Case Title: State v. Mercier

Citation: 2016-Ohio-128

Docket Number: 2014-1409

State: ohio

Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Date: 2016-01-19T00:00:00Z

Document:
[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it may be cited as 
State v. Mercier, Slip Opinion No. 2016-Ohio-128.] 
 
 
NOTICE 
This slip opinion is subject to formal revision before it is published in 
an advance sheet of the Ohio Official Reports.  Readers are requested 
to promptly notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of Ohio, 
65 South Front Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215, of any typographical or 
other formal errors in the opinion, in order that corrections may be 
made before the opinion is published. 
 
 
SLIP OPINION NO. 2016-OHIO-128 
THE STATE OF OHIO, APPELLEE, v. MERCIER, APPELLANT. 
[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it 
may be cited as State v. Mercier, Slip Opinion No. 2016-Ohio-128.] 
Court of appeals’ judgment reversed on the authority of State v. South—Cause 
remanded. 
(Nos. 2014-1409 and 2014-1411—Submitted November 17, 2015—Decided 
January 19, 2016.) 
APPEAL from and CERTIFIED by the Court of Appeals for Franklin County, 
No. 13AP-906, 2014-Ohio-2910. 
__________________ 
{¶ 1} The judgment of the court of appeals is reversed, the trial court’s 
sentencing order is vacated, and the cause is remanded to the trial court on the 
authority of State v. South, Slip Opinion No. 2015-Ohio-3930. 
 
O’CONNOR, C.J., and PFEIFER, LANZINGER, FRENCH, and O’NEILL, JJ., 
concur. 
 
KENNEDY, J., concurs in judgment only. 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
 
 
 
2 
 
 
O’DONNELL, J., dissents. 
__________________ 
KENNEDY, J., concurring in judgment only. 
{¶ 2} In State v. South, Slip Opinion No. 2015-Ohio-3930, I dissented 
from the majority’s conclusion that a trial court has discretion to sentence an 
offender for an underlying third-degree-felony offense of operating a vehicle 
while under the influence (“OVI”) only to the prison terms specified in R.C. 
2929.14(A)(3)(b).  It was my opinion that based on the statutory language of R.C. 
2929.14(B)(4), it is within a trial court’s discretion to impose an additional prison 
term of any duration as set forth in R.C. 2929.14(A)(3)(a) and (b) for the 
underlying OVI conviction for a felony of the third degree.  Id. at ¶ 44 (Kennedy, 
J., concurring in part and dissenting in part).  Because the majority opinion in 
South is controlling law, I respectfully concur in judgment only. 
__________________ 
 
Ron O’Brien, Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney, and Michael P. 
Walton, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee. 
 
Yeura R. Venters, Franklin County Public Defender, and Timothy E. 
Pierce, Assistant Public Defender, for appellant. 
__________________