comply with sections
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