The Supreme Court of Ohio has determined that a Franklin County Common Pleas Court's decision to grant judicial release to Chelsie Kennedy, convicted for three robberies, requires reassessment. The ruling reversed the Tenth District Court of Appeals' affirmation of the trial court's decision and remanded the case for further proceedings.
Kennedy was initially sentenced by one judge to nine years in prison in one case and by another judge in two other cases related to this appeal. These sentences were set to run concurrently but consecutively with the nine-year sentence, resulting in an aggregate 15-year term.
In 2021, Kennedy sought judicial release across all three cases. Her request was denied by the first trial judge but granted by the second judge for the other two cases under appeal. The Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office contested this decision, claiming she was not yet eligible for judicial release.
Justice Melody Stewart, writing for the Court, highlighted that trial courts must conduct two calculations when determining eligibility under R.C. 2929.20. First is assessing the "aggregated nonmandatory prison term or terms" to decide which subsection applies; second is confirming if the applicant has served the required waiting period as per R.C. 2929.20(C).
The Supreme Court noted that both lower courts failed to complete this second calculation regarding Kennedy's eligibility. Consequently, it remanded the case back to trial court for proper assessment.
Chief Justice Sharon L. Kennedy and Justices Patrick F. Fischer, R. Patrick DeWine, Jennifer Brunner, and Joseph T. Deters concurred with Justice Stewart’s opinion. Justice Michael P. Donnelly agreed with the judgment but criticized what he saw as complexities and unfairness within the judicial release statute.
2023-1299 State v. Kennedy Slip Opinion No 2024-Ohio-5728
The full text of this opinion is available online.