State v. CabralesState v. Cabrales
- Reporters:
- , ,
- Before:
- Stratton
Lead Opinion
I. Introduction
{¶ 1} The issue before the court is whether possession of a controlled substance under
II. Facts
{¶ 2} Defendant, Fernando Cabrales, a California resident, hired James Longe-necker and Sean Matthews to transport marijuana from California to Cincinnati, Ohio, for the purpose of selling it. Once the two entered Ohio, a Hamilton County deputy sheriff stopped Matthews and Longenecker because of Matthews’s erratic driving. During the traffic stop, the deputy discovered the marijuana in their vehicle and arrested both men. Longenecker and Matthews implicated Cabrales, whom the state charged with possession of marijuana under
{¶ 3} On appeal, Cabrales argued that possession and the two counts of trafficking in marijuana were all allied offenses of similar import committed with the same animus, and therefore these offenses merged.
{¶ 4} The court of appeals held that possession of a controlled substance under
{¶ 5} The court also held that trafficking in a controlled substance under
{¶ 6} However, the court of appeals held that possession of a controlled substance under
{¶ 7} The court of appeals certified that its holding conflicted with holdings from other appellate districts. We determined that a conflict existed with regard to the following question: “Are the offenses of trafficking in a controlled substance in violation of
{¶ 8} The state argues that the court of appeals’ holding that possession under
{¶ 9} Cabrales argues that Raneés abstract elements-comparison test has created confusion among the appellate courts and produced illogical results. He argues that a less “formulaic comparison” of offenses under
{¶ 10} Although we affirm the judgment of the court of appeals and answer the certified question in the affirmative, we find it necessary to clarify Raneés test under
III. Analysis
A. Ohio’s Multiple-Count Statute
{¶ 11} We begin our analysis by examining Ohio’s multiple-count statute,
{¶ 13} “(B) Where the defendant’s conduct constitutes two or more offenses of dissimilar import, or where his conduct results in two or more offenses of the same or similar kind committed separately or with a separate animus as to each, the indictment or information may contain counts for all such offenses, and the defendant may be convicted of all of them.”
{¶ 14} This court has recognized that
{¶ 15} In Ranee, the court determined that “[a] problem inherent in the application of the test for similar/dissimilar import is whether the court should contrast the statutory elements in the abstract or consider the particular facts of the case. We think it useful to settle this issue for Ohio courts, and we believe that comparison of the statutory elements in the abstract is the more functional test, producing ‘clear legal lines capable of application in particular cases.’ ” Id., 85 Ohio St.3d at 636, 710 N.E.2d 699, quoting Kumho Tire Co., Ltd. v. Carmichael (1999), 526 U.S. 137, 148, 119 S.Ct. 1167, 143 L.Ed.2d 238.
B. Ranee Has Caused Confusion and Unreasonable Results
{¶ 16} Courts have struggled applying Ranee’s abstract elements-comparison test. For example, the Second District Court of Appeals considered whether involuntary manslaughter and aggravated vehicular homicide are allied offenses of similar import when there is only one victim. State v. Hendrickson, Montgomery App. No. 19045, 2003-Ohio-611, 2003 WL 264339. Finding that it was compelled to apply Ranee, the court compared the elements of the two offenses, and because the elements did not correspond to such a degree that commission of
{¶ 17} The First District Court of Appeals, interpreting Ranee to require a “strict textual comparison” of the elements under
{¶ 18} The Tenth District Court of Appeals considered whether kidnapping and aggravated robbery were allied offenses in State v. Savage, Franklin App. No. 02AP-202, 2002-Ohio-6837, 2002 WL 31771245. In deciding the issue, the court eschewed Ranee’s abstract analysis. Instead, the court held that aggravated robbery and kidnapping were allied pursuant to our decision in State v. Fears (1999), 86 Ohio St.3d 329, 344, 715 N.E.2d 136, in which we recognized that unless there is a separate animus, commission of robbery necessarily results in commission of a kidnapping (i.e., commission of one offense results in the commission of the other), and therefore they are allied offenses of similar import under
{¶ 19} The Fourth District Court of Appeals considered whether involuntary manslaughter and aggravated arson were allied offenses of similar import in State v. Cox, Adams App. No. 02CA751, 2003-Ohio-1935, 2003 WL 1889479. The court applied Ranee and held that involuntary manslaughter and aggravated arson were not allied offenses of similar import, because “[t]hese statutes are dissimilar in at least two distinct respects.” Id. at ¶ 10. But the court went on to
{¶20} Despite trying to define a test “capable of application in particular cases,” Ranee has produced inconsistent, unreasonable, and, at times, absurd results. Courts must avoid statutory interpretations that create absurd or unreasonable results. State ex rel. Asti v. Ohio Dept. of Youth Servs., 107 Ohio St.3d 262, 2005-Ohio-6432, 838 N.E.2d 658. When possible, courts should also avoid interpretations that create confusion or uncertainty. See Crawford Cty. Bd. of Commrs. v. Gibson (1924), 110 Ohio St. 290, 298-299, 144 N.E. 117.
