State v. Shearer , 2019 Ohio 1352 ( 2019 )

[Cite as State v. Shearer, 2019-Ohio-1352.]
Court of Appeals of Ohio
EIGHTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA
JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION
No. 107335
STATE OF OHIO
PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE
vs.
LANDRA SHEARER
DEFENDANT-APPELLANT
JUDGMENT:
REVERSED AND VACATED
Criminal Appeal from the
Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas
Case No. CR-08-510282-A
BEFORE: S. Gallagher, P.J., Laster Mays, J., and E.A. Gallagher, J.
RELEASED AND JOURNALIZED: April 11, 2019
ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT
Mark A. Stanton
Cuyahoga County Public Defender
By: John T. Martin
Assistant Public Defender
310 Lakeside Avenue, Suite 200
Cleveland, Ohio 44113
ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Michael C. O’Malley
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor
By: Katherine Mullin
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney
Justice Center - 8th Floor
1200 Ontario Street
Cleveland, Ohio 44113
SEAN C. GALLAGHER, P.J.:
{¶1} Landra Shearer has sought to correct his void sentences for almost a decade, which
includes filing at least three appeals and no less than 11 postconviction motions. For the most
part, Shearer attempted this task without the assistance of legal counsel. Instead of exhausting
his appellate rights after his motions or appeals were disposed of, Shearer filed additional
postconviction motions with the trial court, tweaking his argument along the way. Despite this
procedural history, and based on the following rationale, we vacate the sentences imposed on the
attempted murder and felonious assault counts based on State v. Shearer, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No.
92974, 2010-Ohio-1666, ¶ 31 (“Shearer I”) and State v. Williams, 148 Ohio St.3d 403,
2016-Ohio-7658, 71 N.E.3d 234 (sentences imposed on allied offenses are void and subject to
collateral attack at any time), and remand for a de novo resentencing after the state elects upon
which count to proceed.
{¶2} In Shearer I, the panel, sua sponte, concluded that Shearer’s convictions for
attempted murder and two counts of felonious assault were in error because felonious assault is
an allied offense of attempted murder. Id. citing State v. Williams, 124 Ohio St.3d 381,
2010-Ohio-147, 922 N.E.2d 937. The three counts were reversed as being allied offenses of
similar import. Id. (the record indicates that Shearer shot the sole victim twice in quick
succession and was charged with three offenses from that one act). The state did not seek
further review of that determination. Upon remand, the trial court imposed a new aggregate
term of imprisonment of 13 years, but only merged one of the felonious assault offenses into the
attempted murder. A separate sentence was consecutively imposed for the other felonious
assault offense. Thus, the sentences imposed on the attempted murder and felonious assault
offenses that became final upon the remand are still void — the trial court imposed sentences on
the offenses deemed to be allied ones of similar import. Williams, 148 Ohio St.3d 403,
2016-Ohio-7658, 71 N.E.3d 234, at ¶ 22.
{¶3} In Williams, the offender had filed numerous postconviction motions attempting to
vacate a void sentence. The trial court had imposed separate, but concurrent, sentences on
offenses deemed to be allied. Despite the failure to timely exhaust appellate review, the
offender maintained that res judicata did not preclude several attempts to remedy the sentence —
in essence, if an offender’s sentence is void, the matter is never settled and the offender may
continually challenge that sentence until a sentence that is authorized by law is imposed. The
Ohio Supreme Court agreed and vacated the sentence imposed on the count deemed to be an
allied offense. Id. at ¶ 28.
{¶4} A trial court has no authority to impose sentences for offenses that are deemed to be
allied under R.C. 2941.25. Id. According to Williams, it is of no consequence that an offender
unsuccessfully attempts to remedy these void sentences on numerous occasions without
exhausting all appellate rights. Id. at ¶ 73 (Kennedy, J., dissenting) (noting the extensive history
of postconviction proceedings that ended unsuccessfully predating the majority’s decision to
vacate the concurrent sentence imposed on the allied offense). A void sentence is subject to
collateral attack “at any time,” and the doctrine of res judicata does not preclude any review.1
Id. at ¶ 22. If offenses are deemed to be allied under R.C. 2941.25, no court has authority to
impose separate sentences on those offenses. Id. The trial court in this case erred when
imposing separate sentences on the attempted murder and felonious assault counts, along with
the firearm specifications attendant to each, deemed to be allied offenses of similar import.
{¶5} The consecutive sentences imposed on the attempted murder and felonious assault
counts are in violation of R.C. 2941.25 as declared in Shearer I. Id. The state claims that the
Shearer I decision only addressed the felonious assault counts, and therefore, the resulting
sentence is not void under Williams at ¶ 24, but merely voidable. In Shearer I, the panel
concluded that felonious assault is an allied offense of attempted murder. Shearer I at ¶ 31-32.
