State v. White

Summary

The Ohio First District Court of Appeals reversed Quentin White’s community-control sentence for a second-degree felony robbery conviction and remanded for a new sentencing hearing. The court held that the trial court failed to make the required statutory finding that community control would not demean the seriousness of the offense under R.C. 2929.13(D)(2). The court deemed the State’s remaining assignments of error moot.

Holdings

1. The State did not waive or forfeit its challenge because the trial court was statutorily required to make the findings necessary to impose community control for a second-degree felony.
2. The trial court erred by imposing community control without finding that a community control sanction would not demean the seriousness of the offense.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the State forfeited or waived its challenge to the trial court's failure to make the statutory findings required to impose community control for a second-degree felony because the State did not object below.
2. Whether the trial court could impose community control for a second-degree felony without expressly finding that community control would not demean the seriousness of the offense.
3. Whether the sentence should be reversed and remanded for a new sentencing hearing based on the missing statutory finding.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded