May Firearm Specification be Added to Sentence for Crime in Which Discharging Gun is Element of Offense?
Under Ohio's 'Multiple-Count' Statute
State of Ohio v. Aaron P. Ford, Case no. 2010-0235
5th District Court of Appeals (Licking County)
ISSUE: May a defendant convicted and sentenced for discharging a firearm at or into a habitation in violation of R.C. 2923.161 also be sentenced to an additional three years in prison under R.C. 2929.14(D) and 2929.145 based on the use of a gun in the commission of that crime? Or are the gun discharge offense and firearm specification "allied offenses of similar import" that must be merged into a single conviction punishable by a single sentence?