State v. SpearsState v. Spears
PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE vs. DEFENDANT-APPELLANT
JUDGMENT: AFFIRMED
FOR APPELLANT
Inmate No. A405-977
Grafton Correctional Institution
2500 S. Avon Belden Road
Grafton, Ohio 44044-9804
ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
William D. Mason
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor
BY: T. Allan Regas
Assistant County Prosecutor
8th Floor, Justice Center
1200 Ontario Street
Cleveland, Ohio 44113
N.B. This entry is an announcement of the court‘s decision. See
{¶ 1} This case came to be heard upon the accelerated calendar pursuant to
{¶ 2} Defendant-appellant, Myron Spears (“Spears“), pro se, appeals a nunc pro tunc entry that states that his total aggregate sentence is a term of eleven years instead of ten years. We find no merit to the appeal and affirm.
{¶ 3} In September 2000, Spears was charged in a ten-count indictment with three counts of felonious assault, three counts of aggravated robbery, three counts of kidnapping, and one count of aggravated burglary. All counts included one- and three-year firearm specifications. In May 2001, Spears entered a plea bargain and pled guilty to one count of felonious assault with a three-year firearm specification, one count of kidnapping, and one count of aggravated burglary. The remaining counts and specifications were nolled.
{¶ 4} The court sentenced Spears to seven years on the felonious assault charge with a mandatory three-year consecutive sentence for the accompanying firearm specification. The court sentenced Spears to eight years each on the kidnapping and aggravated burglary charges. The court ordered the sentences for kidnapping and aggravated burglary to run concurrently with each other and with the sentence imposed for felonious assault.
{¶ 5} In June 2008, the trial court entered the following nunc pro tunc entry upon the docket:
“Pursuant to Criminal Rule 36, due to clerical error, the court corrects its journal entry of sentencing dated 04/09/2001 to reflect that defendant received a net 11 year prison sentence (and not a 10 year sentence). * * *”
{¶ 6} In September 2009, Spears filed a motion to correct the improper entry. The court denied the motion, and this appeal followed in which Spears raises two assignments of error.
{¶ 7} In the first assignment of error, Spears contends he was denied his constitutional right to be present at all essential parts of his trial when the trial court altered his sentence in an out-of-court proceeding and violated his right against double jeopardy. Spears also claims the trial court lacked authority to modify his sentence because it was an agreed sentence pursuant to a plea bargain.
{¶ 8} Spears was sentenced to seven years for felonious assault and three years on the accompanying firearm specification pursuant to
{¶ 9} However,
{¶ 10}
{¶ 11} Spears argues the court could not correct the sentencing journal entry without his presence in open court and that the modification of the sentencing journal entry violated his rights against double jeopardy. Specifically, Spears claims that the nunc pro tunc entry effectively “increases” his sentence and, therefore, constitutes double jeopardy. We agree that, once a defendant has started to serve a sentence, a court may not modify or increase it, as that constitutes double jeopardy. See State v. Bell (1990), 70 Ohio App.3d 765, 773, 592 N.E.2d 848. However, we do not find that the court‘s nunc pro tunc entry modified or increased Spears‘s sentence.
{¶ 12}
{¶ 13} Spears also argues the court did not have the authority to modify his sentence because the ten-year sentence was agreed to pursuant to a plea bargain. However, Spears failed to file a transcript of the plea hearing as required by
{¶ 14} Accordingly, the first assignment of error is overruled.
{¶ 15} In the second assignment of error, Spears argues his sentence could not be modified because he had already served seven years of his sentence. As previously explained,
“(A) Applicability. These rules prescribe the procedure to be followed in all courts of this state in the exercise of criminal jurisdiction, with the exceptions stated in subdivision (C) of this rule.” (Emphasis added.)
{¶ 16} Thus, the criminal rules, including
{¶ 17} In State v. Nye (June 4, 1996), Franklin App. No. 95APA11-1490, the court held that a nunc pro tunc entry is not available to correct an error after a defendant has been released from prison, probation, or parole because the court no longer retains criminal jurisdiction over the defendant. The Nye court explained:
“Criminal jurisdiction attaches when a charge is filed alleging some violation of the Ohio Criminal Statutes. * * * Criminal jurisdiction ends upon the defendant‘s release from incarceration, probation or parole,
whichever event occurs last. In the instant action, appellant was released, effective September 15, 1995. Appellant was not on parole, nor was he on probation. His release was full and final. He was not subject to further criminal prosecution and punishment for the instant offenses. Id. At that point in time, there were no pending criminal proceedings against appellant. The criminal rules simply do not apply, given that there is no ‘criminal jurisdiction’ to be exercised over appellant. “Moreover, there must be some reasonable limit to the provisions of Crim.R. 36. Otherwise, the court could put on a nunc pro tunc entry many years after release from imprisonment. We hold that, at the latest, where a sentence not contrary to law is imposed upon a defendant‘s full and final release, the criminal rules no longer apply as there is no pending case, and a nunc pro tunc entry/judgment is not available to correct an error.” (Citations omitted.)
{¶ 18} Thus, so long as the court retains criminal jurisdiction over a defendant, the court may correct journal entries using a proper nunc pro tunc entry.
{¶ 19} Here, Spears is still serving his prison sentences for the convictions in this case. Therefore, the trial court retained criminal jurisdiction over him, which gave the trial court the authority to use a proper nunc pro tunc entry to correct a clerical or mathematical error in the original sentence.
{¶ 20} Accordingly, the second assignment of error is also overruled.
Judgment affirmed.
It is ordered that appellee recover of 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. The defendant‘s conviction having been affirmed, any bail pending appeal is terminated.
Case remanded to the trial court for execution of sentence.
A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to Rule 27 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure.
COLLEEN CONWAY COONEY, JUDGE
SEAN C. GALLAGHER, A.J., and
MARY J. BOYLE, J., CONCUR