State v. Hairston

• Decision Date: 21 May 2008
• Docket Number: No. 2007-0394.,2007-0394.
• Citation: 888 N.E.2d 1073,118 Ohio St.3d 289,2008 Ohio 2338
• Parties: STATE of Ohio, Appellee, v. HAIRSTON, Appellant.
• Court: Ohio Supreme Court

888 N.E.2d 1073

118 Ohio St.3d 289

2008-Ohio-2338

STATE of Ohio, Appellee, v. HAIRSTON, Appellant.

No. 2007-0394.

Supreme Court of Ohio.

Submitted January 9, 2008.

Decided May 21, 2008.

Ron O'Brien, Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney, and Steven L. Taylor, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee.

Clark Law Office and Toki M. Clark, Columbus, for appellant.

O'DONNELL, J.

{¶ 1} The sole issue before this court concerns whether the aggregate, 134-year prison term imposed on Marquis Hairston constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Section 9, Article I of the Ohio Constitution. Because this aggregate term of incarceration resulted from Hairston's guilty pleas to four counts of aggravated robbery, four counts of kidnapping, three counts of aggravated burglary, all with firearm specifications, and three counts of having a weapon while under disability, and because none of his individual sentences are grossly disproportionate to their respective offenses, we conclude that his aggregate sentence is not unconstitutional. Thus, we affirm the judgment of the court of appeals.

Facts and Procedural History

{¶ 2} In the fall of 2005, a series of home burglaries caused concern among inhabitants of German Village, a neighborhood located just south of downtown Columbus.

{¶ 3} At 7:00 a.m., on September 27, 2005, Marquis Hairston and two other males entered the home of Cynthia Green. She first saw them in the hallway adjacent to her bathroom as she prepared to take a shower. At gunpoint, they took her to the bedroom and forced her to remove her clothing and to kneel on her bedroom floor while they ransacked her home. One of the males, holding a gun to her head, began to tease her, saying "safety on, safety off" as the others loaded cash, jewelry, phones, stereo equipment, a laptop computer, and her clothing into her car. Then they gagged her by stuffing a pair of socks into her mouth, tied her to a chair, and left in her car. She eventually freed herself by using a pair of manicure scissors to cut her restraints and called the police.

{¶ 4} Two weeks later, at 6:00 a.m. on October 10, 2005, Gary Michael Reames and his fianceé, Melanie Pinkerton, awoke to investigate why their dogs were barking and discovered two men in the hallway outside their bedroom — one holding a gun and the other holding a butcher knife. The men screamed obscenities and ordered Reames and Pinkerton to get down on their knees. While one of the men held them at gunpoint, the second man ransacked their home, taking cash, jewelry, and credit cards to Pinkerton's BMW. After loading the car, they ordered Reames and Pinkerton to take off their clothes, tied them to chairs in the hallway, and gagged them. After the men left in her car, Pinkerton freed herself, untied Reames, and called the police.

{¶ 5} At about 6:45 in the morning on October 25, 2005, John Maransky, after showering and dressing for work, walked downstairs to his living room, where two men confronted him at gunpoint and ordered him to get down on the floor. One of the men held him at gunpoint while the other ransacked his home and took electronic equipment and other items outside to his car. The gunman threatened to shoot him if he tried to do anything. Once they finished loading his car, the men took Maransky to the basement, ordered him to strip, hogtied him, and stuffed a glove into his mouth. After they left, Maransky freed himself and called the police.

{¶ 6} A week later, on November 2, 2005, Maransky discovered several of his stolen belongings at the E-Z Cash Pawnshop, located near the German Village neighborhood. He called the police, and officer Brenda Walker responded and spoke with the pawnshop clerk, who identified Hairston and his brother, Louis, as the individuals who had pawned Maransky's items. Thereafter, Pinkerton identified Marquis Hairston from a photo array as the perpetrator of the crimes. Based on this information, officers arrested Hairston on November 3, 2005, and, during a videotaped interrogation, he admitted his involvement in all three burglaries.

{¶ 7} The state subsequently indicted him on 26 counts, including charges of robbery, aggravated robbery, burglary, aggravated burglary, kidnapping, theft, receiving stolen property, and having a weapon while under disability. Following Hairston's pleas of not guilty to all charges, the court began a jury trial on March 29, 2006. On the third day of trial, however, Hairston pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated robbery, three counts of aggravated burglary, four counts of kidnapping, all with firearm specifications, and three counts of having a weapon while under disability. The state agreed to nolle the remaining counts.

