State v. Coleman, 2016 Ohio 7264

Defendant Donovan Coleman, while on community control, broke into a home, pried open a safe, stole five firearms, and concealed them along a riverbank.
Coleman pled guilty to safecracking (4th-degree felony), grand theft of a firearm (3rd-degree felony), and burglary (3rd-degree felony).
R.C. 2913.02(B)(4) states that theft of a firearm carries a presumption in favor of a prison term, but no statutory provision identifies how that presumption is rebutted for this offense.
At sentencing the trial court acknowledged the presumption but found the statutory scheme ambiguous and imposed community control under R.C. 2929.13(C) without expressly finding the firearm-theft presumption had been rebutted.
The State appealed, arguing the trial court erred by failing to apply the statutory presumption in favor of prison for grand theft of a firearm.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court erred by failing to apply the statutory presumption in favor of a prison term for grand theft of a firearm	The court must apply the R.C. 2913.02(B)(4) presumption and, absent specific rebutting findings, imposing community control is contrary to law	The trial court may consider R.C. 2929.11/2929.12 and impose community control under R.C. 2929.13(C) where statutes are ambiguous; no specific findings listed in statute are required	Reversed and remanded: trial court erred by not specifying whether it considered/rebutted the presumption and must make that determination on resentencing

State v. Mathis, 109 Ohio St.3d 54 (2006) (judicial findings must be provided for downward departures, including when a court refuses to impose a presumptive prison term)