Opinion ID: 2690876
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Standards for Nunc pro Tunc Entries

Text: {¶ 13} This court recently explained, in a decision not cited by Qualls, that when a trial court properly notified a defendant of postrelease control at the sentencing hearing but the initial sentencing entry did not accurately reflect the details of the notification, the imperfect sentencing entry can be corrected through 5 SUPREME COURT OF OHIO a nunc pro tunc entry. In that situation, “[n]o new sentencing hearing is required, because the trial court’s failure to include the postrelease-control term in the original sentencing entry was manifestly a clerical error.    Although trial courts generally lack authority to reconsider their own valid final judgments in criminal cases, they retain continuing jurisdiction to correct clerical errors in judgments by nunc pro tunc entry to reflect what the court actually decided.” State ex rel. Womack v. Marsh, 128 Ohio St.3d 303, 2011-Ohio-229, 943 N.E.2d 1010, ¶ 13, citing State ex rel. Cruzado v. Zaleski, 111 Ohio St.3d 353, 2006Ohio-5795, 856 N.E.2d 263, ¶ 18-19, and Crim.R. 36 (“Clerical mistakes in judgments, orders, or other parts of the record, and errors in the record arising from oversight or omission, may be corrected by the court at any time”). See State v. Lester, 130 Ohio St.3d 303, 2011-Ohio-5204, 958 N.E.2d 142, ¶ 18-19 (courts possess the authority to correct an error in a judgment entry so that the record speaks the truth); State v. Miller, 127 Ohio St.3d 407, 2010-Ohio-5705, 940 N.E.2d 924, ¶ 15 (an error corrected by a nunc pro tunc entry does not involve a legal decision or judgment). {¶ 14} Because the notification of postrelease control was accurately given in the sentencing hearing in Womack, and the error in the sentencing entry was merely clerical in nature, the mistake was correctable by nunc pro tunc entry and no new sentencing hearing was required.3 Womack at ¶ 14. A nunc pro tunc entry issued under those conditions relates back to the original sentencing entry and does not extend the time to file an appeal. Id. at ¶ 15. See also Lester at ¶ 1920 (a nunc pro entry applies retrospectively to the judgment it corrects and does not create a new final order from which a new appeal may be taken). 3. The type of nunc pro tunc entry discussed in Womack and at issue in this case is different from the “entry nunc pro tunc” provided for in R.C. 2929.191, which is issued after a court holds a hearing in accordance with R.C. 2929.191(C). A consideration of the standards regarding conventional nunc pro tunc entries issued pursuant to Crim.R. 36 makes evident that an “entry nunc pro tunc” issued pursuant to R.C. 2929.191 after a hearing is not equivalent to a Crim.R. 36 nunc pro tunc entry, which is limited to the correction of a “clerical mistake.” 6 January Term, 2012 {¶ 15} The primary characteristic distinguishing this case from the situation in Womack is that in this case the sentencing entry contained no mention of postrelease control, while the sentencing entry in Womack imposed an incorrect term of postrelease control. We determine, however, that given the specific circumstances of this case, a nunc pro tunc entry can be used to correct the failure to include in the sentencing entry notification of postrelease control that was properly given in the sentencing hearing. B. A Sentencing Entry that Contains No Reference to Postrelease Control Must Be Timely Corrected {¶ 16} For purposes of addressing the certified issue, we recognize two important principles that our postrelease-control precedents have emphasized. One principle is that unless a sentencing entry that did not include notification of the imposition of postrelease control is corrected before the defendant completed the prison term for the offense for which postrelease control was to be imposed, postrelease control cannot be imposed. Hernandez, 108 Ohio St.3d 395, 2006Ohio-126, 844 N.E.2d 301, at ¶ 28-30; compare Watkins v. Collins, 111 Ohio St.3d 425, 2006-Ohio-5082, 857 N.E.2d 78, ¶ 48-51 (when a sentencing entry made some reference to postrelease control, any deficiencies in the entry could have been raised on appeal, and postrelease control can be imposed upon the defendant’s release from prison). {¶ 17} That basic principle is not specifically implicated in this case, in part because of the lengthy prison term Qualls is serving. If we affirm the judgment of the court of appeals, the nunc pro tunc sentencing entry will have corrected the deficiency in the original sentencing entry, thereby allowing postrelease control to be enforced upon Qualls on his release from prison. Even if we were to reverse the judgment and order a new sentencing hearing here, the trial court would still be able to timely issue a new sentencing entry correcting any deficiency. 7 SUPREME COURT OF OHIO C. The Importance of Notification {¶ 18} Another important principle reiterated in our precedents is that in order to comply with separation-of-powers concerns and to fulfill the requirements of the postrelease-control-sentencing statutes, especially R.C. 2929.19(B) and 2967.28, a trial court must provide statutorily compliant notification to a defendant regarding postrelease control at the time of sentencing, including notifying the defendant of the details of the postrelease control and the consequences of violating postrelease control. Woods, 89 Ohio St.3d 504, 733 N.E.2d 1103, at paragraphs one and two of the syllabus; Jordan, 104 Ohio St.3d 21, 2004-Ohio-6085, 817 N.E.2d 864, at paragraph one of the syllabus; Bloomer, 122 Ohio St.3d 200, 2009-Ohio-2462, 909 N.E.2d 1254, at ¶ 2. {¶ 19} We have also stated that a trial court must incorporate into the sentencing entry the postrelease-control notice to reflect the notification that was given at the sentencing hearing. E.g., Jordan, at paragraph one of the syllabus, see current R.C. 2929.14(D). But our main focus in interpreting the sentencing statutes regarding postrelease control has always been on the notification itself and not on the sentencing entry. See id. at ¶ 23 (recognizing that the “statutory duty” imposed is “to provide notice of postrelease control at the sentencing hearing”); Cruzado, 111 Ohio St.3d 353, 2006-Ohio-5795, 856 N.E.2d 263, at ¶ 26 (stressing the importance of notification); Watkins, 111 Ohio St.3d 425, 2006-Ohio-5082, 857 N.E.2d 78, at ¶ 52 (stating that the “preeminent