Attorney Brad Koffel of Koffel Brininger Nesbitt was proud to handle a case for a man who was sentenced to consecutive prison terms after a DUI accident. We appealed the trial court's judgment on the basis of error in sentencing. Our client's case began back on July 27, 2011 when he was indicted on four counts of aggravated vehicular assault and two counts of OVI. He had been involved in a drunk driving accident six months prior. Our client pled guilty to one count of aggravated vehicular assault, one count of vehicular assault and one count of OVI. In other terms, he was pleading guilty to a third degree felony, a fourth degree felony and a first degree misdemeanor.
The trial court accepted this plea and proceeded to sentencing. Here is where the problem begins. The trial court merged our client's OVI offense with the aggravated vehicular assault offense thereby imposing two consecutive sentences, one for four years and the next for 18 months. On behalf of our client, we appealed that the trial court was incorrect in its sentencing. They sentenced the defendant-appellant to consecutive prison terms without making the necessary findings to do so. Those necessary findings are required by § 2929.14C(4) of the codes. In addition to this, we also appealed on the grounds that the trial court did not give adequate support for the consecutive sentences.
In the end, the imposition of consecutive sentences for aggravated vehicular assault and vehicular assault was error where the trial court failed to make the findings required by R.C. 2929.14(C)(4). The man's family hired Attorney Brad Koffel to handle his appeal. He had already served a year of his prison sentence. Koffel Brininger Nesbitt is ecstatic to handle these types of cases and secure justice for clients and their families.