State v. Large , 2015 Ohio 33 ( 2015 )

[Cite as State v. Large, 2015-Ohio-33.]
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR MONTGOMERY COUNTY, OHIO
STATE OF OHIO :
Plaintiff-Appellee : C.A. CASE NO. 23947
v. : T.C. NO. 09CRB1690
RICKY L. LARGE : (Criminal appeal from
Municipal Court)
Defendant-Appellant :
:
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OPINION
Rendered on the 9th day of January , 2015.
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RAYMOND DUNDES, Atty. Reg. No. 0041515, 195 S. Clayton Road, New Lebanon, Ohio
45345
Attorney for Plaintiff-Appellee
LORI R. CICERO, Atty. Reg. No. 0079508, 500 E. Fifth Street, Dayton, Ohio 45402
Attorney for Defendant-Appellant
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FROELICH, P.J.
{¶ 1} Ricky L. Large pled no contest to assault, a first-degree misdemeanor, in the
Municipal Court of Montgomery County; a charge of aggravated menacing was dismissed.
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The trial court sentenced Large to 180 days in jail, with credit for 60 days served. Before
Large completed serving his jail sentence, the sentence was stayed pending appeal.
{¶ 2} Large appeals from his conviction, claiming that the trial court erred in
failing to dismiss the charges on speedy trial grounds. For the following reasons, the trial
court’s judgment will be vacated.
I. Procedural History
{¶ 3} On August 26, 2009, Large reportedly entered, without permission, the home
of his pregnant girlfriend, choked her, and threatened her. That day, Large’s girlfriend
signed complaints for assault and aggravated menacing, both first-degree misdemeanors, but
nothing was filed with the court. On August 27, 2009, a prosecutor approved a felony charge
of aggravated burglary. On September 4, 2009, Large was arrested on a warrant related
only to that felony charge, and he remained in jail while the case was sent to a grand jury.
{¶ 4} On September 24, 2009, the grand jury returned a no true bill. (The record
suggests that Large’s girlfriend informed the grand jury that she “might have exaggerated”
the underlying facts of the case.) On September 25, 2009, while still in jail, police officers
notified the jail that Large should not be released because he was going to be charged with
assault and aggravated menacing based on the complaints signed by Large’s girlfriend on
August 26. The August 26 misdemeanor complaints were filed with the court on
September 28, and Large was formally notified of the charges.
{¶ 5} During an October 7, 2009 pretrial conference, defense counsel sought
dismissal of the misdemeanor charges on speedy-trial grounds. Counsel argued that Large
had been incarcerated for thirty-four days since his September 4, 2009 arrest and that the
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ninety-day speedy-trial time had expired due to the “in jail” triple-count provision of R.C.
2945.71(E). Defense counsel asserted that speedy-trial time began running on September 4,
2009, when Large was arrested on the felony charge, because the subsequent misdemeanor
charges involved the same incident. The trial court overruled the motion, opining that
speedy-trial time did not start to run until September 28, 2009, when Large was notified of
the misdemeanor charges. Large then pled no contest to the assault charge, in exchange for
which the aggravated menacing charge was dismissed. The trial court found him guilty.
{¶ 6} Prior to sentencing, Large sought to withdraw his plea, claiming that he did
not admit to choking the complainant, because allegations of choking were not included in
the complaint. A hearing on the motion was scheduled for November 18, 2009. At the
hearing, Large sought to re-raise the speedy trial issue. The trial court granted defense
counsel two weeks to file a written motion, and it continued the hearing on the motion to
withdraw the plea. On January 14, 2010, the trial court denied Large’s written request to
reconsider the speedy-trial issue, and the hearing on the motion to withdraw Large’s plea
was rescheduled for February 10, 2010. On February 10, Large informed the trial court that
he was withdrawing his motion to withdraw his plea, and the trial court proceeded to
sentence Large accordingly.
{¶ 7} Large timely appealed, and we appointed counsel. In 2013, we removed
initially-appointed counsel, and the case proceeded with new counsel, who has effectuated
the preparation and filing of a transcript and filed an appellate brief. The State has not filed
a response.
