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Defense lawyer protests ex post facto sentence
YOUNGSTOWN
The lawyer for a man sentenced to 11 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter in the Aug. 5, 2011, strangulation of his wife, is asking the judge to resentence his client in accordance with the sentencing law in effect when the crime was committed.
James Gentile, the lawyer for Daniel Wellington, who was sentenced for killing his 44-year-old wife, Doris, in the couple’s residence, is making the request of Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, who imposed the 11-year prison term on Wellington on April 30.
Gentile said the available sentencing range at the time of the crime was three to 10 years in prison. It wasn’t until Sept. 30, 2011, that Ohio’s new sentencing law, House Bill 86, took effect, changing the available range to three to 11 years for this first-degree felony crime.
Gentile, who filed the request Thursday, cited the prohibition against ex post facto laws in Article I, Section 9, of the U.S. Constitution.
“The court inflicted a greater punishment than allowed by law at the time of the offense” in violation of that constitutional principle, Gentile said.
Gentile also argued that even a 10-year prison term is excessive because Judge Sweeney should have followed state legal guidelines “using the minimum sanctions that don’t unduly burden state and local resources.”
Wellington, 56, of Knapp Avenue, who had pleaded guilty to the manslaughter charge, had no prior criminal record.
Judge Sweeney has not yet ruled on Gentile’s request.
Gentile also filed a notice of appeal of Wellington’s sentence Thursday with the 7th District Court of Appeals.