City of Hamilton v. Brown

440 N.E.2d 554, 1 Ohio App. 3d 165, 1 Ohio B. 477, 1981 Ohio App. LEXIS 9887
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 22, 1981
DocketCA80-04-0031
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 440 N.E.2d 554 (City of Hamilton v. Brown) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Hamilton v. Brown, 440 N.E.2d 554, 1 Ohio App. 3d 165, 1 Ohio B. 477, 1981 Ohio App. LEXIS 9887 (Ohio Ct. App. 1981).

Opinions

Hendrickson, J.

This cause came on to be heard upon an appeal from the Hamilton Municipal Court.

Defendant-appellant, Cynthia A. Brown, was arrested for criminal trespassing. She was charged under a municipal ordinance and was tried to the court without a jury. She was found guilty and sentenced as of record. It is from this order that appellant has brought a timely appeal to this court.

On February 10,1980, appellant went to the Dixie Electric Company Bar and Disco (Dixie Electric Company) in Hamilton, Ohio, displayed her identification, paid the admission charge and entered the premises. At that time a stamp was placed on her hand. This was to establish her age and to indicate her eligibility to purchase alcoholic beverages. She was 18 years of age at the time; but when she was arrested, she had a black stamp on her person which indicated that she was 21 years old and that she was eligible to purchase any alcoholic beverage which the Dixie Electric Company was permitted to serve. The manager of the Dixie Electric Company alleged that appellant removed the red stamp from her hand and that she then transferred a black stamp to her hand from the hand of another customer.

Later that evening appellant was “barred out” of the Dixie Electric Company until she was 21 years of age for the reason that she was drinking liquor. However, from her testimony, it is clear that she returned weekly until March 7, 1980, at which time she was again asked to leave. She left, but returned again on the 13th day of March at which time she was arrested for criminal trespassing.

Appellant lists five assignments of error. The essence of the first assignment of error is that the trial court erred by failing to follow the mandatory provisions of Crim. R. 5 and 10. The record is silent *166 with respect to compliance with these rules. The docket entries show that appellant was arrested on March 13, 1980, released on the 14th, and made one appearance before the court on March 25, 1980, for trial, at which time she was represented by counsel.

That part of Crim. R. 5 which applies to misdemeanors reads as follows:

“(A) When a defendant first appears before a judge he shall permit the accused or his counsel to read the complaint or a copy thereof, and shall inform the defendant:

“(1) Of the nature of the charge against him;

“(2) That he has a right to counsel and the right to a reasonable continuance in the proceedings to secure counsel, and, pursuant to Rule 44, the right to have counsel assigned without cost to himself if he is unable to employ counsel;

“(3) That he need make no statement and any statement made may be used against him;

<<$ * *

“(5) Of his right, where appropriate, to jury trial and the necessity to make demand therefor in petty offense cases.”

Crim. R. 5 also provides that, in misdemeanor cases, “* * * the defendant may be called upon to plead at the initial appearance. Where the defendant enters a plea the procedure established by Rule 10 and Rule 11 applies.” The pertinent part of Crim. R. 10 reads as follows:

“(A) Arraignment shall be conducted in open court, and shall consist of reading the indictment, information or complaint to the defendant, or stating to him the substance of the charge, and calling on him to plead thereto. The defendant may in open court waive the reading of the indictment, information, or complaint. The defendant shall be given a copy of the indictment, information, or complaint, or shall acknowledge receipt thereof, before being called upon to plead.”

In this present case, the appellant was released on bond soon after her arrest and remained on bond until the time of the trial. Appellant was represented by counsel at her trial. Her attorney entered a plea of not guilty and proceeded with trial. The state’s witnesses were cross-examined and appellant put on evidence in her defense.

The transcript makes no mention of the reading of the complaint or of the express waiver thereof, nor does the transcript show that the appellant or her attorney received a copy of the complaint. However, the record also reflects that at no time prior to entering her plea, during the state’s case, at the end of the state’s case, or before proceeding to put on a defense in the matter, did the appellant raise the issue of failure to comply with Crim. R. 5 or Crim. R. 10. The United States Supreme Court said in Garland v. Washington (1914), 232 U.S. 642, that the failure of the record to reflect an arraignment does not deprive the defendant of due process of law as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The court in that case, quoting from Crain v. United States (1896), 162 U.S. 625, 649 (Peckham, J., dissenting), noted:

“ * * A waiver ought to be conclusively implied where the parties had proceeded as if defendant had been duly arraigned, and a formal plea of not guilty had been interposed, and where there was no objection made on account of its absence until, as in this case, the record was brought to this court for review. It would be inconsistent with the due administration of justice to permit a defendant under such circumstances to lie by, say nothing as to such an objection, and. then for the first time urge it in this court.’ ” Garland v. Washington, supra, at page 646.

The Supreme Court of Ohio has not ruled on this point. However, in the case of Kelley v. State (1930), 37 Ohio App. 524, at page 526, the court followed the case of Garland v. Washington, supra, and said:

*167 “The plaintiff in error having been charged with a misdemeanor in the court below, and having proceeded to trial without any objection because of the failure to arraign, and the trial having proceeded as though he had entered a plea of not guilty, it is now too late to complain of that irregularity.”

Likewise, in the case of Cincinnati v. Strasburger (1946), 79 Ohio App. 424 [35 O.O. 207], appeal dismissed (1947), 147 Ohio St. 535 [34 O.O. 425], the court found that where a defendant, who acted as his own attorney, was charged with a misdemeanor, and proceeded to trial without objection to the failure to arraign, the failure of the defendant to make a timely objection was a waiver as to this omission.

In two federal cases involving Fed. R. Crim. P. 10, the Garland case, supra, has been cited with approval. In United States v. Hart (C.A. 10, 1972), 457 F.2d 1087, certiorari denied (1972), 409 U.S. 861, a case where the record did not indicate whether the defendant had been formally arraigned, the court stated that “* * * the general rule is that arraignment under * * * [Fed. R. Crim.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
440 N.E.2d 554, 1 Ohio App. 3d 165, 1 Ohio B. 477, 1981 Ohio App. LEXIS 9887, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-hamilton-v-brown-ohioctapp-1981.