State v. HeinzenState v. Heinzen
Rendered on the 22nd day of April, 2022.
IAN RICHARDSON, Atty. Reg. No. 0100124, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, Clark County Prosecutor‘s Office, 50 East Columbia Street, Suite 449, Springfield, Ohio 45502 Attorney for Plaintiff-Appellee
JOHNNA M. SHIA, Atty. Reg. No. 0067685, P.O. Box 145, Springboro, Ohio 45066 Attorney for Defendant-Appellant
WELBAUM, J.
Facts and Course of Proceedings
{¶ 2} On April 22, 2019, Heinzen and Brandon Beedy were each indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter and endangering children. The charges stemmed from Heinzen and Beedy leaving their 21-month-old son unattended in his crib for over 24 hours without feeding or changing him, causing the child to suffer from severe dehydration, which resulted in his death. Following the indictment, Heinzen accepted a
{¶ 3} After being advised of the plea agreement, the trial court conducted a
{¶ 4} In proceeding with the appeal, Heinzen‘s appellate counsel filed a brief under the authority of Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967), asserting the absence of any issues with arguable merit for appeal. On November 17, 2020, we rejected the Anders brief due to there being an incomplete record, and thus appointed new counsel to represent Heinzen. Heinzen‘s new appellate counsel thereafter filed a second Anders brief, which we rejected on July 7, 2021, after finding at least one issue with arguable merit for appeal. After the second Anders rejection, we once again appointed new appellate counsel to represent Heinzen and ordered that counsel to file a brief addressing the issue we identified, as well as any other issues that
First Assignment of Error
{¶ 5} Under her first assignment of error, Heinzen claims that her guilty plea to attempted involuntary manslaughter was not knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily entered. In support of this claim, Heinzen contends that the trial court and the State provided misinformation at the plea hearing regarding the nature of the attempted involuntary manslaughter charge. Specifically, Heinzen claims that the trial court recited the elements of involuntary manslaughter as opposed to attempted involuntary manslaughter. Heinzen also claims that the State‘s recitation of facts at the plea hearing did not describe attempted involuntary manslaughter, but involuntary manslaughter.1 Based on this alleged misinformation, Heinzen asks this court to vacate her guilty plea.
Crim.R. 11(C) and the Vacation of Guilty Pleas
{¶ 6} “In determining whether to accept a guilty plea, the trial court must determine whether the defendant knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily entered the plea.” State v. Brown, 2d Dist. Montgomery Nos. 24520, 24705, 2012-Ohio-199, ¶ 13, citing State v. Johnson, 40 Ohio St.3d 130, 532 N.E.2d 1295 (1988). “In order for a plea to be given knowingly and voluntarily, the trial court must follow the mandates of
(a) Determining that the defendant is making the plea voluntarily, with understanding of the nature of the charges and of the maximum penalty involved, and if applicable, that the defendant is not eligible for probation or for the imposition of community control sanctions at the sentencing hearing.
(b) Informing the defendant of and determining that the defendant understands the effect of the plea of guilty or no contest, and that the court, upon acceptance of the plea, may proceed with judgment and sentence.
(c) Informing the defendant and determining that the defendant understands that by the plea the defendant is waiving the rights to jury trial, to confront witnesses against him or her, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in the defendant‘s favor, and to require the state to prove the defendant‘s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at a trial at which the defendant cannot be compelled to testify against himself or herself.
{¶ 7} A defendant is generally “not entitled to have his plea vacated unless he demonstrates he was prejudiced by a failure of the trial court to comply with the provisions of
{¶ 8} The second exception applies when a trial court completely fails to comply with a portion of
Understanding Nature of Charge – Crim.R. 11(C)(2)(a)
{¶ 9} As noted above,
“In order for a trial court to determine that a defendant is making a plea with an understanding of the nature of the charge to which he is entering a plea, it is not always necessary that the trial court advise the defendant of the elements of the crime, or to specifically ask the defendant
if he understands the charge, so long as the totality of the circumstances are such that the trial court is warranted in making a determination that the defendant understands the charge. In other words, under some circumstances, the trial court may be justified in concluding that a defendant has drawn an understanding from sources other than the lips of the trial court.”
State v. Ferrell, 2d Dist. Clark No. 1997-CA-114, 1998 WL 735920, *3 (Oct. 23, 1998), quoting State v. Rainey, 3 Ohio App.3d 441, 442, 446 N.E.2d 188 (10th Dist.1982). Accord State v. Reeves, 2d Dist. Greene No. 2002-CA-9, 2002-Ohio-4810, ¶ 19 and State v. Peyton, 2d Dist. Greene No. 2016-CA-41, 2017-Ohio-8253, ¶ 10.
{¶ 10} In State v. Frazier, 10th Dist. Franklin No. 05AP-425, 2006-Ohio-1475, the Tenth District Court of Appeals held that the totality of the circumstances established the appellant understood the nature of the charge to which he pled guilty where the appellant pled guilty to a lesser-included offense of the original charge in the indictment. The court explained that: “[w]here a defendant pleads guilty to a lesser-included offense of the crime for which he was originally charged, such that the elements of the two crimes are similar, it is not difficult to find circumstances that would demonstrate the appropriate understanding.” Id. at ¶ 7, citing Rainey at paragraph two of the syllabus and State v. Cantrell, 10th Dist. Franklin No. 01AP-818, 2002-Ohio-1353.
{¶ 11} When discussing the totality of the circumstances, the court in Frazier considered the fact that the appellant had signed a guilty plea form that identified the charge to which he pled guilty and stated that he had reviewed the facts and law of his
Totality of Circumstances Establish Heinzen Understood Nature of Charge
{¶ 12} In this case, the totality of the circumstances establish that Heinzen understood the nature of the attempted involuntary manslaughter charge to which she pled guilty. At the beginning of the plea hearing, the State recited the facts it was relying on to prosecute Heinzen by stating the following:
[O]n or about January 12, 2019, Caitlyn Heinzen and Brandon Beedy did create a substantial risk of harm to their baby, a 20-month old child, Camdon Beedy, by violating a duty of care, protection, or support to him that did cause his death as a result.