{¶ 8} Large’s sole assignment of error states:
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APPELLANT SHOULD BE DISCHARGED BECAUSE THE TRIAL
COURT ERRED BY FAILING TO DISCHARGE APPELLANT FOR A
VIOLATION OF HIS RIGHT TO A SPEEDY TRIAL PURSUANT TO R.C.
§ 2945.71-73.
{¶ 9} Large claims that the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss on
speedy trial grounds. He states that the misdemeanor charges arose from the same facts as
the original felony charge (aggravated burglary), and thus his speedy trial time began to run
on September 4, 2009, when he was arrested on the felony charge.
{¶ 10} The right to a speedy trial is guaranteed by the United States and Ohio
Constitutions. State v. Adams, 43 Ohio St. 3d 67, 68, 538 N.E.2d 1025 (1989). Ohio’s
speedy trial statute, R.C. 2945.71, “was implemented to incorporate the constitutional
protection of the right to a speedy trial” provided in the United States and Ohio
Constitutions. Brecksville v. Cook, 75 Ohio St. 3d 53, 55, 661 N.E.2d 706 (1996). As such,
that statute must be strictly construed against the State. Id.
{¶ 11} A defendant can establish a prima facie case for a speedy trial violation by
demonstrating that the trial was held past the time limit set by statute for the crime with
which the defendant is charged. State v. Gray, 2d Dist. Montgomery No. 20980,
2007-Ohio-4549, ¶ 15. “If the defendant can make this showing, the burden shifts to the
State to establish that some exception[s] applied to toll the time and to make the trial timely.
If the State does not meet its burden, the defendant must be discharged. R.C. 2945.73.”
(Citation omitted.) Id.
{¶ 12} Under R.C. 2945.71(B)(2), a person charged with a misdemeanor of the
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first degree must be brought to trial within 90 days after the person’s arrest or service of
summons. A person charged with a felony must be brought to trial within 270 days of the
person’s arrest. R.C. 2945.71(C)(2). If a person is charged with multiple charges of
different degrees, the speedy trial time is based on the highest degree of the offense charged.
R.C. 2945.71(D). Each day during which an individual is held in jail in lieu of bail on the
pending charge is counted as three days. R.C. 2945.71(E).
{¶ 13} It is undisputed that Large was arrested on September 4, 2009, and charged
with a felony arising out of the incident on August 26, 2009. When the grand jury returned
a no true bill on September 24, Large was then charged by complaint with misdemeanors
arising out of the same August 26 incident. Large was held in jail on the charges from
September 4 until November 4, when he was apparently released and placed on house arrest.
{¶ 14} Large argues that his discharge is mandated by the holding of State v.
Adams, 43 Ohio St. 3d 67, 538 N.E.2d 1025 (1989). There, the Ohio Supreme Court stated
that, “‘[w]hen new and additional charges arise from the same facts as did the original
charge and the state knew of such facts at the time of the initial indictment, the time within
which trial is to begin on the additional charge is subject to the same statutory limitations
period that is applied to the original charge.’” Adams at 68, quoting State v. Clay, 9 Ohio
App.3d 216, 218, 459 N.E.2d 609 (11th Dist.1983). Consistent with Adams, the supreme
court has further held that, “[i]n issuing a subsequent indictment, the state is not subject to
the speedy-trial timetable of the initial indictment, when additional criminal charges arise
from facts different from the original charges, or the state did not know of these facts at the
time of the initial indictment.” State v. Baker, 78 Ohio St. 3d 108, 676 N.E.2d 883 (1997),
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syllabus.
{¶ 15} In this case, the two new misdemeanor charges arose from the same facts as
the original felony charge, and the facts were known to the State at the time Large was
charged with a felony. Accordingly, Large’s speedy trial time for the misdemeanors began
to run on September 5, 2009, the day after he was arrested on the felony aggravated burglary
charge.1 See, e.g., Oregon v. Kohne, 117 Ohio App. 3d 179, 690 N.E.2d 66 (6th Dist.1997)
(holding that the time between the defendant’s bind-over to a grand jury on a felony charge
and the grand jury’s return of a no-bill is chargeable against the speedy-trial deadline for
subsequently-filed misdemeanor charges involving the same incident); State v. Alexander,
4th Dist. Scioto No. 08CA3221, 2009-Ohio-1401, ¶ 18.
