State v. Line, 2022 Ohio 857

Dustin E. Line was indicted for rape of his four-year-old daughter; the grand jury charged a first-degree felony.
Line pleaded guilty, per a negotiated plea, to a reduced charge: attempted gross sexual imposition (a fourth-degree felony); the State dismissed the rape count with no sentencing agreement.
The trial court ordered a presentence investigation, heard allocution and arguments, and sentenced Line to the maximum 18-month prison term; Line was classified Tier II sex offender and subject to five years post-release control.
At sentencing the court found aggravating facts: position of trust, victim’s young age, prior adult felony and misdemeanor history, and that drug use did not excuse the conduct; the court concluded Line was not amenable to community control.
On appeal Line argued the trial court failed properly to apply R.C. 2929.11 and 2929.12 and abused its discretion in imposing the maximum sentence; the State defended the sentence.
The appellate court applied R.C. 2953.08(G)(2) and Ohio Supreme Court guidance, found the sentence within the statutory range, concluded the trial court considered the required sentencing factors, and affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court abused its discretion/failure to consider R.C. 2929.11/2929.12 in imposing the maximum 18‑month sentence	State: Trial court complied with sentencing statutes; sentence within statutory range and justified by aggravating factors	Line: Court failed to properly weigh purposes/principles and R.C. 2929.12 factors and ignored mitigating circumstances; therefore sentence should be vacated/remanded	Affirmed. Court found trial court considered R.C. 2929.11/2929.12, identified aggravating factors, and the sentence was not contrary to law
Proper appellate standard: may the appellate court reweigh sentencing factors under R.C. 2953.08(G)(2)?	State: Appellate review is limited; may not independently reweigh — must determine if sentence is contrary to law	Line implicitly asks for reweighing to overturn sentence	Court followed Jones/Marcum: appellate courts cannot reweigh evidence; review is whether sentence is contrary to law under R.C. 2953.08(G)(2)

State v. Marcum, 59 N.E.3d 1231 (Ohio 2016) (R.C. 2953.08(G)(2) governs felony-sentence appellate review)
State v. Jones, 169 N.E.3d 649 (Ohio 2020) (appellate courts may not independently reweigh sentencing factors under R.C. 2953.08(G)(2))
State v. Brown, 99 N.E.3d 1135 (Ohio 2017) (sentence is contrary to law if outside statutory range or court fails to consider R.C. 2929.11/2929.12)