Ohio Criminal Appeals Lawyer Blog

As I wrote previously on this blog (as you can read my post about State v. Joseph, 2010-Ohio-954, here), a trial court that fails to impose court costs at the sentencing hearing errs by imposing them in the sentencing entry. Today the Second District Court of Appeals for Montgomery County reversed the imposition of court costs because the trial judge imposed them in the sentencing entry after failing to inform the defendant about court costs at the sentencing hearing. The matter is remanded so that the defendant can have the opportunity to request a waiver of the court costs.

If you are accused of a crime or have been convicted already, contact me if you can afford to hire a private criminal defense lawyer. Otherwise, contact your county or state public defender to see if they can help.

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The Fourth District Court of Appeals for Athens County reversed the "court costs" part of a defendant's sentence because the trial court failed to warn the defendant that failure to pay court costs could result in the defendant having to do community service to pay off the court costs. This notice to the defendant is required by R.C. 2947.23(A)(1). A dissenting judge believes that the issue is not ripe for review since the defendant has not been ordered to do community service to pay off his court costs yet. Read the decision in State v. Hawk, 2011-Ohio-4577 here.

If you are accused of a crime or have been convicted already, contact me if you can afford to hire a private criminal defense lawyer. Otherwise, contact your county or state public defender to see if they can help.

Contact me 24/7 by sending an email to ohiocriminalappealslawyer@gmail.com

This is an old case but the issue comes up all the time so I thought I would blog about it now.

Court costs may be assessed against even an indigent defendant. That is what the Ohio Supreme Court said in State v. Threatt, 2006-Ohio-905. The Ohio Supreme Court also said, "an indigent defendant must move a trial court to waive payment of costs at the time of sentencing. Otherwise, the issue is waived and costs are res judicata." Ouch! If you represent indigent defendants at trial, make it a habit to ask the trial court to waive costs. Read the decision in State v. Threatt, 2006-Ohio-905, here.

The Ohio Supreme Court held today that a trial court errs when it imposes court costs on a defendant, pursuant to former R.C. 2947.23, in the sentencing entry where it failed to inform the defendant at the sentencing hearing that court costs would be imposed. The Court cites Criminal Rule 43(A) which requires that the defendant be present at sentencing and every other stage of his trial. And the Court found that the defendant was harmed because "he was denied the opportunity to claim indigency and to seek a waiver of the payment of court costs before the trial court." In cases such as this, the case is remanded to the trial court to give the defendant the opportunity to request a waiver of the court costs. Read the decision in State v. Joseph, 125 Ohio St.3d 76, 2010-Ohio-954, here.

If you are accused of a crime or have been convicted already, contact me if you can afford to hire a private criminal defense lawyer. Otherwise, contact your county or state public defender to see if they can help.

Contact me 24/7 by sending an email to ohiocriminalappealslawyer@gmail.com