COLUMBUS High court rules on confinement

The prosecutor argued that the defendant was not confined, as he had working privileges and had his car at the correctional facility.
By MICHELE C. HLADIK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- All time served in a community-based correctional facility is confinement and should apply as time served, says a recent unanimous decision of the Ohio Supreme Court.
"The issue in this case is whether the entire amount of time served in a [community-based correctional facility] qualifies as confinement ... and should therefore toward a prison sentence after conditions of the community sanctions are violated," wrote Chief Justice Thomas Moyer in the court's decision.
The issue is the application of the word confinement.
Stems from case: The decision, released Wednesday, stems from the 1998 case of David Napier, who was arrested in Alliance for possession of cocaine and sentenced to a treatment program at Stark Regional Community Corrections Center.
Napier's community control sanctions were later revoked, and he was sentenced to an eight-month prison term for violating the terms of those sanctions when he was again charged with cocaine possession.
His request that the 110 days he spent at the SRCCC be applied to his new sentence was denied, and only 30 days were deducted. An appellate court disagreed with the trial court and deemed all 110 days be applied to the sentence.
Appeal to high court: Stark County prosecutors appealed the decision to the state's high court, arguing that the majority of Napier's time at SRCCC was spent with the ability to hold a job, leave for weekends with a pass and keep his own car at the facility. In essence, he was not confined, the prosecutor argued.
Fred Scott, an assistant Stark County prosecutor who argued the state's case before the court in September, said he would like to have seen the court use the decision to better define the term confinement for clarity in future cases.
The high court's decision says SRCCC residents can move about freely in certain areas, but the outside doors remain locked, the yard fenced, and restrictions are placed on certain locations within the facility.
"At SRCCC, Napier was not free to come and go as he wished," the decision read. "He was subject to the control of the staff regarding personal liberties. He was confined."
The chief justice also wrote that the state's argument against the term confinement to describe anything past the first 30 days Napier was in the facility goes against a previous Ohio Supreme Court ruling.