[Cite as State v. Peoples, 2020-Ohio-4116.]
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO
TENTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
State of Ohio, :
Plaintiff-Appellee, :
No.19AP-599
v. : (C.P.C. No. 02CR-4939)
David A. Peoples, : (REGULAR CALENDAR)
Defendant-Appellant. :
D E C I S I O N
Rendered on August 18, 2020
On brief: Ron O'Brien, Prosecuting Attorney, and
Kimberly M. Bond, for appellee.
On brief: David A. Peoples, pro se.
APPEAL from the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas
BEATTY BLUNT, J.
{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant, David A. Peoples, appeals the decision of the Franklin
County Common Pleas Court denying his motion for jail-time credit. For the foregoing
reasons, we affirm.
{¶ 2} On July 19, 2004, Peoples entered a plea of guilty and was sentenced to a
term of 13 years' incarceration for involuntary manslaughter with a firearm specification in
this case. His sentence was to be served "consecutivley [sic] to Case No. 01CR-4150 and
consecutivley [sic] to Federal Case No. CR-2-00-197." (July 22, 2004 Jgmt. Entry.) The
court's order reflects the fact that at the time of his plea and sentence in this case, Peoples
had already been convicted of aggravated murder with firearm and drive-by shooting
No. 19AP-599 2
specifications in his earlier Franklin County case. Peoples was also incarcerated on
separate charges in West Virginia at that time, and remained incarcerated on other charges
including federal charges at all points prior to his plea and conviction in this case.
{¶ 3} On June 13, 2008, Peoples filed a "motion for correction of jail time credit"
in this case. He claimed he was "sentenced on 19[th] day [of] July, 2004" and was
"transported to prison on the 26[th] of March, 2008," but was not credited for any days of
incarceration against his sentence in this case by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation
and Correction. Although his 2008 motion did not specify how many credit days he
believed he was entitled to, it appears he may have been requesting credit for all days
between July 19, 2004 and March 26, 2008. On July 10, 2008, the trial court overruled that
motion. Although he appealed that decision denying him jail-time credit in this case, that
appeal was dismissed for failure to file a brief. (See State v. Peoples, 10th Dist. No. 08AP-
671 (Nov. 18, 2008 Journal Entry of Dismissal).)
{¶ 4} On August 13, 2019, Peoples filed the motion for jail-time credit that forms
the basis of this appeal. Peoples claimed that he "was delivered into the custody of the State
of Ohio to begin serving his sentence in this case on the 14th day of March, 2008." (Aug 13,
2019 Def's. Mot. at 2.) Plaintiff-appellee, State of Ohio, disagrees with that
characterization, stating that "[i]t appears that in March of 2008 defendant completed his
federal sentence and began serving his sentence in 01CR-4150." (Aug. 16, 2019 Pl.'s Memo
in Opp. at 1.) In any event, based on this court's decision in State v. Peoples, 10th Dist. No.
18AP-850, 2019-Ohio-2141 (Peoples I), Peoples now argues he is entitled to 4255 days of
jail-time credit in Franklin C.P. No. 02CR-4939. In Peoples I, this court determined that
the six-year term of incarceration imposed in Franklin C.P. No. 01CR-4150 for a firearm
specification was void, and remanded the case for resentencing "to the statutorily mandated
No. 19AP-599 3
five-year term" on that specification. Id. at ¶ 15. The court held that "[t]he computation of
his start of the sentence on the aggravated murder conviction should be adjusted to reflect
the one-year reduction in his sentence on the R.C. 2941.146 firearm specification." Id. As a
result of Peoples I, he has now been ordered to serve an aggregate term of 33 years to life
in Franklin C.P. 01CR-4150. And based on the Franklin C.P. No. 02CR-4939 sentencing
entry, his 13-year term of sentence in this case is to be served consecutively to that 33 years
to life aggregate term.
{¶ 5} Peoples' current motion and appeal asserts that as a result of this court's
decision in Peoples I, his entire sentence in Franklin C.P. No. 01CR-4150 was deemed void.
Peoples therefore argued that "[t]he only time the Defendant could have been serving since
March 14, 2008 was the prison sanction imposed in the Case above." (Aug. 13, 2019 Def's.
Mot. at 2.) The state correctly observed that Peoples' motion was "apparently arguing that
the days previously served in [01CR-4150] should now be credited to 02CR-4939 because
his sentence [in 01CR-4150] was partially void." (Aug. 16, 2019 Pl's. Memo in Opp. at 2.)
The trial court denied his motion on August 29, 2019.
{¶ 6} This appeal followed, and Peoples asserts a single assignment of error: "The
trial court erred when it sentenced the appellant without giving him any jail-time credit
pursuant to O.R.C. § 2929.19(B)(2)(h)(i)." His argument on appeal is twofold: first, he
argues he was entitled to jail-time credit at the time he was sentenced, and second, he
argues he is entitled to credit in this case for the time he has spent incarcerated on Franklin
C.P. No. 01CR-4150. Neither contention has merit.
{¶ 7} As to his first argument, Peoples has wholly failed to demonstrate that he was
incarcerated solely on this case during the time he was detained. In fact, based on our
understanding of the record it would be impossible for him to do so—as noted above, the
No. 19AP-599 4
only available information indicates that he was detained out of state on federal charges
during the entire time this case was pending in the trial court. "[T]he award of jail-time
credit on a particular case is based only on jail detention 'arising out of the offense for which
the prisoner was convicted.' " State v. Churchill, 10th Dist. No. 16AP-763, 2017-Ohio-2875,
¶ 16, quoting R.C. 2967.191. "The statute therefore 'requires a connection between the jail-
time confinement and the offense upon which the defendant is convicted.' As a result,
'[t]here is no jail-time credit for time served on unrelated offenses, even if that time served
runs concurrently during the pre-detention phase of another matter.' " State v. Doyle, 10th
Dist. No. 12AP-567, 2013-Ohio-3262, ¶ 20, quoting State v. Thomas, 10th Dist. No. 12AP-
144, 2012-Ohio-4511, ¶ 6, and State v. Hunter, 10th Dist. No. 08AP-183, 2008-Ohio-6962,
¶ 20. Because Peoples was not detained prior to his Franklin C.P. No. 02CR-4939
sentencing for reasons solely "arising out of the offense" for which he was convicted, he was
not entitled to an award of jail-time credit at the time he was sentenced.
{¶ 8} His second argument—while creative—fails for the same reason. As
indicated, the record suggests that since 2008 Peoples has been serving a gun specification
and an indefinite term on Franklin C.P. No. 01CR-4150, because his term in this case was
ordered to be served consecutively to Case No. 01CR-4150. And as this court held in Peoples
I, his "three-year sentence on the R.C. 2941.145 firearm specification and his sentence on
the underlying aggravated murder conviction [in Franklin C.P. No. 01CR-4150] remain
unchanged." Peoples I at ¶ 15. Based on the information we have, it seems that Peoples has
never been incarcerated for reasons solely "arising out of [this] offense"; in fact, given the
length of incarceration involved, we think it unlikely that Peoples has even begun serving
the 13-year sentence on this case, and he has certainly not demonstrated he is entitled to
jail-time credit for that sentence. (Aug. 16, 2019 Pl's Memo. in Opp. at 3.)
No. 19AP-599 5
{¶ 9} For these reasons, Peoples' assignment of error is overruled, and the
judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas denying his motion for jail-time
credit is affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
SADLER, P.J., and KLATT, J., concur.