State v. Kalish

In State v. Kalish, 11th Dist. No. 2006-L-093, 2007 Ohio 3850, the Ohio Supreme Court adopted a two-step standard of appellate review. Under this standard, the appellate court must first examine the sentencing court's compliance with all applicable rules and statutes in imposing its sentence to determine whether the sentence is clearly and convincingly contrary to law. Under this first prong, the appellate court determines whether the trial court considered the purposes and principles of felony sentencing in R.C. 2929.11 and the seriousness and recidivism factors in R.C. 2929.12, and whether the trial court complied with all applicable rules and statutes. If this first prong is satisfied, the appellate court then proceeds to the second prong of the standard. Under this prong, the appellate court must review the trial court's sentence under an abuse-of-discretion standard. Kalish at 23. In its analysis, the Supreme Court in Kalish held: Therefore, trial courts 'have full discretion to impose a prison sentence within the statutory range and are no longer required to make findings or give their reasons for imposing maximum, consecutive, or more than the minimum sentences.' State v. Foster, 109 Ohio St.3d 1, 2006 Ohio 856, 845 N.E.2d 470, at P100." Kalish at 25.