State v. South
Annotate this CaseAfter a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs (OVI) in violation of Ohio Rev. Code 4511.19(A)(1)(a), a third-degree felony, and a repeat-offender specification; OVI in violation of Ohio Rev. Code 4511.19(A)(1)(d), a third-degree felony; and driving under suspension. The trial court merged the two OVI counts for sentencing purposes and imposed a “mandatory” three-year sentence for the specification plus an additional “mandatory” consecutive five-year sentence for the underlying OVI offense. The Ninth District Court of Appeals vacated the sentence, holding that it was contrary to law, but certified that its decision conflicted with State v. Sturgill, decided by the Twelfth District Court of Appeal. In this certified conflict appeal, the Supreme Court considered how multiple sentencing statutes interact when a defendant is convicted of an OVI offense as a third-degree felony as well as a repeat-offender specification. The Court held that, under these circumstances, a trial court must sentence that defendant to a mandatory prison term of one to five years for the repeat-offender specification and may also sentence the defendant to an additional prison term of nine, twelve, eighteen, twenty-four, thirty, or thirty-six months for the underlying OVI conviction.
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