[Cite as State v. Blevens, 2019-Ohio-2245.]

 

 

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO 

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT 

 MONTGOMERY COUNTY 

STATE OF OHIO 

Plaintiff-Appellee 

v. 

JAMIE L. BLEVENS 

Defendant-Appellant 

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Appellate Case No. 28169 

Trial Court Case No. 2018-CR-1987 

(Criminal Appeal from 

 Common Pleas Court) 

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O P I N I O N 

Rendered on the 7th day of June, 2019. 

. . . . . . . . . . . 

MATHIAS H. HECK, JR., by ANDREW T. FRENCH, Atty. Reg. No. 0069384, 

Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office, Appellate Division, Montgomery County Courts 

Building, 301 West Third Street, 5th Floor, Dayton, Ohio 45422 

 Attorney for Plaintiff-Appellee 

 

MICHAEL MILLS, Atty. Reg. No. 0092133, 371 West First Street, 2nd Floor, Dayton, Ohio 

45402 

 Attorney for Defendant-Appellant 

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HALL, J. 
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{¶ 1} Jamie Blevens appeals from her conviction following a guilty plea to one 

count of aggravated possession of drugs (fentanyl), a fifth-degree felony. 

{¶ 2} Blevens’s appointed appellate counsel has filed a brief pursuant to Anders v. 

California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967), asserting the absence of 

non-frivolous issues for review. We notified Blevens of the Anders filing and gave her an 

opportunity to submit a pro se brief, but she did not do so. 

{¶ 3} The record reflects that Blevens was charged with possession of fentanyl and 

misdemeanor possession of drug abuse instruments. The charges stemmed from the 

May 17, 2018 dispatch of police officers to a Dayton fast-food restaurant on a distraught 

female crying and yelling that she wanted her mother. Officers located Blevens and 

observed a hypodermic needle sticking out of her bra. She was taken into custody and 

stated the syringe contained heroin. She said she had tried to shoot up but ‘rolled’ her 

vein. A search of her purse incidental to the arrest revealed she also possessed .06 grams 

of fentanyl. 

{¶ 4} On June 27, 2018, Blevens was indicted on the above charges. After she 

failed to appear, a warrant was issued for her arrest. She was released on bond and again 

failed to appear. A capias was issued, and she was re-arrested on August 18, 2018. On 

September 11, 2018, she appeared in court with counsel and entered a guilty plea to the 

fentanyl charge; the misdemeanor was dismissed. The court ordered the preparation of 

a presentence investigation (PSI) report, and sentencing was scheduled for September 

26, 2018. At sentencing the trial court indicated it reviewed the presentence investigation, 

including several assessments, and sentenced Blevens to 9 months incarceration in the 
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Montgomery County Jail with credit for the time she had been in custody.1 The trial court 

journalized its sentence in a September 27, 2018 judgment entry. This appeal followed. 

{¶ 5} In her Anders brief, Blevens’s appointed appellate counsel, without specific 

argument, requested that this court review three “potential assignments of error:” 1) 

whether Blevens’s counsel was ineffective, 2) whether the trial court erred in sentencing 

Blevens to 9 months local incarceration and 3) whether the trial court failed to comply with 

Crim.R. 11 when accepting Blevens’s plea. 

{¶ 6} Upon review, we concur in counsel’s assessment that the foregoing issues 

are frivolous. In inverse order, the transcript of Blevens’s plea hearing reflects complete 

compliance with Crim.R. 11, and we see no arguable issue with respect to the knowing, 

intelligent, and voluntary nature of her guilty plea. We also see no arguable basis for 

challenging Blevens’s sentence.2 The PSI reveals Blevens has several drug-related 

felony convictions and multiple misdemeanor convictions. For her last felony of 

transporting drugs into a detention facility she was sentenced to prison for 18 months. 

She has failed or absconded from several programs. The trial court noted that it had 

considered the statutory principles and purposes of sentencing as well as the seriousness 

and recidivism factors of the Revised Code. There is simply nothing in the record to 

indicate that the trial court erred in any way in either taking and accepting the plea or in 

the sentencing. These potential assignments of error are frivolous. 

 

1 With certain exceptions, R.C. 2929.34 requires a fifth-degree felony incarceration 

sentence of twelve months or less in a “target county,” including Montgomery, to be 

served in a local facility including the county jail. 

2 According to our calculations Blevens has now served her sentence. An online search 

of the jail population indicates her sentence was complete and she was released May 11, 

2019. Any assigned errors about her sentence would be moot. 
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{¶ 7} As for the question of whether Blevens’s trial counsel provided ineffective 

assistance, we again find no indication whatsoever to support such a claim. The facts of 

Blevens’s arrest and search of her purse were plain, simple and without constitutional 

issue. We see no arguable basis for an ineffective assistance claim with regard to the 

plea agreement or otherwise. Defense counsel argued for the court to place Blevens in a 

dual-diagnosis program but to no avail. On the record before us, any argument that trial 

counsel provided prejudicially deficient representation is frivolous. 

{¶ 8} In addition, in accordance with Anders, we independently have carefully 

examined the record for potential assignments of error and have found no non-frivolous 

issues for our review. 

{¶ 9} The judgment of the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court is affirmed. 

 

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DONOVAN, J. and FROELICH, J., concur. 

Copies sent to: 

Andrew T. French 

Michael Mills 

Hon. Mary Katherine Huffman