State v. Leegrand
Annotate this Case
The Supreme Court held that Defendant was properly sentenced for murder and that the failure of a sentencing entry to track precisely the language of the applicable criminal sentencing statutes does not render the sentence contrary to law.
Defendant was convicted of murder and sentenced to "life in prison with eligibility [for] parole after 15 years." The sentencing entry, however, did not precisely track the language of the applicable criminal sentencing statute. The court of appeals vacated Defendant's murder sentence, concluding that the trial court's sentencing language regarding the murder count was dissimilar enough from the language of Ohio Rev. Code 2929.02(B)(1) to require vacation of that sentence and a remand for resentencing. The Supreme Court reversed in part, holding (1) whatever difference existed between the language of section 2929.02(B)(1) and the language in Defendant's sentencing entry, the difference was de minimis; and (2) Defendant's murder sentence complied with section 2929.02(B)(1).
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.