State v. Cabrales

In State v. Cabrales, 118 Ohio St. 3d 54, 59, 886 N.E. 2d 181, 2008 Ohio 1625, the court held that, in determining whether offenses are of similar import pursuant to 2941.25(A), courts are required to compare the elements of the offenses in the abstract without considering the evidence in the case, but are not required to find an exact alignment of the elements. Id. at syllabus 1. "Instead, if, in comparing the elements of the offenses in the abstract, the offenses are so similar that the commission of one offense will necessarily result in the commission of the other, then the offenses are allied offenses of similar import." Id. The court then proceeds to the second part of the two-tiered test and determines whether the two crimes were committed separately or with a separate animus. Id. at 57, citing State v. Blankenship (1988), 38 Ohio St. 3d 116, 117, 526 N.E.2d 816. The Cabrales court noted that Ohio courts had misinterpreted Rance as requiring a "strict textual comparison," finding offenses to be of similar import only when all the elements of the compared offenses coincide exactly. Id. at 59. The Eighth Appellate District has described the Cabrales clarification as a "holistic" or "pragmatic" approach, given the Supreme Court's concern that Rance had abandoned common sense and logic in favor of strict textual comparison. State v. Williams, Cuyahoga No. 89726, 2008 Ohio 5286, P 31, citing State v. Sutton, Cuyahoga App. No. 90172, 2008 Ohio 3677. This court has referred to the Cabrales test as a "common sense approach." State v. Varney, Perry App. No. 08-CA-3, 2009 Ohio 207, P 23. The Ohio Supreme Court clarified that "in determining whether offenses are allied offenses of similar import under R.C. 2941.25(A), Rance requires courts to compare the elements of offenses in the abstract, i.e., without considering the evidence in the case, but does not require an exact alignment of elements." The Court also stated that "if in comparing the elements of the offenses in the abstract, the offenses are so similar that the commission of one offense will necessarily result in commission of the other, then the offenses are allied offenses of similar import." Cabrales, supra at P26.