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State v. Swansinger

Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eleventh District, Lake County
Feb 26, 1999
CASE NO. 97-L-120 (Ohio Ct. App. Feb. 26, 1999)

Opinion

CASE NO. 97-L-120

February 26, 1999

CHARACTER OF PROCEEDINGS:

Criminal Appeal from the Court of Common Pleas Case No. 93 CR 000192.

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; SUSAN GRIESHAMMER, ASSISTANT PUBLIC DEFENDER, (For Defendant-Appellant).


On April 21, 1993, appellant, Richard Swansinger, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual battery, felonies of the third degree, in violation of R.C. 2907.03. In a judgment entry filed on May 27, 1993, the Lake County Court of Common Pleas sentenced appellant to consecutive sentences of two years of incarceration on each count. In a judgment entry filed on May 14, 1997, the trial court adjudicated appellant to be a sexual predator pursuant to recently amended R.C. Chapter 2950, Ohio's version of Megan's Law. Appellant timely appealed, asserting that 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 further 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. Swansinger

Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eleventh District, Lake County
Feb 26, 1999
CASE NO. 97-L-120 (Ohio Ct. App. Feb. 26, 1999)
Case details for

State v. Swansinger

Case Details

Full title:STATE OF OHIO, Plaintiff-Appellee v. RICHARD SWANSINGER…

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

Date published: Feb 26, 1999

Citations

CASE NO. 97-L-120 (Ohio Ct. App. Feb. 26, 1999)