{¶ 8} At the sentencing hearing, the state requested maximum, consecutive sentences, asserting that Hairston had been imprisoned on two previous occasions for similar offenses and pointing out that he had burglarized Green's home just seven days after being released from prison. Each victim gave a statement to the court explaining the impact that the crimes had on their lives. Defense counsel urged the court to consider that Hairston was only 24 years old at the time of the offenses, that he completed his GED while previously incarcerated, that he had not fired the gun, and that he claimed he had not caused the victims to suffer any serious physical harm.

{¶ 9} The court referred to the purposes of sentencing — to protect the public and to punish the offender — and noted that Hairston had previously been incarcerated on two separate occasions for robbery and burglary, that there was no indication that he would have stopped committing these crimes had he not been caught, and that he had not expressed remorse for his behavior. The court also recognized the effect that Hairston's crimes had on the victims and on the community in general. Based on these considerations, the court imposed maximum, consecutive sentences for each of the 14 felony offenses and the gun specifications, resulting in an aggregate prison term of 134 years.

{¶ 10} Hairston appealed to the Tenth District Court of Appeals, arguing, inter alia, that the aggregate sentence constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. The court of appeals rejected that argument and affirmed the trial court. State v. Hairston, Franklin App. No. 06AP-420, 2007-Ohio-143, 2007 WL 96971, ¶ 40-41. On Hairston's further appeal to this court, we agreed to consider the following proposition of law: "A violation of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution occurs where a Defendant is sentenced to 134 years incarceration for three aggravated robberies where injuries are non-life threatening." 113 Ohio St.3d 1512, 2007-Ohio-2208, 866 N.E.2d 511.

{¶ 11} Hairston argues that his sentence violates the Eighth Amendment because it is grossly disproportionate to the aggregate nature of his crimes and shocking to a reasonable person and to the community's sense of justice. He further maintains that his offense warrants less punishment than more serious offenses, such as rape, sexual abuse, or murder. The state contends that Hairston's aggregate sentence is not unconstitutional, because the term of incarceration for each offense is within the statutory range and because the court has discretion to impose those terms consecutively.

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

{¶ 12} The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution applies to the states pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment. See Robinson v. California (1962), 370 U.S. 660, 82 S.Ct. 1417, 8 L.Ed.2d 758. The amendment provides: "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." Section 9, Article I of the Ohio Constitution sets forth the same restriction: "Excessive bail shall not be required; nor excessive fines imposed; nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."

{¶ 13} In State v. Weitbrecht (1999), 86 Ohio St.3d 368, 715 N.E.2d 167, we applied Justice Kennedy's Eighth Amendment analysis in his concurring opinion in Harmelin v. Michigan (1991), 501 U.S. 957, 997, 111 S.Ct. 2680, 115 L.Ed.2d 836. We quoted with approval his conclusion that "`[t]he Eighth Amendment does not require strict proportionality between crime and sentence. Rather, it forbids only extreme sentences that are "grossly disproportionate" to the crime.'" Weitbrecht, 86 Ohio St.3d at 373, 715 N.E.2d 167, quoting Harmelin, 501 U.S. at 1001, 111 S.Ct. 2680, 115 L.Ed.2d 836 (Kennedy J., concurring in part and in judgment). We further emphasized that "`only in the rare case in which a threshold comparison of the crime committed and the sentence imposed leads to an inference of gross disproportionality'" may a court compare the punishment under review to punishments imposed in Ohio or in other jurisdictions. Id. at 373, 715 N.E.2d 167, fn. 4, quoting Harmelin, 501 U.S. at 1005, 111 S.Ct. 2680, 115 L.Ed.2d 836 (Kennedy, J., concurring in part and in judgment).

{¶ 14} With respect to the question of gross disproportionality, we reiterated in Weitbrecht that "`[c]ases in which cruel and unusual punishments have been found are limited to those involving sanctions which under the circumstances would be considered shocking to any reasonable person,'" and furthermore that "`the penalty must be so greatly disproportionate to the offense as to shock the sense of justice of the community.'" Id. at 371, 715 N.E.2d 167, quoting McDougle v. Maxwell (1964), 1 Ohio St.2d 68, 70, 30 O.O.2d 38, 203 N.E.2d 334, and citing State v. Chaffin (1972), 30 Ohio St.2d 13, 59 O.O.2d 51, 282 N.E.2d 46, paragraph three of the syllabus.

Gross-Disproportionality Review of Aggregate Prison Terms

{¶ 15} Focusing on his aggregate term of incarceration, Hairston claims that the trial court imposed a 134-year sentence that is shocking to a reasonable person and to the community's sense of justice and thus is...