[Cite as State v. Wheeler, 2015-Ohio-3768.]

Court of Appeals of Ohio

EIGHTH APPELLATE DISTRICT 

COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA

JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION 

No. 102375 

STATE OF OHIO

PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT

vs.

RONALD WHEELER

DEFENDANT-APPELLEE 

JUDGMENT: 

AFFIRMED 

Criminal Appeal from the 

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas 

Case No. CR-14-588114-A 

BEFORE: Boyle, J., Celebrezze, A.J., and Jones, J. 

RELEASED AND JOURNALIZED: September 17, 2015
ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT 

Timothy J. McGinty 

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor 

BY: Mary Weston 

 Brett Hammond 

 Daniel T. Van 

Assistant County Prosecutors 

Justice Center 

1200 Ontario Street 

Cleveland, Ohio 44113 

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE 

James A. Gay 

3324 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive 

Cleveland, Ohio 44104
MARY J. BOYLE, J.: 

{¶1} Plaintiff-appellant, state of Ohio, appeals from a trial court judgment 

sentencing defendant-appellee, Ronald Wheeler, under the provisions of H.B. 86 for two 

rape convictions that occurred in 1994. In its sole assignment of error, the state 

contends that “[b]ecause defendant-appellee committed his offenses prior to July 1, 1996, 

the trial court erred when it sentenced defendant-appellee under [S.B. 2] sentencing 

provisions effective July 1, 1996 and H.B. 86 provisions effective September 30, 2011.” 

{¶2} The state acknowledges this court’s prior precedent on this exact issue, but 

appeals “for purposes of further appellate review or potential intra-district conflict 

(should the assigned panel reach a different outcome).” We decline, however, to depart 

from our prior precedent, overrule the state’s sole assignment of error, and affirm the 

judgment of the trial court. 

{¶3} In 1994, on two occasions taking place four months apart, Wheeler forced 

two separate victims from a bus stop at gunpoint, took them to a hidden location, and 

physically assaulted and raped them. The victims went to the hospital following the 

rapes, and a rape kit was collected. The crimes were never solved for 20 years. But in 

2012, the rape kits were submitted to the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal 

Investigation for DNA testing. In 2014, there was a match in the Combined DNA Index 

System database (“CODIS”), and Wheeler was identified as the perpetrator in these two 
crimes. 

{¶4} Wheeler was indicted in August 2014 on seven counts, including three 

counts of rape, three counts of kidnapping, and one count of aggravated robbery. In 

December 2014, he pleaded guilty to an amended indictment of two counts of rape in 

violation of R.C. 2907.02(A)(2). The remaining counts were nolled. 

{¶5} At sentencing, the trial court sentenced Wheeler under H.B. 86, imposing 

two consecutive prison terms of 11 years on each rape count for a total of 22 years in 

prison. The trial court also notified Wheeler that he would be subject to five years of 

mandatory postrelease control upon his release from prison and be labeled a sexual 

predator under H.B. 180. 

{¶6} At the time of Wheeler’s offenses in 1994, the penalty for first-degree 

felonies was an indefinite term of a minimum of five, six, seven, eight, nine, or ten years, 

and a maximum of 25 years. State v. Bryan, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 101209, 

2015-Ohio-1635, ¶ 3. In 1996, S.B. 2 amended the sentencing statutes, making the 

range for a first-degree felony a definite term of anywhere between three and ten years. 

Id. In 2011, H.B. 86 amended the range for a first-degree felony again; it is now a 

definite term of three to eleven years. Id.

{¶7} The issue presented in this appeal is whether the trial court correctly 

sentenced Wheeler under H.B. 86, which was in effect at the time he was sentenced, or 

whether it should have sentenced him under pre-S.B. 2 law that was in effect at the time 

of his offenses. 
{¶8} As the state acknowledges, this court has already decided this issue, and has 

concluded that a defendant in Wheeler’s position should be sentenced under H.B. 86, 

which was in effect at the time of sentencing. See State v. Jackson, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga 

No. 100877, 2014-Ohio-5137, discretionary appeal not accepted, State v. Jackson, 142 

Ohio St.3d 1465, 2015-Ohio-1896, 30 N.E.3d 974 (for a full analysis addressing all of the 

issues that the state raises here);1 see also Byran, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 101209, 

2015-Ohio-1635; State v. Girts, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 101075, 2014-Ohio-5545; State 

v. Steele, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga Nos. 101139 and 101140, 2014-Ohio-5431; State v. 

Thomas, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 101202, 2015-Ohio-415; State v. Hill, 8th Dist. 

Cuyahoga No. 101633, 2015-Ohio-2389. 

{¶9} Thus, in accordance with precedents from this court, we affirm the trial 

court’s judgment sentencing Wheeler under H.B. 86. 

{¶10} The state’s sole assignment of error is overruled. 

{¶11} Judgment affirmed. 

It is ordered that appellee recover from appellant the 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. 

A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to Rule 27 of 

 1

The Ohio Supreme Court also denied the state’s motion for reconsideration asking the court 

to reconsider its decision and accept Jackson, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 100877, 2014-Ohio-5137, for 

discretionary review. See State v. Jackson, 43 Ohio St.3d 1420, 2015-Ohio-2911, 34 N.E.3d 932. 
the Rules of Appellate Procedure. 

 

 

MARY J. BOYLE, JUDGE 

FRANK D. CELEBREZZE, JR., A.J., and 

LARRY A. JONES, SR., J., CONCUR