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State v. Ryan3/14/2003
Judgment Appealed From Is: Affirmed
Date of Judgment Entry on Appeal: March 14, 2003
. The defendant-appellant, Michael Ryan, appeals the sentence imposed by the trial court following his guilty plea to abduction in violation of R.C. 2905.02. In his two assignments of error, he contends that (1) the trial court's imposition of the maximum five-year prison term for a third-degree felony is not supported by the record, and (2) that the sentence is not consistent with sentences imposed for similar crimes committed by similar offenders as required by R.C. 2929.11(B). We overrule the assignments of error and affirm Ryan's sentence.
. At approximately eight-thirty in the morning on the day of the offense, Ryan was in a state of intoxication, having already consumed a fifth of alcohol. He was in downtown Cincinnati and followed the victim, Laura Hargett, from a store into the elevator of the office building where she worked. After the other passengers disembarked at their various floors, Ryan and Hargett were left alone in the elevator. As she was attempting to exit at her floor, Ryan grabbed her to prevent her from leaving. As Hargett described it, "He [Ryan] had me in a football lock. He was tackling me." Hargett screamed and struggled to prevent the elevator doors from closing. Co-workers came to her aid. Ryan escaped their grasp and fled down the stairs and hid in the stairwell until he could again get in the elevator and escape out the front door. As he ran from the building, a building employee obtained the number of the license plate on Ryan's automobile. He was arrested a week later.
. In exchange for his guilty plea to abduction, the prosecutor dismissed the second count of the indictment, felonious assault, a second-degree felony. The trial court continued the matter for sentencing. Ryan, however, failed to appear on the scheduled sentencing date because he had been arrested for driving under the influence and confined in Georgetown, Ohio. The trial court revoked Ryan's bail and requested the sheriff to place a holder against him with the Brown County authorities. When he finally appeared for sentencing, the trial imposed the maximum five-year prison term.
. In his first assignment of error, Ryan challenges the trial court's imposition of the maximum sentence. The longest prison term is reserved for the worst felony offenders-those who have committed the worst forms of the offense or pose the greatest likelihood of recidivism. R.C. 2929.14(C). In addition to making the basic sentencing findings required by R.C. 2929.14(C), the trial court must make additional findings before meting out the maximum sentence. R.C. 2929.19(B)(2)(d).
. Ryan concedes that the trial court made the necessary statutory findings to impose the longest prison term, but he contends that the trial court's findings are contrary to law, by which he means that they are not supported by the record. Ryan correctly points out that since he had not previously served a prison term, R.C. 2929.14(B) entitled him to a presumption that his first prison term would be the shortest prison sentence, in this case one-year for a third-degree felony. The trial court, however, concluded that the shortest prison term would demean the seriousness of Ryan's conduct and would not adequately protect the public from future crime. The court found that the "more serious" factors outweighed the "less serious" factors based upon Hargett's statement that she had suffered serious psychological harm from the incident. Hargett told the trial court that she had been diagnosed with a manic-depressive disorder that had been severely exacerbated by the fright and stress caused by Ryan's be
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