Last week, the
Franklin County Court of Appeals in Columbus, Ohio issued a decision that highlights how
far some prosecutor’s will go to get a prison term on a person who
needs mental health treatment. (State v. Martin, 09AP-1073, 12/2/10)
Mr. Martin pled guilty to a single charge of felonious assault in October
2008. He was sentenced a month later. He had already served 191 days in
jail awaiting sentencing and the trial judge ordered an additional 120
days of jail for a total jail sentence of 311 days. Upon serving out the
311 days, the trial judge ordered the defendant to receive community control
and not a prison term which was sought by the State. He pled guilty to
an offense that has a presumption of prison of at least two (2) years.
The trial judge carefully reviewed the entire record and thought the most
appropriate sentence was a non-prison term.
The prosecutor’s office appealed arguing that the trial judge erred
by not imposing a prison term. The court of appeals reversed the non-prison
term. On re-sentencing, the judge stated his reasons more fully and reinstated
the original sentence. The prosecutor’s office appealed yet again.
This time, however, the court of appeals affirmed the trial court’s
sentence concluding that the judge sufficiently stated his reasons for
not imposing a prison term.
2 years and 2 appeals resulting in the original sentence imposed.
Call or text 614-884-1100 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