Specifically, the defendant did leave their child unattended in a crib
in their home at 1991 Kenton Street in Clark County, Ohio, where they omitted the care for him from an unjustifiable extended period of time causing him to die from dehydration.
Plea Hearing Trans. (Aug. 16, 2019), p. 3.
{¶ 13} Following the State‘s recitation of facts, Heinzen confirmed that she understood the recited facts and the nature of the case. Heinzen also confirmed that she had reviewed the written plea form with her attorney, signed the plea form, and understood its contents. The contents of the plea form indicated that Heinzen was pleading guilty to “attempted involuntary manslaughter.” Plea Form (Aug. 16, 2019). The plea form also included the following statement: “I understand the nature of these charges and the possible defenses I might have.” Id.
{¶ 14} After discussing the plea form, Heinzen acknowledged her understanding of the State‘s plea offer. When addressing the plea offer, the trial court advised Heinzen that in exchange for her guilty plea to attempted involuntary manslaughter, the State agreed to dismiss the child endangering charge and to reduce the original charge of involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony, to attempted involuntary manslaughter, a second-degree felony. Shortly thereafter, the trial court recited the elements of involuntary manslaughter under
{¶ 15} Although the trial court did not discuss the attempt portion of attempted involuntary manslaughter, which is defined under
{¶ 16} Here, it was made clear to Heinzen at the plea hearing and in the plea form that she was pleading guilty to attempted involuntary manslaughter—not involuntary manslaughter. Heinzen‘s plea form, which Heinzen indicated she understood and went over with her attorney, not only identified the charge as attempted involuntary manslaughter, but it also contained a statement confirming her understanding of that charge. Moreover, the trial court discussed the plea agreement with Heinzen at the plea hearing and explained that the State had agreed to reduce Heinzen‘s original first-degree-felony charge of involuntary manslaughter to second-degree-felony attempted involuntary manslaughter. The trial court also recited the elements of involuntary manslaughter at
{¶ 17} Heinzen‘s first assignment of error is overruled.
Second Assignment of Error
{¶ 18} Under her second assignment of error, Heinzen argues that the sentence imposed by the trial court is contrary to law because the trial court failed to: (1) fully consider the seriousness and recidivism factors under
{¶ 19} When reviewing felony sentences, this court must apply the standard of review contained in
{¶ 20} “A sentence is not clearly and convincingly contrary to law where the trial court ‘considers the principles and purposes of
{¶ 21} “The trial court has full discretion to impose any sentence within the authorized statutory range, and the court is not required to make any findings or give its reasons for imposing maximum or more than minimum sentences.” (Citation omitted.) State v. King, 2013-Ohio-2021, 992 N.E.2d 491, ¶ 45 (2d Dist.). A defendant‘s sentence is not contrary to law when the trial court expressly states in its sentencing entry that it has considered the principles and purposes of sentencing in
{¶ 22} In this case, the record establishes that the trial court expressly stated in its
{¶ 23} Because the trial court considered the criteria under
{¶ 24} Although the trial court‘s decision to sentence Heinzen to the maximum term of eight-years in prison is not contrary to law, the State concedes and the record establishes that the trial court failed to fully inform Heinzen about post-release control at the sentencing hearing. “It is settled that ‘a trial court has a statutory duty to provide notice of post[-]release control at the sentencing hearing’ and that ‘any sentence imposed
{¶ 25} Per its statutory duty, “[t]he trial court must advise the offender at the sentencing hearing of the term of [post-release control] supervision, whether postrelease control is discretionary or mandatory, and the consequences of violating postrelease control.” Bates at ¶ 11, citing Grimes at ¶ 11. Accord State v. Hall, 2d Dist. Montgomery No. 28882, 2021-Ohio-1894, ¶ 13. “Among other consequences, an offender‘s violation of a postrelease-control sanction or condition may result in the [Adult Parole Authority‘s] imposing a prison term on the offender.” Bates at ¶ 11, citing
{¶ 26} In this case, the trial court correctly advised Heinzen at the sentencing hearing that she would be required to serve a mandatory three-year term of post-release
If you violate [post-release control], there could be sanctions. If you commit a felony offense while on post-release control and are convicted, your post-release control could be terminated and you could be sentenced to prison for the greater of one year or the amount of time remaining on post-release control. It will be mandatory that the post-release control time run consecutively to your sentence on the new felony offense.
Sentencing Trans. (Sept. 5, 2019), p. 22-23.
{¶ 27} The trial court, however, never advised Heinzen that if she violated post-release control (other than by committing a felony offense) she could receive a prison term of up to one-half of the stated prison term originally imposed upon her. Although the trial court included this information in the sentencing entry, it was not discussed at the sentencing hearing as required by
{¶ 28} The Supreme Court of Ohio has explained that any error in failing to properly impose post-release control does not render the judgment of conviction void.
{¶ 29} Heinzen‘s second assignment of error is overruled in part and sustained in part.
Conclusion
{¶ 30} Having overruled Heinzen‘s first assignment of error, and having overruled in part and sustained in part Heinzen‘s second assignment of error, the judgment of the trial court is reversed with respect to the imposition of post-release control, and the matter is remanded to the trial court for the sole purpose of resentencing Heinzen to post-release control in a manner that is consistent with this opinion. In all other respects, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Copies sent to:
Ian Richardson
Johnna M. Shia
Caitlyn Heinzen
Hon. Douglas M. Rastatter