May Defendant Be Indicted for Homicide after Court Accepts Guilty Plea to Assault Based on Same Conduct?

When State Did Not Reserve Right to Pursue Additional Charges if Victim Died

State of Ohio v. James Leslie Dye, Case no. 2009-1149

11th District Court of Appeals (Lake County)

ISSUE: In a 1993 decision, State v. Carpenter, the Supreme Court of Ohio ruled that "(t)he state cannot indict a defendant for murder after the court has accepted a negotiated guilty plea to a lesser offense and the victim later dies of injuries sustained in the crime, unless the state expressly reserves the right to file additional charges on the record at the time of the defendant's plea." In this case, the Court is asked to determine whether its holding in Carpenter should have been applied to prevent the state from indicting and convicting James Dye of Lake County for aggravated vehicular homicide after a trial court accepted his guilty plea and he completed a prison term for aggravated vehicular assault arising from the same traffic accident.