Cases | 2006-Ohio-3794(Ohio Ct. App. 2006) | 2018
The defendant pled guilty to felonious assault and aggravated robbery following an altercation between the defendant and his girlfriend that resulted in his cutting her throat with a knife. The defendant was sentenced to fourteen years in prison. The defendant appealed, arguing the sentence was improper because it was based on a victim’s impact statement introduced during sentencing that included material facts not admitted to by the defendant as part of this plea agreement. The appellate court found state law requires the court to allow for victims’ statements prior to sentencing and that the victim’s statement at issue—that, during the attack, the defendant looked like he intended to kill the victim—was not a new material fact as evidence in the record other than the victim’s statement supported such a conclusion. The victim’s statement, therefore, did not include prohibited new material facts. The sentence was affirmed.