Ohio v. Damron
Annotate this CaseIn 2007, grand jury returned an indictment against Defendant Jeremy Damron that charged one count of felonious assault, two counts of domestic violence and one count of rape. In 2009, Defendant entered a guilty plea to the assault charge and to one count of domestic violence. In exchange, the State requested that the trial court enter a nolle prosequi to the remaining two counts. At the plea hearing, Defendant was advised of the applicable statutory maximum penalties for the charges to which he pled guilty. Before the sentencing hearing, each party submitted a sentencing memorandum. Defendant argued that the two charges against him should be merged as “allied offenses.” Defendant conceded that assault and domestic violence were not the same, but that he could not have committed one offense without the other. A merged offense as Defendant sought, would carry less total jail time. The trial court merged Defendant’s offenses, and sentenced him to eight years for assault, and five years for domestic violence—with the sentences to run concurrently. The State appealed, and the appellate court found that “Even if [it] were to conclude that the [trial] court’s decision to impose concurrent sentences had been based on faulty reasoning, the fact remains that the court’s order that the sentences be served concurrently resulted in a sentence authorized by the statutes governing sentencing.” The Supreme Court disagreed with both lower courts’ rulings, holding that the offenses for which Defendant was charged were not “allied” but two separate and distinct offenses for which Defendant received separate convictions and separate sentences. The Court vacated the sentences and remanded the case to the trial court for resentencing.
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