C. Ranee Has Been Misinterpreted
{¶ 21} Consistent with the view of numerous Ohio appellate districts, the state argues that Ranee “requires a strict textual comparison” of elements under
{¶ 22} Ranee affirmed that the test under
{¶ 24} Were we to apply Ranee as requiring a strict textual comparison as urged by the state, we would be compelled to reverse the appellate court’s holding that possession and trafficking under
{¶ 25} Even after Ranee, this court has recognized that certain offenses are allied offenses of similar import even though their elements do not align exactly. See State v. Yarbrough, 104 Ohio St.3d 1, 2004-Ohio-6087, 817 N.E.2d 845, ¶ 99, 101 (citing Ranee, and holding that theft and receiving stolen property are allied offenses); State v. Adams, 103 Ohio St.3d 508, 2004-Ohio-5845, 817 N.E.2d 29, ¶ 89-95 (kidnapping and rape are allied offenses); State v. Fears, 86 Ohio St.3d at 344, 715 N.E.2d 136 (aggravated robbery and kidnapping are allied offenses). In these cases, we did not overrule or modify Ranee, but we did not apply a strict textual comparison in determining whether the offenses were allied under
{¶ 26} Thus, we have already implicitly recognized that Ranee does not require a strict textual comparison under
{¶ 27} It is clear that interpreting Ranee to require a strict textual comparison under
IV. Applying Ranee in This Case
{¶ 28} We must now apply our holding and determine whether Cabrales’s convictions for possession of and trafficking in marijuana must merge as allied offenses of similar import committed with the same animus under
A. Possession and Trafficking (
{¶29} We begin by comparing the elements of possessing a controlled substance under
B. Possession and Trafficking (
{¶ 30} We now compare the elements of possessing a controlled substance under
{¶ 31} Next we proceed to the second step of the analysis, in which we must determine whether Cabrales committed these offenses with a separate animus under
C. Trafficking (
{¶ 32} Finally, we compare the elements of trafficking under
{¶ 33} Thus, trafficking in a controlled substance under
{¶ 34} Accordingly, we answer the certified question in the affirmative and affirm the judgment of the court of appeals.
Judgment affirmed.
Notes
. Blockburger v. United States (1932), 284 U.S. 299, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306.
. Such an interpretation is incongruous because the state is already prohibited from punishing a defendant for identical, duplicate offenses pursuant to the Double Jeopardy Clause. See State v. Zima, 102 Ohio St.3d 61, 2004-Ohio-1807, 806 N.E.2d 542, ¶ 16 (“The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that ‘[n]o person shall * * * be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.’ Similarly, Section 10, Article I of the Ohio Constitution provides, ‘No person shall be twice put in jeopardy for the same offense’ ”).
. Merger is “the penal philosophy that a major crime often includes as inherent therein the component elements of other crimes and that these component elements, in legal effect, are merged in the major crime.” Maumee v. Geiger (1976), 45 Ohio St.2d 238, 243-244, 74 O.O.2d 380, 344 N.E.2d 133.
Concurrence Opinion
concurring in judgment.
{¶ 35} I join in affirming the judgment of the court of appeals.
{¶ 36} I have always understood the holding in State v. Rance (1999), 85 Ohio St.3d 632, 636, 710 N.E.2d 699, to be: “If the elements of the crimes ‘ “correspond to such a degree that the commission of one crime will result in the commission of the other, the crimes are allied offenses of similar import.” ’ ” Id., quoting State v. Jones (1997), 78 Ohio St.3d 12, 13, 676 N.E.2d 80, quoting State v. Blankenship (1988), 38 Ohio St.3d 116, 117, 526 N.E.2d 816. I have never understood the test to require an exact alignment of elements. State v. Palmer, 148 Ohio App.3d 246, 2002-Ohio-3536, 772 N.E.2d 726, is cited for this proposition, but I have not found support for this proposition in that opinion. To the contrary, that opinion contains the following explication of the Ranee test:
{¶ 37} “The Ranee test requires a strict textual comparison of the statutory elements, without reference to the particular facts of the case, to determine whether one offense requires proof of an element that the other does not. If there are differing elements, the inquiry ends, and multiple convictions and sentences are allowed.” Palmer at ¶ 10.
{¶ 38} The only quibble I have with the above-quoted formulation is that it should have said: “whether each offense requires proof of an element that the other does not.” I assume that this is what was intended, since it is consistent with the actual result in that ease. In fact, the opinion goes on to note that the defendant in that case acknowledged that the court of appeals had previously determined that aggravated robbery and robbery (the offenses in that case) “are not allied offenses because each offense requires proof of an element that the other does not.” (Emphasis added.) Id. at ¶ 11.
• {¶ 39} Nowhere in State v. Palmer is it claimed that two offenses must exactly coincide to be allied offenses. The test employed in that case is not whether the two offenses involved are coextensive but the more familiar test, under Ranee, whether one offense is wholly subsumed within the other.
{¶ 40} In short, I have found no emerging jurisprudence that the test for merger is whether all elements of the compared offenses coincide exactly; therefore, I do not find clarification of State v. Rance to be necessary.
{¶ 41} Applying the Ranee test, I conclude that the court of appeals in the case before it was correct in determining that the elements of trafficking in a
{¶ 42} The state contends that one can be guilty, as an aider or abettor, of trafficking (shipment) without exercising control, constructive or otherwise, over the controlled substance. For example, one could finance the shipment, by another, of the controlled substance. But if by doing so, the charged offender has aided and abetted another to ship a controlled substance that is intended for sale, then the charged offender has equally aided and abetted the other to exercise sufficient control over that controlled substance to constitute constructive possession. Therefore, if one is guilty, as an aider or abettor, of trafficking (shipment), then one is necessarily guilty, as an aider or abettor, of possession. So consideration of the possible violation of each statute as an aider or abettor, rather than as a principal, does not change the result.
{¶ 43} I agree with Justice Lundberg Stratton that in this ease, Cabrales clearly trafficked in, and possessed, the marijuana with the same animus — to sell it. Therefore, I agree with the conclusion that the trafficking (shipment) and possession offenses are allied offenses of similar import that must be merged.
{¶ 44} As to the merger of each of these offenses with the offense of trafficking under
{¶ 45} I agree, then, that while the trafficking (shipment) and possession offenses merge in this case, the trafficking (sale) offense does not merge with either of those offenses.