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Court of Appeals of Ohio
EIGHTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA
JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION
No. 99539
STATE OF OHIO
PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE
vs.
CLIFTON FIELDS
DEFENDANT-APPELLANT
JUDGMENT:
AFFIRMED
Criminal Appeal from the
Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas
Case No. CR-563378
BEFORE: Rocco, J., Jones, P.J., and Kilbane, J.
RELEASED AND JOURNALIZED: August 29, 2013
-i-
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT
Russell S. Bensing
1370 Ontario Street
1350 Standard Building
Cleveland, Ohio 44113
ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Timothy J. McGinty
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor
BY: Francine B. Goldberg
Ronni Ducoff
Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys
The Justice Center
1200 Ontario Street
Cleveland, Ohio 44113
KENNETH A. ROCCO, J.:
{¶1} In this appeal brought on the accelerated calendar pursuant to App.R. 11.1
and Loc.App.R. 11.1, defendant-appellant Clifton Fields appeals from the sentences
imposed upon him after he entered guilty pleas to two counts of rape and two counts of
kidnapping, all with notices of prior conviction and repeat violent offender
specifications.1
{¶2} The purpose of an accelerated appeal is to permit this court to issue a brief
and conclusory opinion. Crawford v. Eastland Shopping Mall Assn.,
(1st Dist.1983).
{¶3} In his sole assignment of error, Fields argues that the trial court failed to
make the necessary findings before imposing consecutive terms for his convictions. A
review of the record renders his argument unpersuasive.
{¶4} In this case, the trial court noted at the sentencing hearing that it had
considered the presentence report, the comments made, the overriding purposes and
principles of sentencing, and the applicable seriousness and recidivism factors. The
court mentioned the fact that the victim, Fields’s mother-in-law, was physically
impaired.2 The trial court found that “consecutive sentences are also appropriate for a
number of reasons … .”
1The kidnapping counts also contained sexual motivation specifications.
2The victim also was more than twenty years Fields’s senior.
{¶5} One of the reasons was the fact that Fields committed the offenses separately
in time and place. The trial court further stated that consecutive sentences were
“necessary to protect the public from future crimes and to punish” Fields, that Fields’s
offenses were “part of a course of conduct, and the harm caused by these acts was so
great or unusual that a single prison sentence would not adequately reflect the seriousness
of the offense[s].” The court had previously determined that the kidnapping counts
“merged” into the two rape counts, and the court decided to impose consecutive terms on
each count of eight years and ten years “because of the nature of this offense and the fact
that a second offense occurred, and [Fields] went back [and raped the victim again.]”
{¶6} The foregoing comments provide each of the necessary findings required by
R.C. 2929.14(C)(4). The trial court simply used the word “appropriate” rather than the
“talismanic” word “proportionate.” State v. Alexander, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 98762,
2013-Ohio-1987
; State v. Grier, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 98637,
2013-Ohio-1661
. Under
these circumstances, this court cannot clearly and convincingly conclude either that the
record does not support the trial court’s findings or that the sentences imposed were
contrary to law. R.C. 2953.08(G)(2).
{¶7} Fields’s assignment of error is overruled, and his sentences are affirmed.
It is ordered that appellee recover from appellant costs herein taxed.
The court finds there were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
It is ordered that a special mandate issue out of this court directing the common
pleas court to carry this judgment into execution. The defendant’s conviction having
been affirmed, any bail pending appeal is terminated. Case remanded to the trial court
for execution of sentence.
A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to Rule 27 of
the Rules of Appellate Procedure.
_________________________________________
KENNETH A. ROCCO, JUDGE
MARY EILEEN KILBANE, J., CONCURS;
LARRY A. JONES, SR., P.J., CONCURS IN
JUDGMENT ONLY
