State v. GoparState v. Gopar
JUDGMENT: AFFIRMED
RELEASED AND JOURNALIZED: March 10, 2022
Appearances:
Michael C. O‘Malley, Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney, and Glen Ramdhan, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee.
Cullen Sweeney, Cuyahoga County Public Defender, and Robert B. McCaleb, Assistant Public Defender, for appellant.
FRANK D. CELEBREZZE, JR., P.J.:
{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant Mario Gopar brings this appeal challenging his indefinite sentence with a minimum prison term of five years and a maximum prison term of seven and one-half years for sexual battery and gross sexual
I. Factual and Procedural History
{¶ 2} The instant appeal arose from several sexual offenses appellant committed against victim M.G. (d.o.b. December 22, 2009) between January 2017 and July 2020. Appellant was ultimately arrested on July 18, 2020.
{¶ 3} On July 28, 2020, a Cuyahoga County Grand Jury returned a 17-count indictment charging appellant with ten counts of rape, first-degree felonies in violation of
{¶ 4} The parties reached a plea agreement during pretrial proceedings. On June 15, 2021, appellant pled guilty to amended Counts 2 and 14, sexual battery, second-degree felonies in violation of
{¶ 5} The trial court advised appellant that the Reagan Tokes Law applied to Count 14.1 The trial court imposed an aggregate indefinite prison sentence with a minimum prison term of five years and a maximum prison term of seven and one-half years. The trial court issued a nunc pro tunc sentencing entry on August 9, 2021, to accurately reflect that the sexual battery offenses on Counts 2 and 14 were second-degree felonies.
{¶ 6} Appellant filed the instant appeal on July 12, 2021, challenging the trial court‘s sentence. Appellant assigns one error for review:
I. The trial court violated [appellant‘s] constitutional rights by imposing a Reagan Tokes Sentence, under S.B. 201.
II. Law and Analysis
{¶ 7} In his sole assignment of error, appellant argues that the Reagan Tokes Law is unconstitutional. Appellant contends that this court should adopt and apply the holdings from State v. Delvallie, 2021-Ohio-1809, 173 N.E.3d 544 (8th Dist.), State v. Seeley, 2021-Ohio-1949, 173 N.E.3d 894 (8th Dist.), and State v. Daniel, 2021-Ohio-1963, 173 N.E.3d 184 (8th Dist.).
{¶ 8} This court has recently conducted en banc review of the constitutionality of the Reagan Tokes Act. See State v. Delvallie, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 109315, 2022-Ohio-470. In Delvallie, this court overruled the challenges
{¶ 9} Pursuant to Delvallie, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 109315, 2022-Ohio-470, appellant‘s sole assignment of error is overruled.
{¶ 10} Judgment affirmed.
It is ordered that appellee recover from appellant costs herein taxed.
The court finds there were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
It is ordered that a special mandate issue out of this court directing the common pleas court to carry this judgment into execution.
A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to Rule 27 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure.
FRANK D. CELEBREZZE, JR., PRESIDING JUDGE
LISA B. FORBES, J., and MARY J. BOYLE, J., CONCUR
N.B. Judge Lisa B. Forbes is constrained to apply Delvallie. For a full explanation, see State v. Delvallie, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 109315, 2022-Ohio-470 (Forbes, J., dissenting).