State v. Jenkins , 2022 Ohio 705 ( 2022 )

[Cite as State v. Jenkins, 2022-Ohio-705.]
COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO
EIGHTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA
STATE OF OHIO, :
Plaintiff-Appellee, :
No. 109701
v. :
JAMES L. JENKINS, :
Defendant-Appellant. :
JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION
JUDGMENT: AFFIRMED
RELEASED AND JOURNALIZED: March 10, 2022
Criminal Appeal from the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas
Case No. CR-19-643967-A
Appearances:
Michael C. O’Malley, Cuyahoga County Prosecuting
Attorney, and James Gallagher, Assistant Prosecuting
Attorney, for appellee.
Cullen Sweeney, Cuyahoga County Public Defender, and
Aaron T. Baker, Assistant Public Defender, for appellant.
SEAN C. GALLAGHER, A.J.:
James Jenkins appeals his conviction, claiming it to be void based on
the constitutional invalidity of the Reagan Tokes Law. For the following reasons, we
affirm Jenkin’s conviction for the qualifying felony drug trafficking offense.
On February 24, 2020, Jenkins pled guilty to two counts of drug
possession in violation of R.C. 2925.11(A). One count was a qualifying second-
degree felony under R.C. 2929.144 and 2929.14(A)(2)(a), and the other count was a
nonqualifying fifth-degree felony. On March 26, 2020, the trial court sentenced
Jenkins on the second-degree felony drug trafficking offense to an indefinite term
of two to three years in prison under the Reagan Tokes Law.
In this appeal, Jenkins advances three arguments in support of
vacating the sentence imposed upon the second-degree felony drug trafficking
offense, citing the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and
Article I, Section 16, of the Ohio Constitution, (1) that the Reagan Tokes Law violates
his right to trial by jury or the separation-of-powers doctrine, and (2) that R.C.
2967.271, which provides offenders with the right to a hearing before imposition of
the maximum term imposed under R.C. 2929.144, has no statutorily imposed
structure or enumerated rights therein in violation of Jenkins’s due process rights.
Jenkins does not otherwise challenge his fifth-degree drug trafficking conviction.
These arguments were thoroughly addressed and overruled in State v. Delvallie, 8th
Dist. Cuyahoga No. 109315, 2022-Ohio-470.
As a result, we need not dwell on the arguments presented. Based on
the authority established by this district’s en banc holding in Delvallie, the
challenges Jenkins advanced against the constitutional validity of the Reagan Tokes
Law have been overruled. See id. at ¶ 17-51. Jenkins presents no new arguments in
support of his claims. As a result, Jenkins’s arguments challenging the
constitutional validity of his conviction for the second-degree felony drug trafficking
offense with a sentence imposed under the Reagan Tokes Law is overruled.
We affirm.
It is ordered that appellee recover from appellant costs herein taxed.
The court finds there were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
It is ordered that a special mandate issue out of this court directing the
common pleas court to carry this judgment into execution. The defendant’s
conviction having been affirmed, any bail pending appeal is terminated. Case
remanded to the trial court for execution of sentence.
A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to Rule 27
of the Rules of Appellate Procedure.
____________________________________
SEAN C. GALLAGHER, ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE
MICHELLE J. SHEEHAN, J., and
LISA B. FORBES, J., CONCUR
N.B. Judge Lisa B. Forbes is constrained to apply Delvallie. For a full explanation,
see State v. Delvallie, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 109315, 2022-Ohio-470 (Forbes, J.,
dissenting).