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State v. McGinnis8/11/2000
Rendered on the 11 th day of August , 2000.
Deborah K. McGinnis is appealing from the decision of the trial court finding her guilty of driving under the influence after she entered a no contest plea. She had also been originally charged with reckless operation, but that offense was dismissed by the court. Her appeal challenges the denial of her motion to suppress all evidence obtained by statements made by her to the officers and others at the scene of her traffic stop.
This case brings into question whether a citizen's arrest made pursuant to R.C. 2935.04 is an action of the state which, therefore, would allow the application of the exclusionary rule against illegal searches and seizures. In order to present the facts in this case, we will quote certain portions from the transcript of the hearing on the suppression motion, as follows:
TESTIMONY OF DRIVER OF THE CAR
Q. OK, and do you recall where you were on August 28 th , 1999 at approximately seven o'clock?
A. Yes.
Q. Where was that?
A. I was leaving South Charleston, Route 41. I was on my way to my sister's house.
Q. Was there anything unusual about that trip?
A. Yes.
Q. What? Ma'am, can you please describe that?
A. I was going down the road, I had my three kids with me and maybe a half mile past the 55 miles an hour sign, a car -- a dark car came up on me. It was coming fast, I could tell and I was going the speed limit. And then as she got closer, I could tell she wasn't going to slow down and I had to go off the right side of the road. She did not get over to pass me. She was just going straight for me. If I had not ran off the road, she would have ran right into the back of me.
Q. OK, what happened after she passed you?
A. I got back on the road and I followed to -- followed her where she was going. She was going the same direction I was, but she stayed in front of me and for at least ten seconds, every ten seconds, she would drive on the other side of the lane for a long time and then she'd come back. She'd speed up, slow down. At first I thought maybe she was sick, on her way to the hospital. I didn't know, I just knew I was gonna stay behind her, no matter where she was going.
Well, a couple cars had to go off the road. Then a car, a truck driven by . . . was coming towards us. Well, I seen him turn around. He got behind me and I slowed down 'cause he motioned to get in front of me. Then he got in front of her and he was slowing -- we got down to almost a standstill. She stopped in the middle of the road, then she started to go again and he kinda, kinda like veered her off this way in our lane. And then she stopped. And he got out of the truck and -- as he got, he got to her first. Then when I got up there, he kept asking her to have her car keys.
We didn't want her driving anywhere. We kept asking her, was she OK, and all she kept saying is that she was so sorry. That's all she just kept saying, that she was gonna lose her job. I didn't know who she was at the time, but then [truck driver] got her keys and someone with a cell phone came by and they called -- I don't know if it was 9-1-1 or not. And first, it was the South Charleston police that was there. He was on his way back into town and he stayed there with us 'til the Highway Patrol got there.
Q. Why did you continue to follow the Defendant?
A. I don't know. She was, I didn't go off my path of where I was going. I just, I just gonna follow her wherever she went. She almost killed me and my kids. I had my three kids. I was on my way to Children's Hospi
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