State v. Fisher, 2018 Ohio 5018

Defendant Dewayne R. Fisher pled guilty to one count of felonious assault, one count of kidnapping, and one count of illegal cultivation of marijuana; other counts and a firearm specification were dismissed.
Trial court sentenced Fisher to 8 years in prison for felonious assault and imposed five-year community-control terms for kidnapping and illegal cultivation, ordered to run consecutively to the prison term (aggregate: 8 years prison then 10 years community control).
Fisher did not file a direct appeal; two years later he moved to vacate the judgment as void, arguing (1) felonious assault and kidnapping are allied offenses (double jeopardy violation), and (2) the court lacked authority to order community-control sanctions to run consecutively to a prison sentence.
Trial court denied the motion as not presenting a void judgment and as time-barred; Fisher appealed.
The appellate court reviewed whether (a) the allied-offense claim was barred by res judicata and (b) courts have authority to impose community-control terms consecutive to a prison sentence for a separate offense.

Issue	Fisher's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Whether felonious assault and kidnapping are allied offenses such that multiple punishments violate R.C. 2941.25 and double jeopardy	Fisher: convictions are allied; imposing sentences on both is void	State: no record that trial court found offenses were allied; claim could have been raised on direct appeal and is barred by res judicata	Court: barred by res judicata because trial court made no allied-offense finding and Fisher did not timely appeal; assignments of error overruled
Whether community-control sanctions for kidnapping and marijuana cultivation may be ordered to run consecutively to a prison term for a separate offense	Fisher: no statutory authority to make community-control consecutive to a prison term; such orders are void	State: prior appellate precedent allows consecutive community-control to prison under R.C. 2929.13(A); stare decisis supports that view	Court: upheld prior Fourth District precedent permitting nonresidential community-control to run consecutively to prison; Fisher's challenge rejected
Whether the judgment is otherwise void (Double Jeopardy / res judicata interplay)	Fisher: because sentences are void, res judicata does not bar review	State: void judgments arise only in limited circumstances (e.g., court lacks authority); here not shown	Court: cited Ohio precedent distinguishing void vs. voidable; no basis to treat these sentences as void; res judicata applies

State v. Marcum, 146 Ohio St.3d 516 (2016) (standard for appellate review of felony sentences under R.C. 2953.08)
State ex rel. Cowan v. Gallagher, 153 Ohio St.3d 13 (2018) (sentence is void when court merges counts but nevertheless imposes separate sentences)
State v. Williams, 148 Ohio St.3d 403 (2016) (res judicata bars allied-offense claims not raised on direct appeal absent a voiding circumstance)
State v. Paige, 153 Ohio St.3d 214 (2018) (trial court may not impose a residential CBCF community-control term to run consecutively to a prison term under R.C. 2929.41(A))