State v. Lober, 21477 (7-25-2008)
State v. Lober, 21477 (7-25-2008)
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 2} On appeal, Lober raises three assignments of error, which we will address together.
{¶ 3} In his first assignment of error, Lober claims that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to argue for a commercial driver's license suspension that was less than or equal to his prison term and by failing to assert that a longer suspension would be disproportionate to the offense. Lober notes that he was walking home — not near a vehicle when he committed the offense.
{¶ 4} In his second and third assignments of error, Lober claims that the trial court erred in denying him an opportunity for drug treatment during his incarceration, in imposing more than a minimum concurrent sentence, and in imposing a CDL suspension of four years. Lober's third assignment of error specifically states that the court relied upon unconstitutional statutes, contrary to State v. Foster,
{¶ 5} In 2006, the Supreme Court of Ohio held that parts of Ohio's felony sentencing scheme were unconstitutional because they "require[d] judicial finding of facts not proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt or admitted by the defendant." Foster at ¶ 83. The supreme court severed the provisions that it found to be unconstitutional, leaving trial courts with full discretion to impose a prison sentence within the statutory range without making findings or giving reasons for imposing maximum, non-minimum, or consecutive sentences. Id.; State v. *Page 3 Mathis,
{¶ 6} After Foster, the appellate court's standard of review when examining felony sentences is an abuse of discretion. State v.Slone, Greene App. No. 2005CA79,
{¶ 7} Lober was sentenced in December 2005. Based on his conviction, Lober could have received a maximum prison sentence of twelve months, R.C.
{¶ 8} In sentencing Lober, the trial court relied upon the presentence investigation report, which indicated that the offenses in this case and in 2005-CR-358 were Lober's thirteenth and fourteenth felonies, that Lober had previously served a prison term, and that he had "several failed opportunities of supervision treatment." The court indicated that consecutive sentences were necessary to protect the public.
{¶ 9} Based on the record, we find no abuse of discretion in the trial court's imposition of a nine-month prison term, to be served consecutively with another nine-month sentence, and in the court's disapproval of shock incarceration or an intensive program prison. Regardless, the state asserts — and Lober has not disputed — that Lober completed his incarceration on April 16, 2007. Because Lober has served his term of imprisonment, his assignments of error related to his imprisonment are moot. *Page 4
{¶ 10} Lober's primary contention appears to be that the trial court imposed a CDL suspension longer than his term of imprisonment. Because Lober was convicted of a drug possession offense, R.C.
{¶ 11} The assignments of error are overruled.
{¶ 12} The judgment of the trial court will be affirmed.
*Page 1BROGAN, J. and DONOVAN, J., concur.
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