Court Typing Error Results in Early Release for Convicted Felon

June 23, 2009 by Suzanne Conlon

An Ohio repeat drug offender may be released from prison 6 years before completing his 10 year sentence due to what appears to be a typo on the verdict form signed by the jurors who convicted him in Summit County Common Pleas Court.

Calvin Eugene Wells recently noticed what appears to be an unintentional word in the verdict document.  The sentence in question reads: “We, the Jury, find the Defendant Guilty of the offense of POSSESSION OF CRACK COCAINE.  We, the Jury, further find that the amount of crack cocaine WAS in the amount exceeding ten one hundred (100) grams as charged in the indictment.”

According to the wording of the indictment, the word “ten” should not appear in the second sentence.  Wells believes that its presence calls into question the intent of the document, and attorney Jason Desiderio, who has taken his case, agrees with him.  Desiderio argues that the mistake calls into question whether Wells was indicted of a higher-level felony or not. 

According to Ohio law, the jury form must state explicitly how the offense or circumstance of offense results in a “higher” offense.  According to Desiderio, the stray word muddles the meaning of the sentence to such an extent that it cannot conclusively be said that Wells was convicted of the higher-level felony that the length of his prison sentence is based on.

The case went before a three-judge panel of the Ohio Court of Appeals, and the panel unanimously agreed with Desiderio:  “The form is unclear, and we cannot determine what the jury understood ‘ten one hundred (100) grams’ to mean.  It certainly could have meant an amount exceeding one hundred grams, but it is possible the jury believed the form actually meant an amount exceeding less than one gram.”

The judges ruled that, therefore, Wells could be convicted of nothing more than a fifth-degree felony, the maximum sentence for which is only one year.  Wells has already served four years of his original ten-year sentence.

Wells will no longer be held for the possession charge, but he may soon receive a sentence for another crime.  He is wanted in Morris County, New Jersey on charges of violating his probation for drug and weapons convictions in November 2000.  The Morris County sheriff is seeking extradition, and Desiderio believes that Wells will be unable to avoid the consequences of that violation.