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Judge Sweeney erred twice
The judge relied on an unconstitutional law, the appeals court says.
YOUNGSTOWN — Judge Maureen A. Sweeney erred twice by citing a defunct statute in two sentencing decisions, the 7th District Court of Appeals said.
The mistakes resulted in the return of two defendants in the same murder case this month for resentencing ordered by the appellate court.
In both cases, the appellate court upheld the convictions but vacated the sentences.
The appeals court, however, returned the cases to the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court judge for resentencing because the appeals panel said she relied on a stricken statute — eight and nine months, respectively — after the Ohio Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional.
Judge Sweeney said she was aware of the top court’s decision when she conducted the original sentencing hearings and doesn’t think she specifically cited a defunct statute from the bench or in her written journal entries. “I remember crossing them out,” of the sentencing script, she said of the stricken statutes.
She acknowledged, however, saying from the bench that she believed the shortest prison term would demean the seriousness of the offenses, and she said that is why the appellate judges ruled against her.
“I felt that, because it was a murder, nobody should get the minimum sentence,” Judge Sweeney said.
On Wednesday, Judge Sweeney resentenced Marcus Thomas, who pleaded guilty to a South Side robbery and murder, to 23 years to life in prison — the same as his original sentence.
Thomas, 22, of East Warren Avenue, pleaded guilty to the robbery and murder of Matthew J. Saunders, 40, of Youngstown. Saunders was found shot in the head just before midnight Aug. 16, 2005, at Pyatt and Erie streets, where police said Saunders had arranged to meet a prostitute.
Returning to Judge Sweeney for resentencing at 11:30 a.m. April 24 will be Thomas’ accomplice, Andrea Kimble, 24, of Green Acres Drive, Liberty, who originally received a 21-years-to-life prison sentence.
That sentence consisted of 15 years to life for complicity to murder, three years for the gun specification and three years for complicity to aggravated robbery, all to be served consecutively.
Jury trial testimony “shows that Kimble assisted knowingly in the planning of the robbery, which occurred with a gun and resulted in Matthew getting killed from a gunshot wound,” the appellate judges explained in their decision upholding the conviction.
On Feb. 27, 2006, in its landmark State vs. Foster decision, the state’s top court declared several of the state’s felony sentencing statutes unconstitutional because they required a judge to make factual findings that should be made by a jury.
Judge Sweeney accepted Thomas’ guilty plea and sentenced him Oct. 23, 2006. She sentenced Kimble on Nov. 21, 2006.
Judge Sweeney said she reimposed the original sentence Wednesday on Thomas because no new evidence was presented to cause her to deviate from her original sentence. She declined to comment on the Kimble resentencing because it is still before her.
The judge, however, said, “As a matter of course, I don’t believe anyone should get the minimum sentence for committing a murder unless they present extremely good mitigating evidence.”
milliken@vindy.com