Prosecutors have no problem with new sentencing procedures

The ruling lets trial judges have more discretion in sentencing, prosecutors said.
TOLEDO (AP) -- Unfazed by the hassle of revisiting the sentences of hundreds of inmates, prosecutors are praising the Ohio Supreme Court decision that forced the reviews.
Critics, however, say the new hearings aren't doing much to improve defendants' rights to fair sentences.
The court struck down portions of the state's sentencing law in February, lining up with earlier U.S. Supreme Court rulings that declared it unconstitutional for a sentencing judge to consider evidence that hadn't been admitted during trial. Such evidence often resulted in longer sentences, but it also required judges to make additional findings, which complicated the process.
Prosecutors say the Ohio high court ruling gives trial judges more discretion in sentencing by freeing them from the old law's guidelines.
"The decision has helped prosecutors and judges. It is a lot easier to sentence defendants now," Wood County Prosecutor Ray Fischer said.
What conclusion means
The state court's conclusion means hundreds of inmates who appealed their punishments must be resentenced. The court knew striking down the law would take time and money from the justice system, Justice Judith Lanzinger said in the written opinion.
So far, about 250 defendants who appealed to the state Supreme Court and hundreds who appealed in lower courts have had their cases reviewed.
The total cost of the hearings, including transferring inmates from prison and fees for court-appointed attorneys, isn't clear.
Ottawa County Prosecutor Mark Mulligan said granting new hearings is necessary in most cases.
"The alternative is to not resentence the defendants and let them go. This certainly is not an option," he said.
Unhappy with ruling
Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union were disappointed in the ruling, believing it threw out sections of the sentencing laws designed to promote consistency and fairness and won't benefit most inmates.
Brian Woody of Toledo was sentenced to 19 years in prison last year on six counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and one count of aggravated vehicular assault in a chain-reaction accident. Woody, 30, won a new sentencing hearing on appeal, went before the same Ottawa County judge, received the same sentence and was sent back to the Mansfield Correctional Institution.
Most defendants who get new hearings will receive the same sentences, said Jeffrey Gamso, a Toledo-based defense attorney with the ACLU.