The state’s interpretation — that only one of the felonious counts merged with the attempted
murder — is incorrect. Had Shearer I intended to reverse only one felonious assault count as
being allied with the attempted murder count, it would have done so and affirmed the conviction
1
In State v. Shearer, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 103848, 2016-Ohio-7302, ¶ 7 (“Shearer II”), Shearer’s
sentences on the firearm specifications were affirmed based on the doctrine of res judicata. In that case, Shearer
filed a pro se appeal of a motion to vacate a void sentence, but the panel erroneously concluded that “the trial court
complied with the ruling” in Shearer I based on the limited arguments presented in the pro se appeal. In further
review of the procedural history, the trial court did not comply with the mandate of Shearer I. Regardless, under
Williams, 148 Ohio St.3d 403, 2016-Ohio-7658, 71 N.E.3d 234, we cannot rely on the Shearer II decision as a basis
to affirm in this case. A void sentence is always void and is subject to correction at any time.
for the felonious assault conviction unaffected by the merger decision. State v. Wilson, 129
Ohio St.3d 214, 2011-Ohio-2669, 951 N.E.2d 381, ¶ 15, citing State v. Whitfield, 124 Ohio St.3d
319, 2010-Ohio-2, 922 N.E.2d 182, ¶ 26-27. Instead, the panel reversed both felonious assault
convictions along with the attempted murder expressly holding that felonious assault is an allied
offense of attempted murder. There is no ambiguity; Shearer I concluded that both the felonious
assault convictions and the attempted murder convictions were allied offenses with each other.
The remand was ordered to permit the state the opportunity to elect which one of the three
offenses deemed to be allied would be pursued at sentencing. Id.{¶6} As a result, the sentences imposed on the attempted murder and felonious assault
counts are void and must be vacated — the trial court was not authorized to impose separate
sentences on both counts. We remand this matter for a de novo sentencing hearing at which
time the state may elect to proceed on either the attempted murder or the felonious assault and
any attendant specification, but not both. Wilson at ¶ 16. We note, however, that the two-year,
concurrent sentence for the having a weapon while under disability offense, which at this point
has already been served, remains as originally imposed and cannot be altered. The question then
turns to the scope of the new sentencing hearing within this mandate.
{¶7} At that sentencing hearing, the trial court must consider the principles and purposes
of sentencing and the felony sentencing factors anew. Nothing in our decision or in the law of
this district should be interpreted as a limitation on the trial court’s sentencing discretion. The
trial court enjoys the same discretion to impose any sentence authorized by law, in addition to
any mandatory sentence on the firearm specification attendant to the base offense, as it would
have had at the original sentencing. State v. Jackson, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 92365,
2009-Ohio-4995, ¶ 10; State v. Collins, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga Nos. 98575 and 98595,
2013-Ohio-938, ¶ 12, fn. 4; State v. Gibson, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 102391, 2015-Ohio-3479, ¶
11. We recognize that the 13-year aggregate term of imprisonment imposed for both offenses is
within the permissible range of sentences on the attempted murder count alone. This possibility
does not alter, nor limit the de novo resentencing in any way.
{¶8} We note that at least one panel in this district has concluded that imposing a
sentence on an individual felony offense consistent with the original aggregate term of
imprisonment for offenses reversed under R.C. 2941.25 impermissibly implicates the sentencing
package doctrine, which is not recognized in Ohio under State v. Saxon, 109 Ohio St.3d 176,
2006-Ohio-1245, 846 N.E.2d 824, ¶ 10. State v. Quinones, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 97054,
2012-Ohio-1939. In Quinones, a five-year aggregate term of imprisonment imposed on multiple
counts was vacated in the direct appeal as being imposed on allied offenses. The sentences on
all counts were vacated, and the matter was remanded for a de novo resentencing subject to the
state’s election. The trial court imposed a five-year sentence on the sole remaining count, which
was within the permissible range for the degree of felony at issue. Quinones reversed, claiming
the within-range sentence was void because it violated the prohibition against the sentencing
package doctrine.
{¶9} In addressing the implications of the sentencing package doctrine in the context of
reversing multiple sentences impermissibly imposed on allied offenses, the Ohio Supreme Court
concluded otherwise. Wilson, 129 Ohio St.3d 214, 2011-Ohio-2669, 951 N.E.2d 381, at ¶ 16.
According to Wilson, vacating all sentences for offenses that are deemed to be allied and
remanding for a de novo sentencing hearing to impose a sentence upon the offense the state
elects is not violative of Saxon and, more importantly, does not implicate the sentencing package
doctrine. Id. According to Wilson, the federal sentencing package doctrine allows the
modification or vacation of all the sentences imposed for multiple offenses in the situation where
there is a reversal of one of the sentences that comprises the aggregate term of imprisonment.
