State v. Merritt

Citations

• 2018 Ohio 4995

Syllabus

APPELLATE REVIEW/CRIMINAL – SEX OFFENSES – PLEAS : Defendant's sole assignment of error, which alleges that his guilty pleas were not knowing, intelligent, and voluntary because the trial court did not inform him prior to accepting his pleas that as a Tier III sex offender he would be subject to community notification and residency restrictions, must be overruled where defendant's Tier III classification was not included in the judgment of conviction and sentence: where defendant's Tier III classification was not included in the judgment of conviction and sentence, he is not subject to community notification and residency restrictions, because those sanctions were never imposed therefore, the appellate court cannot decide and defendant cannot show that his guilty pleas were not knowing, intelligent, and voluntary on the basis that he was not informed about community notification and residency restrictions. [But see DISSENT: Defendant's appeal must be dismissed, because no actual controversy exists: because defendant's Tier III sex-offender classification was not included in the judgment of conviction and sentence, there is no order in place requiring him to register as a sex offender, and the community-notification provisions and the residency restrictions have not attached therefore, the sanctions of which defendant claims he was not properly informed have not been imposed, and the appellate court cannot grant relief based on unimposed sanctions.]