State v. Edwards1/17/2003
JUDGMENT: Reversed
Defendant-appellant Gregory Edwards appeals his conviction and sentence from the Tuscarawas County Court on one count of driving while under the influence of alcohol in violation of R.C. 4511.19(A)(1) and one count of driving without headlights in violation of R.C. 4513.03. Plaintiff-appellee is the State of Ohio.
STATEMENT OF THE FACTS AND CASE
On September 20, 2001, appellant was arrested and cited for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, with a prohibited breath-alcohol concentration, in violation of R.C. 4511.19(A)(1) and (A)(6), and operating with no headlights in violation of R.C. 4513.03. At his arraignment on September 25, 2001, appellant entered a not guilty plea to the charges and a public defender was appointed to represent him.
Thereafter, a Motion to Dismiss/Suppress was filed by appellant on October 19, 2001. Appellant, in his motion, argued that the charges against him should be dismissed since there was no probable cause to arrest appellant and charge him with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol since (1) he was not driving the vehicle and (2) the vehicle was inoperable. A hearing on appellant's motion was held before a Magistrate on November 21, 2001. Pursuant to a Magistrate's Decision filed on December 26, 2001, the Magistrate recommended that appellant's motion be overruled, finding that "the State of Ohio had a reasonable articulable suspicion to justify investigation of the car in question and probable cause was demonstrated that the car was operable and the defendant was the operator." Neither party filed objections to the same.
Subsequently, on April 29, 2002, appellant filed a Motion to Dismiss on speedy trial grounds. Appellant, in his motion, alleged as follows:
"The Defendant was charged on September 20, 2001, with driving under the influence in violation of Revised Code 4511.19 (A-I). The Defendant has not filed a time wavier.
"A motion to dismiss was filed October 19, 2001, and came on for hearing November 21, 2001. The Magistrate, by entry, dated, December 26, 2001 overruled the motion. Two hundred and sixteen (216) days have passed since the date of arrest.
"Sixty-eight (68) of the two hundred and sixteen days are not chargeable to the state representing the period between filing the above motion and the December 26, 2001 decision.
"Therefore, the state is fifty-eight (58) days out of time upon filing this motion."
After a memorandum in support of his Motion to Dismiss was filed by appellant on June 19, 2002, appellee, on June 27, 2002, filed a response in opposition to the Motion Dismiss. Appellee, in its response brief, argued that since the trial court had yet to adopt the Magistrate's December 26, 2001, Decision, the Magistrate's Decision was not a final decision and appellant's speedy trial time was tolled.
As memorialized in a Judgment Entry filed on July 11, 2002, the trial court approved and adopted the Magistrate's December 26, 2001, decision and ordered that appellant's Motion to Dismiss/Suppress be overruled. Pursuant to a Judgment Entry filed one week later, the trial court overruled appellant's Motion to Dismiss on speedy trial grounds. Thereafter, on July 26, 2002, appellant pled no contest to driving while under the influence of alcohol in violation of R.C. 4511.19(A)(1), a misdemeanor of the first degree, and driving without headlights in violation of R.C. 4513.03, a minor misdemeanor. The remaining charge was dismissed. After finding appellant guilty of the two charges, the trial court, as memorialized in a Judgment
Page 1 2 3 4 Ohio DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|