Id., citing Saxon and United States v. Clements, 86 F.3d 599, 600-601 (6th Cir.1996). However,
when multiple sentences are vacated on appeal, especially those deemed to be allied offenses, the
sentencing package doctrine does not preclude the trial court from sentencing on the vacated
convictions anew. Id. In accordance with Wilson, if multiple offenses are reversed in a direct
appeal as being allied ones of similar import, the appellate court must vacate all sentences
imposed on each of the allied offenses and remand for a de novo resentencing upon whatever
count (or counts, if applicable) survives the state’s election. That practice does not violate
Saxon or implicate the sentencing package doctrine.
{¶10} Wilson’s interpretation of Saxon was also recognized in State v. King, 8th Dist.
Cuyahoga No. 95972, 2011-Ohio-3985, ¶ 13, issued the year before Quinones. In King, it was
also concluded that the sentencing package doctrine precludes resentencing on counts not
reversed in the direct appeal, but notwithstanding, the trial court has authority upon remand to
impose sentences anew on the counts vacated by the appeal. The sentencing package doctrine
was inapplicable in Quinones and, therefore, could not serve as the basis for reversing the
individual sentence imposed on remand. Quinones did not address the implications of Wilson or
King and is of limited precedential value in defining the scope of this remand. We must
recognize that Quinones is limited to the narrow facts of the case and cannot be applied in a
broader context in light of Wilson. The Ohio Supreme Court’s decision in Wilson is binding
authority, and we cannot apply Quinones in such a way as to contravene Wilson.
{¶11} As a result, the scope of the de novo resentencing to be conducted upon remand is
controlled by Wilson, which authorizes a de novo sentencing on whichever count survives the
state’s merger election. At the new sentencing hearing conducted pursuant to this remand, the
trial court shall sentence Shearer anew. It must be remembered that “while the defendants may
argue for reductions in their sentences, nothing prevents the state from seeking greater penalties”
than originally imposed for the individual offense based on its de novo consideration of all
sentencing factors, not those that have transpired since the original sentencing. Collins, 8th
Dist. Cuyahoga Nos. 98575 and 98595, 2013-Ohio-938, at ¶ 12, fn. 4; State v. Foster, 109 Ohio
St.3d 1, 2006-Ohio-856, 845 N.E.2d 470; contra Quinones, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 97054,
2012-Ohio-1939, and State v. Houston, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga Nos. 103252 and 103254,
2016-Ohio-3319.2 Although the scope of this remand is limited to two of the offenses in this
case, after consideration of all that is required by law, the trial court has discretion to impose any
sentence that is within the permissible ranges for the offense the state chooses to proceed upon,
in addition to any sentence on the attendant specification. Collins. The two-year, concurrent
sentence for the having a weapon while under disability offense, which at this point has already
been served, shall not be disturbed.
{¶12} The sentences imposed for the attempted murder and felonious assault counts are
vacated, and the matter is remanded for a de novo sentencing on whichever of those two counts,
including any attendant specification, survives the state’s election. Reversed and vacated.
2
Houston’s conclusion that a court must justify an increase in a sentence at a de novo resentencing with
consideration of events or circumstances that occurred following the original sentencing arguably conflicted with
State v. Cook, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 90487, 2008-Ohio-4246, in which it was held that during a de novo
resentencing the trial court is free to impose the identical sentence that was originally imposed, or a greater or lesser
sentence within its discretion. This court has always recognized that vacated sentences must be considered anew,
permitting but not mandating consideration of an offender’s conduct while serving the vacated term. Jackson, 8th
Dist. Cuyahoga No. 92365, 2009-Ohio-4995, at ¶ 10. Inasmuch as Houston relied on a presumption of vindictive
sentencing, this discussion is limited by the fact that in this district, the presumption “arises only when circumstances
establish a ‘reasonable’ likelihood that an increased sentence is the product of vindictiveness.” State v. Schneider,
8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 98938, 2013-Ohio-2532, ¶ 8. In State v. Rahab, 150 Ohio St.3d 152, 2017-Ohio-1401,
80 N.E.3d 431, ¶ 18, it was concluded that the mere fact of receiving a harsher sentence following the rejection of a
plea offer did not give rise to the presumption of vindictiveness. By logical extension, the imposition of a harsher
It is ordered that appellant recover of appellee costs herein taxed.
The court finds there were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
It is ordered that a special mandate issue out of this court directing the common pleas
court to carry this judgment into execution.
A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to Rule 27 of the
Rules of Appellate Procedure.
SEAN C. GALLAGHER, PRESIDING JUDGE
ANITA LASTER MAYS, J., and
EILEEN A. GALLAGHER, J., CONCUR
sentence upon remand, in and of itself, cannot either.