State v. Brooks

In State v. Brooks, 103 Ohio St.3d 134, 2004 Ohio 4746, 814 N.E.2d 837, the Ohio Supreme Court held that a defendant must be notified at his or her sentencing hearing as to the specific prison term that will be imposed if the terms of community control are violated. Id. at P19. The court is free to impose a less severe prison term in light of the actual community control violation, but the court must nevertheless give notice to the defendant as to the specific maximum prison term that may be imposed upon the finding of a violation. Id. at P23. The Supreme Court construed the mandatory requirements of R.C. 2929.19(B)(5), and stated, "a trial court sentencing an offender to a community control sanction is required to deliver the statutorily detailed notifications at the sentencing hearing." The Court explained: "While we recognize the statutory complexities that have caused some courts to reject a strict-compliance view of R.C. 2929.19(B)(5) as overly literal, we cannot accept a substantial compliance interpretation. The General Assembly has explicitly set forth the 'specific prison term' requirement and has used the word 'shall' to indicate the mandatory nature of the provision. What the statute requires is clear, although reasonable minds could differ on how important this requirement is in the grand scheme of R.C. Chapter 2929. We will not interpret such a clear statute to mean anything other than what it unmistakably states." Id.