IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT FAIRFIELD COUNTY
STATE OF OHIO v. JACKIE IMLER
APPEAL NO. 19-CA-21, 19-CA-22

Date of Judgement Entry on Appeal: January 15, 2020

Appeal of sentence from multiple cases.

In August 2015, Imler entered guilty pleas to child endangering, a felony of the third degree and illegal assembly or possession of chemicals for the manufacture of drugs, also a felony of the third degree. The matter was docketed as Fairfield County Court of Common Pleas case number 15-CR-134. The trial court imposed a prison term of 18 months for illegal assembly or possession of chemicals for the manufacture of drugs and a 3-year term of community control for child endangering to be served consecutively to the prison term. The trial court reserved the authority to impose an additional prison term of 12 months if Imler violated community control.

In November 2015, Imler was granted judicial release and began to serve the 3-year term of community control.

In May of 2017, Imler admitted to violating the terms of community control and entered a plea of guilty to a new bill of information for aggravated drug possession, a felony of the fifth degree. The latter charge was docketed as Fairfield County Court of Common Pleas case number 17-CR-219.

In case number 15-CR-134, the trial court ordered Imler to serve the remainder of the 18-month prison term for illegal assembly or possession of chemicals for the manufacture of drugs. The trial court further ordered that Imler would remain on community control for the offense of child endangering. In case number 17-CR-219, the trial court imposed a 3-year term of community control to be served consecutively to the sentence in 15-CR-134. The trial court ordered the 3-year term of community control to be tolled while appellant was in prison and reserved the authority to order an 8-month term of imprisonment for a future violation of the terms of community control.

In April of 2019, Imler again appeared before the trial court to admit violating the terms of community control. The trial court thereupon imposed the reserved 12-month term and the reserved 8-month term for a total prison term of 20 months.

On appeal Imler argued that the trial court erred in imposing a community-control sanction on one or more felony counts to be served consecutively to a term of imprisonment imposed upon one or more other felony counts.

The Ohio Supreme Court addressed this issue in State v. Hitchcock, 157 Ohio St.3d 215, 2019-Ohio-3246, 134 N.E.3d 164, at ¶ 24, stating that because no provision of the Revised Code authorizes trial courts to impose community-control sanctions on one felony count to be served consecutively to a prison term imposed on another felony count, trial courts may not do so. Unless otherwise authorized by statute, a trial court may not impose community-control sanctions on one felony count to be served consecutively to a prison term imposed on another felony count.

The Fifth District reversed the judgment of the trial court and remanded the matter for re-sentencing consistent with Hitchcock, supra, 2019-Ohio3246 at ¶ 25.