Greenfield man receives same 5-year sentence following appellate court order for resentencing

A Greenfield man convicted of felonious assault nearly two years ago was resentenced this week to the same five-year prison term following an appellate court order.

As previously reported, it took a jury seated in Highland County Common Pleas Court less than an hour to deliberate and return a guilty verdict against Daniel Miller, 48, following a trial on July 31, 2023. Miller was convicted of one second-degree felony charge of felonious assault and was sentenced by Judge Rocky Coss to a minimum of five years and maximum of seven and a half years (under the Reagan Tokes Law), with jail time credit of one day.

In a decision released in May 2025, the Fourth District Court of Appeals ordered a new sentencing hearing after finding the “trial court erred in failing to provide the five Reagan Tokes Law notifications” required by law during Miller’s sentencing.

The Court of Appeals overruled three assignments of error posed by Miller in his appeal: that he was denied effective assistance of trial counsel; that he was deprived of his right to a fair trial; that his conviction was “based on insufficient evidence.” However, the Court of Appeals agreed with the fourth assignment of error, which argued the sentencing entry cited the wrong statute for Miller’s conviction, as well as the lone “supplemental assignment of error” presented, regarding the aforementioned Reagan Tokes Law notifications.

According to the appellate court decision, the sentencing entry said that Miller was found guilty of “felonious assault in violation of R.C. 2903.11(A)(2), rather than R.C. 2903.11(A)(1).” The Court of Appeals said it “appears to be a clerical error” and that it could be “remedied” through the new sentencing entry “in accordance with our disposition of Appellant’s supplemental assignment of error.”

The Court of Appeals agreed that “aside from informing [Miller] of his minimum and maximum sentence, the trial court failed to provide any of the R.C. 2929.19(B)(2)(c) notifications to Appellant at the time of sentencing.

“This error alone requires the judgment of the trial court be reversed and the matter be remanded to the trial court to hold a new sentencing hearing at which all of the required R.C. 2929.19(B)(2)(c) notifications be provided,” the Court of Appeals wrote.

A new sentencing hearing was conducted Tuesday, where Coss handed down the same sentence — a minimum of five years and maximum of seven and a half — with Miller now having credit for the one day in county jail prior to trial “and credit for all days spent in custody since.” 

Miller, who is currently incarcerated in the London Correctional Institution and has been in prison since Aug. 11, 2023, is eligible for release June 3, 2028, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

For more on Miller’s case, see the story at https://highlandcountypress.com/jury-convicts-greenfield-man-felonious-….

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