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State v. Pearson

Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eleventh District, Lake County
Feb 26, 1999
CASE NO. 98-L-179 (Ohio Ct. App. Feb. 26, 1999)

Opinion

CASE NO. 98-L-179

February 26, 1999

CHARACTER OF PROCEEDINGS:

Criminal Appeal from the Court of Common Pleas Case No. 95 CR 000395.

JUDGMENT: Reversed and remanded.

CHARLES E. COULSON, LAKE COUNTY PROSECUTOR; WENDY J. SMITHER, ASSISTANT PROSECUTOR, (For Plaintiff-Appellee).

R. PAUL LaPLANTE, LAKE COUNTY PUBLIC DEFENDER; VANESSA R. MacKNIGHT, ASSISTANT PUBLIC DEFENDER, (For Defendant-Appellant).


On October 18, 1995, appellant, Willie J. Pearson, pleaded guilty to two counts of gross sexual imposition, in violation of R.C. 2907.05, felonies of the third degree. In a judgment entry dated November 17, 1995, the Lake County Court of Common Pleas sentenced appellant to a definite term of two years of incarceration on each count, the sentences to run consecutively to each other.

After a hearing conducted pursuant to R.C. 2950.09, the trial court adjudicated appellant as a sexual predator on July 15, 1998. Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal, asserting that Ohio's version of Megan's Law, recently amended R.C. Chapter 2950, is unconstitutional.

Based on the precedent established by the majority of this court in State v. Williams (Jan. 29, 1999), Lake App. No. 97-L-191, unreported, although this writer interposed a dissent to the majority's mandate there that R.C. Chapter 2950 was constitutionally void as applied to sexual predators under Section 1, Article I of the Ohio Constitution, it is clear that the decision in the Williams case controls the outcome here. Hence, I defer to the present controlling authority in this appellate district on the issues raised in this appeal.

Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court is reversed, and the case is hereby remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

______________________________ PRESIDING JUDGE DONALD R. FORD

NADER, J., O'NEILL, J., concur.

HON. DONALD R. FORD, P.J., HON. ROBERT A. NADER, J., HON. WILLIAM M. O'NEILL, J., JUDGES.


Summaries of

State v. Pearson

Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eleventh District, Lake County
Feb 26, 1999
CASE NO. 98-L-179 (Ohio Ct. App. Feb. 26, 1999)
Case details for

State v. Pearson

Case Details

Full title:STATE OF OHIO, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. WILLIE J. PEARSON…

Court:Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eleventh District, Lake County

Date published: Feb 26, 1999

Citations

CASE NO. 98-L-179 (Ohio Ct. App. Feb. 26, 1999)