State v. VanHoose

[Cite as State v. VanHoose, 2014-Ohio-3944.] IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT CHAMPAIGN COUNTY STATE OF OHIO : : Appellate Case No. 2013-CA-23 Plaintiff-Appellee : : Trial Court Case No. 13-CR-25 v. : : SHEA M. VanHOOSE : (Criminal Appeal from : (Common Pleas Court) Defendant-Appellant : : ........... OPINION Rendered on the 12th day of September , 2014. ........... KEVIN S. TALEBI, Champaign County Prosecutor’s Office, 200 North Main Street, Urbana, Ohio 43078 Attorney for Plaintiff-Appellee MICHAEL R. PENTECOST, Atty. Reg. #0036803, 117 South Main Street, Suite 400, Dayton, Ohio 45422 Attorney for Defendant-Appellant SHEA M. VanHOOSE, 225 Logan Street, Urbana, Ohio 43078 Defendant-Appellant, pro se ............. HALL, J. {¶ 1} Shea M. VanHoose appeals from his conviction and sentence following a negotiated guilty plea to one count of trafficking in marijuana, a fifth-degree felony. {¶ 2} VanHoose’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 any non-frivolous issues for appellate review and requesting permission to withdraw. We notified VanHoose of counsel’s filing and gave him an opportunity to submit a pro se brief. No such brief has been filed. {¶ 3} In his Anders filing, counsel does identify a potential assignment of error concerning the propriety of VanHoose’s ten-month prison sentence. Counsel concludes, however, that a challenge to the sentence would be frivolous because it was less than the statutory maximum and was supported by the record. {¶ 4} Upon review, we agree that a challenge to VanHoose’s sentence would be frivolous. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s web site reflects that VanHoose is no longer incarcerated, and a county “JusticeWeb” site reflects that he is no longer even on post-release supervision. See State v. Bair, 2d Dist. Champaign No. 2011-CA-8, 2011-Ohio-6798, ¶ 4 (taking judicial notice that a defendant’s name did not appear on the ODRC web site of incarcerated individuals). Therefore, any challenge to his sentence would be moot. Id. at ¶ 6. {¶ 5} Finally, pursuant to our responsibilities under Anders, we independently have examined the record, including plea and sentencing hearing transcripts, and have found no non-frivolous issues for appellate review. The record reflects a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary guilty plea in compliance with Crim.R. 11. In exchange for the plea, the State agreed to dismissal of a second count and deleted a specification that VanHoose’s offense was committed within the vicinity of a juvenile, reducing the offense from a fourth-degree to a fifth-degree 3 felony. {¶ 6} Appointed counsel’s motion to withdraw from further representation is sustained, and the trial court’s judgment is affirmed. ............. FROELICH, P.J., and FAIN, J., concur. Copies mailed to: Kevin S. Talebi Michael R. Pentecost Shea VanHoose Hon. Nick A. Selvaggio