purpose” of the statutes is “that offenders subject to postrelease control know at sentencing that their liberty could continue to be restrained after serving their initial sentences”). {¶ 20} In many situations, a failure to properly impose postrelease control in a sentencing entry will not be correctable through a nunc pro tunc entry. The reason for that result is not that the sentencing entry was deficient, but rather that the notification given did not comply with the statutory requirements. Womack is 8 January Term, 2012 an example of a situation where a nunc pro tunc entry can correct a sentencing entry’s failure to properly impose postrelease control. D. Resolution of the Conflict Question {¶ 21} Our prior decisions did not address the specific issue presented by this case. As the court of appeals recognized in its entry certifying a conflict, this case is unlike either Jordan or Singleton because notification of postrelease control was not proper in either of those cases. Jordan, 104 Ohio St.3d 21, 2004Ohio-6085, 817 N.E.2d 864, at ¶ 2-3, involved situations in which the sentencing courts failed to properly notify the defendants of the imposition of postrelease control at the sentencing hearings, although notice was contained in the sentencing entries. In Singleton, although the sentencing entry did mention some aspects of postrelease control, the sentencing court failed to properly notify the defendant at the sentencing hearing of the consequences of violating postrelease control. 124 Ohio St.3d 173, 2009-Ohio-6434, 920 N.E.2d 958, at ¶ 4. {¶ 22} Our review of our many other postrelease-control precedents shows that the situation in this case also differs from those other precedents. In no previous case in which a sentencing entry was silent as to postrelease control have we specifically considered the significance of proper postrelease-control notification at the sentencing hearing. Moreover, we have not specifically evaluated the efficacy of a trial court’s use of a nunc pro tunc entry to correct a deficient sentencing entry when the sole error in imposing postrelease control was the failure to incorporate the notification that was given at the sentencing hearing into the entry of conviction. {¶ 23} Here, where notification was properly given at the sentencing hearing, there is no substantive prejudice to a defendant if the sentencing entry’s failure to mention postrelease control is remedied through a nunc pro tunc entry. Our precedents requiring a new sentencing hearing (either de novo or limited) to correctly impose postrelease control do not apply to this situation. The rationale 9 SUPREME COURT OF OHIO underlying those decisions is that a sentence that does not properly impose postrelease control is void, and a remand for a new sentencing hearing is necessary, because the trial court’s erroneous imposition of postrelease control must be corrected in a new hearing at which the defendant is present to receive notification that complies with the statutes. See, e.g., Jordan, 104 Ohio St.3d 21, 2004-Ohio-6085, 817 N.E.2d 864, at ¶ 17 and 23. {¶ 24} But when the notification of postrelease control was properly given at the sentencing hearing, the essential purpose of notice has been fulfilled and there is no need for a new sentencing hearing to remedy the flaw. The original sentencing entry can be corrected to reflect what actually took place at the sentencing hearing, through a nunc pro tunc entry, as long as the correction is accomplished prior to the defendant’s completion of his prison term. {¶ 25} Qualls argues that because his sentencing entry did not include any language regarding postrelease control, he could not appeal any issues relating to the postrelease-control portion of his sentence until the trial court corrected the allegedly void sentence by holding a hearing and properly imposing postrelease control. Only this, he asserts, would have provided him with a final order from which he could appeal. However, in this case, which concerns only the sentencing entry’s failure to include a reference to postrelease-control notification, that argument fails. Because Qualls conceded that notification of postrelease control was properly given at the sentencing hearing, he has no substantive grounds upon which to pursue an appeal relating to the imposition of postrelease control. {¶ 26} As the appellate court accurately observed in its entry certifying a conflict, a nunc pro tunc entry pursuant to Crim.R. 36 to modify a sentencing entry cannot serve to correct the failure to notify a defendant of postrelease control or a mistake in the notification that was given. A nunc pro tunc entry cannot go beyond correcting a clerical error to conform the sentencing entry to 10 January Term, 2012 reflect that notification had occurred when it did not; that action would improperly change the substance of the entry to include events that never occurred. See Cruzado, 111 Ohio St.3d. 353, 2006-Ohio-5795, 856 N.E.2d 263, at ¶ 19 (a nunc pro tunc entry cannot be used to reflect what the court might or should have decided); Miller, 127 Ohio St.3d 407, 2010-Ohio-5705, 940 N.E.2d 924, at ¶ 15 (a nunc pro tunc entry that does not reflect the events that actually occurred at a sentencing hearing is improper). {¶ 27} Although this case is different from Womack because the sentencing entry in this case did not mention postrelease control, nevertheless, like Womack, this case is one in which a nunc pro tunc entry can correct a flawed sentencing entry. {¶ 28} We do not address Qualls’s argument that despite this court’s holding in Fischer, he is entitled to a de novo resentencing hearing. That argument is predicated on this court’s concluding that Qualls must receive a resentencing hearing. However, we determine that a nunc pro tunc entry can be used to correct the postrelease-control deficiency in this case and that Qualls is not entitled to a resentencing hearing. {¶ 29} Our resolution of the issue of this case is narrow and is made within only the context of postrelease control, an area in which the numerous decisions of this court have shaped the development of the law. Our decision by its nature applies to those postrelease-control cases involving an omission of the type that occurred here, without regard to whether the sentencing hearing was held after the effective date of R.C. 2929.191 or held prior to the effective date of that statute, as occurred in this case.