Appeals court upholds conviction from Meigs County

COLUMBUS, Ohio – An appeals court has upheld the conviction of a man for kidnapping, assault and cultivating marijuana.

According to Meigs County Prosecuting Attorney James K. Stanley, on November 21, 2018, the Ohio Fourth District Court of Appeals issued an opinion in State v. Dewayne Fisher. The court overruled each of Fisher’s three assignments of error and affirmed the judgment of the trial court.

On March 2, 2016, Fisher was convicted of felonious assault, kidnapping, and illegal cultivation of marijuana. The trial court sentenced Fisher to eight years in prison for the felonious assault conviction, which was the maximum sentence. The trial court also sentenced Fisher to community control for five years for the kidnapping and illegal cultivation of marijuana convictions, which was ordered to be served consecutive to the prison term, meaning after Fisher is released from prison. Over two years later, Fisher filed a motion to vacate void judgment with the trial court, which was denied, and Fisher appealed thereafter.

In his merit brief, Fisher alleged that the trial court abused its discretion by failing to void punishment for allied offenses of similar import, that the trial court abused its discretion by failing to void and vacate the community control sanction for kidnapping and illegal cultivation of marijuana, and that the trial court violated Fisher’s right against double jeopardy.

Stanley drafted the State’s brief and argued that the trial court did not abuse its discretion because under the facts of this case, felonious assault and kidnapping were not allied offenses of similar import and therefore Fisher’s right against double jeopardy was not violated as he was not sentenced twice for one criminal act. Stanley also argued that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by imposing and declining to vacate the community control sanction for the kidnapping and illegal cultivation of marijuana convictions because in the Fourth District, trial courts are permitted to sentence a defendant to community control consecutive to a prison sentence.

The Fourth District Court of Appeals agreed with the State, and in a twelve-page opinion, the court overruled each of Fisher’s assignments of error. The judgment of the trial court was affirmed, and Fisher will remain in prison where he will serve the remainder of his sentence, which will expire on January 27, 2024.