State v. Taylor

Citations

• 215 N.E.3d 657
• 2023 Ohio 1766

Syllabus

Appellant's felonious assault convictions were supported by sufficient evidence because the State established that appellant had used deadly force and that his victims had suffered serious physical harm. The trial court did not err in captioning the jury verdict forms with the words \serious harm\ rather than \serious physical harm.\ Using captions to identify offenses is a rational way to identify the verdict for each offense, particularly where, as here, many offenses were involved. The trial court did err in calculating the proper sentence under the Reagan Tokes Law, as the State concedes. However, the court did not err in imposing consecutive sentences. Under State v. Gwynne, Ohio Slip Opinion No. 2022-Ohio-4607, __ N.E.3d __, a trial court must consider each sentence on individual counts that it intends to impose consecutively on the defendant and the aggregate prison term that will result. Nonetheless, we are unable to reach a firm conviction or belief that \the record does not support the trial court's necessity or proportionality findings in light of the actual number of consecutive terms that it imposed and the resulting aggregate sentence.\ Id. at ¶ 17. The trial court did not err in ordering appellant to pay restitution. Appellant failed to object to the amount or to ask for a hearing in the trial court, the trial court considered appellant's ability to pay, and the amount of restitution was minimal. Finally, no error occurred in imposing court costs, because appellant failed to file a motion in the trial court seeking waiver of court costs based on his alleged indigent status. Appellant has also not lost his ability to make such a request, since R.C. 2947.23(C) allows defendants to make such requests at the time of sentencing or at any time thereafter. Judgment affirmed in part, reversed in part (as to the error in calculating the sentence under the Reagan Tokes Law), and remanded.