State v. Colbert
2017 Ohio 8559
| Ohio Ct. App. | 2017Background
- In 2015 Amariya Colbert pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and having weapons while under a disability and received a total prison term of seven years. The court credited 132 days spent in custody between arrest and conviction.
- Colbert did not appeal his convictions or the sentencing entry that calculated jail-time credit.
- In 2016 Colbert filed a "Motion for Recalculation of Jail Time Credit" in the common pleas court, arguing R.C. 2967.191 required credit for 63 additional days he spent in juvenile detention prior to arrest.
- Ohio law (post-2012 amendments) assigns the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction the duty to reduce prison terms by confinement days, and requires trial courts at sentencing to determine and include jail-time-credit calculations in the sentencing entry (R.C. 2967.191 and 2929.19(B)(2)(g)(i)).
- Statutory mechanisms for challenging jail-time-credit determinations: direct appeal, Crim.R. 36 nunc pro tunc corrections for clerical miscalculations, and an R.C. 2929.19(B)(2)(g)(iii) motion to the sentencing court to correct errors not raised at sentencing; postconviction relief is limited by the 2012 amendments.
- The common pleas court lacked a transcript showing whether the juvenile-detention-credit issue had been raised at sentencing and Colbert did not invoke the R.C. 2929.19(B)(2)(g)(iii) procedure properly. The court overruled his motion; the appellate court held the trial court lacked jurisdiction to consider it and modified the judgment to dismiss the motion.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether the trial court had jurisdiction under R.C. 2929.19(B)(2)(g)(iii) to grant Colbert additional jail-time credit for days in juvenile detention when the credit issue was not raised at sentencing | State: The trial court lacked jurisdiction because Colbert did not show the issue was not raised at sentencing and did not use the statutory procedure; the sentencing entry already set credit for 132 days | Colbert: R.C. 2967.191 requires credit for juvenile-facility confinement and the court should recalculate to include the additional 63 days | The court held the common pleas court had no jurisdiction to grant relief absent proof the issue had not been raised at sentencing; the motion was properly dismissed and the judgment was affirmed as modified |
Key Cases Cited
- Heddleston v. Mack, 84 Ohio St.3d 213 (1988) (describing pre-amendment avenues to challenge jail-time-credit determinations)
- State v. Thompson, 147 Ohio St.3d 29 (2016) (an entry overruling an R.C. 2929.19(B)(2)(g)(iii) motion is a final, appealable order)
- Partee v. McMahon, 175 Ohio St. 243 (1963) (addressing the circumstances under which an indigent defendant is entitled to trial transcripts at state expense)
- State v. Ishmail, 54 Ohio St.2d 402 (1978) (appellate courts may not expand the trial-court record with materials not before the trial court when reviewing postconviction or similar motions)