{¶ 16} Moreover, we agree with the Twelfth District that, under the circumstances
before us, R.C. 2945.71(D) does not apply to extend the speedy trial time for the
misdemeanor offenses to 270 days, the speedy trial deadline for the original felony charge.
In State v. Miller, 12th Dist. Warren No. CA2009-01-008, 2009-Ohio-4831, the defendant
was originally charged with felony OVI; misdemeanor charges were added, but they were
dismissed a few days later. The defendant was later indicted on a felony OVI. When it
came to the parties’ attention that the defendant did not have the necessary prior OVI
convictions to warrant a felony charge, the State dismissed the indictment and the defendant
was released. Two weeks later, the defendant was re-charged with misdemeanors. The
Twelfth District held that the defendant’s speedy trial time began to run when she was
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Large uses September 4, 2009, as the starting date for his speedy trial time. However, the date of arrest is not
counted as part of the speedy trial time. See, e.g., State v. Wilson, 2d Dist. Montgomery No. 24577, 2012-Ohio-3098, ¶ 10; State
v. Stewart, 2d Dist. Montgomery No. 21462, 2006-Ohio-4164, ¶ 16.
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arrested on the felony OVI, and that the speedy-trial time applicable to a felony did not apply
where the felony indictment was dismissed prior to the defendant’s being charged with
misdemeanors involving the same incident.
{¶ 17} Large’s felony case terminated when the grand jury returned a no true bill.
See Alexander at ¶ 25. He was not released, and new misdemeanor charges arising from the
same incident were filed. Because the misdemeanor charges were instituted after the felony
case terminated, R.C. 2945.71(D) did not operate to apply the 270-day speedy trial time for
the original aggravated burglary charge to the two new misdemeanor charges.
{¶ 18} From September 5 (the day after Large’s arrest) until October 7, 2009, when
he raised the speedy trial issue with the trial court, Large had been jailed in lieu of bond for
32 calendar days. Counted on a three-to-one basis, Large had been held on the pending
charges for 96 speedy trial days, more than the 90-day limit allowed for first-degree
misdemeanors. Accordingly, we conclude that the trial court erred in denying Large’s
motion to dismiss on speedy trial grounds.
{¶ 19} Large’s assignment of error is sustained.
{¶ 20} Large’s conviction for assault will be vacated.
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DONOVAN, J., concurs.
HALL, J., dissenting:
{¶ 21} On the facts presented, I would hold that the disposition of this case in the
trial court did not violate speedy-trial limits.
{¶ 22} Appellant Ricky Large was charged by complaint with a felony, one count of
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aggravated burglary, in the County Court of Montgomery County (Area One) on August 28,
2009. He was arrested on a warrant that had been issued on that felony charge. At that time,
the State had ninety days (270 divided by three) to bring him to trial if he remained in jail
until the trial or plea. Only after the grand jury did not indict were misdemeanor charges
filed. This, to me, is a reasonable and efficient manner to process the case. It doesn’t make
sense to file misdemeanor charges that are encompassed by a felony charge until it is
determined that there will be no indictment for a felony. One then must decide how to apply
speedy-trial limitations.
{¶ 23} The majority cites State v. Adams, 43 Ohio St. 3d 67, 538 N.E.2d 1025
(1989), for the proposition that new or additional charges are subject to the same speedy-trial
limitations as the original charge. In Adams, the Ohio Supreme Court adopted the rule
established in State v. Clay, 9 Ohio App. 3d 216, 218, 459 N.E.2d 609 (11th Dist.1983):
“‘[W]hen new and additional charges arise from the same facts as did the original charge and
the state knew of such facts at the time of the initial indictment, the time within which trial is
to begin on the additional charge is subject to the same statutory limitations period that is
applied to the original charge.” Adams at 68, quoting Clay at 218. However, neither of those
cases sheds light on the issue in this case.
{¶ 24} In Clay, the defendant was arrested and charged with several felonies.
Several months later, the defendant was indicted on additional felony charges related to the
same events. Therefore, all of the charges were governed by the speedy-trial time frame
applicable to felonies, beginning from the date of arrest, which had been exceeded. In
Adams, the defendant was arrested on an OVI charge under R.C. 4511.19(A)(3). He waived
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speedy-trial time. Thereafter, that charge was dismissed and he was charged with a violation
of R.C. 4511.19(A)(1). The Adams court held that the speedy-trial waiver for the first charge
did not waive speedy-trial time for the subsequent charge. Therefore, the ninety-day speedy
trial time for the subsequent charge began at arrest on the initial charge and had expired,
requiring dismissal. Because the facts in both Clay and Adams are significantly different
than here, I do not believe either case is dispositive.
