State v. Watson, 2014 Ohio 2191

Defendant Ricky Watson pleaded guilty to one count of failure to provide notice of change of address, a third-degree felony under R.C. 2950.05(F)(1).
Sentencing court imposed 24 months' imprisonment, within the statutory range for a third-degree felony.
Watson appealed solely arguing the trial court abused its discretion by imposing an unduly harsh sentence.
The Eighth District reviewed the appeal under the statutory standard in R.C. 2953.08(G)(2), rather than the former Kalish abuse-of-discretion framework.
The appellate record showed the trial court considered R.C. 2929.11 and 2929.12 factors and properly applied postrelease control.
Court affirmed the sentence, concluding it was not clearly and convincingly contrary to law.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Appropriate standard for appellate review of the felony sentence	State: R.C. 2953.08(G)(2) applies; appellate review is not abuse-of-discretion but whether sentence is clearly and convincingly contrary to law	Watson: Trial court abused its discretion in imposing a harsher-than-necessary sentence	The court applied R.C. 2953.08(G)(2) rather than Kalish; review focused on whether sentence was clearly and convincingly contrary to law and found it was not
Whether sentence was contrary to law	State: Sentence is within statutory range and court considered required factors, so lawful	Watson: Sentence was excessive and an abuse of discretion	Held: Sentence within statutory range; court considered R.C. 2929.11 and 2929.12 factors; sentence not clearly and convincingly contrary to law; affirmed

State v. Kalish, 896 N.E.2d 124 (Ohio 2008) (discusses prior appellate standard for reviewing felony sentences)
State v. Foster, 845 N.E.2d 470 (Ohio 2006) (trial courts have discretion to impose any sentence within statutory range)