{¶ 25} In my view, the fact pattern here is more akin to State v. Gasnik, 132 Ohio
App.3d 612, 725 N.E.2d 1162 (1st Dist.1998). There the defendant was charged on July 13,
1997 with two counts of failure to confine a dog, fourth-degree misdemeanors, and two
counts of failure to display dog-registration tags, both minor misdemeanors. Under R.C.
2945.71, the fourth-degree misdemeanors were required to be tried in forty-five days and the
minor misdemeanors in thirty days. On August 15, 1997, the State amended the
fourth-degree offenses to minor misdemeanors. On August 29, 1997, the defendant was
found guilty of all charges. Speedy-trial time calculations excluded fourteen days from
August 1, 1997 until August 15, 1997 due to a continuance requested by the defense.
{¶ 26} On appeal, the defendant in Gasnik argued that thirty-two days of
speedy-trial time elapsed between the filing of the charges and trial. The First District
adopted the following rule: “When an original charge is reduced to a lesser charge that
carries a shorter speedy-trial time limit, the speedy-trial deadline will be the earlier of (1) the
speedy-trial deadline for the original charge, applied from the date of the original charge, or
(2) the speedy-trial deadline for the lesser charge, applied from the date that the original
charge was reduced to the lesser charge.” Id. at 614. Therefore, in Gasnik the speedy-trial
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time expired at the earlier of forty-five days after the initiation of the fourth-degree
misdemeanor charges or thirty days after reduction of those charges to minor misdemeanors,
excluding the requested continuance. Applying this rule, the First District found no
speedy-trial violation. The rule followed in Gasnik has been applied in similar cases. See
State v. Johnson, 7th Dist. Mahoning No. 12 MA 137, 2014-Ohio-4253, ¶ 93; State v. Clark,
11th Dist. Lake No. 2007-L-139, 2008-Ohio-2760, ¶ 30; State v. Phillips, 19 Ohio App. 3d
85, 482 N.E.2d 1337 (10th Dist.1984).
{¶ 27} I also note that the Gasnik rule accommodates R.C. 2945.71(D), which
states: “A person against whom one or more charges of different degrees, whether felonies,
misdemeanors, or combinations of felonies and misdemeanors, all of which arose out of the
same act or transaction, are pending shall be brought to trial on all of the charges within the
time period required for the highest degree of offense charged, as determined under divisions
(A), (B), and (C) of this section.” Thus, if Large had been charged with the felony and the
misdemeanor charges at arrest, and he had remained in custody, and the felony later had
been dismissed, the time for trial of the misdemeanor charges would have been the earlier of
ninety days from arrest or thirty days from dismissal of the felony, whichever was earlier.
Because it would be whichever is earlier, I do not propose that the 270-day time limit for the
felony applies to the misdemeanor charges if and when the felony is no longer pending.
Here Large’s plea disposition was within both ninety days from arrest and thirty days from
the time when the felony was no longer pending. Accordingly, his statutory speedy-trial
right was not violated.
{¶ 28} I recognize that there is some case law to the contrary. In State v. Miller,
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12th Dist. Warren No. CA2009-01-008, 2009-Ohio-4831, ¶ 22, that court held that the
speedy-trial time applicable to a felony cannot be applied where a felony indictment is
dismissed and a defendant then is charged with misdemeanors involving the same incident.
In City of Oregon v. Kohne, 117 Ohio App. 3d 179, 690 N.E.2d 66 (6th Dist.1997), that court
held that the time between the defendant’s bind-over to a grand jury on a felony charge and
the grand jury’s return of a no-bill is chargeable against the speedy-trial deadline for
subsequently-filed misdemeanor charges. But I conclude that the Gasnik rule is a better
application of the speedy-trial limitations, preventing unnecessary duplicate filings in
multiple courts and still protecting the timeliness of disposition. Accordingly, I dissent.
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Copies mailed to:
Raymond Dundes
Lori R. Cicero
Hon. James L. Manning