City of Seven Hills v. Adkins

658 N.E.2d 828, 74 Ohio Misc. 2d 60, 1995 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 52
CourtParma Municipal Court
DecidedAugust 7, 1995
DocketNos. 95-TRC-1093(4), 95-TRC-255(4), 95-TRC-619(5) and 95-TRC-1637(3)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 658 N.E.2d 828 (City of Seven Hills v. Adkins) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Parma Municipal Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Seven Hills v. Adkins, 658 N.E.2d 828, 74 Ohio Misc. 2d 60, 1995 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 52 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1995).

Opinion

Kenneth R. Spanagel, Judge.

These matters came before the Judges of this court upon motions to dismiss filed in each case. In the Semenchuk case, the defendant was arrested for an OMVI violation with a refusal to submit to a test, and a resulting refusal suspension under the administrative license suspension (“ALS”) process. In the other cases, the defendants were arrested for both OMVI and BAC charges under R.C. 4511.19(A)(2), (3), (4), or comparable municipal ordinance, after having [64]*64submitted to a test and having been found to have had a prohibited alcohol concentration, and whose licenses were suspended under the ALS positive suspension process. In all cases, the defendants have filed motions to dismiss, arguing that the imposition of the administrative license suspension process, coupled with a subsequent prosecution for the OMVI or BAC violations, constitutes double jeopardy, and that motions to dismiss should be granted dismissing the pending charges.

As motions have been filed before all three judges of this court, the judges, in mutual discussion and in the interest of continuity of the administration of justice, have consulted together, and in reaching a consensus, issue this joint opinion, ruling on all cases, to reflect the law on this issue for cases pending or to be pending before the Parma Municipal Court. The court notes its awareness of the current pending appeal in our Eighth District Court of Appeals styled as Westlake v. Maminskas, No. 68729, which when ruled upon will take precedence over this decision. Until such time, the court makes the following conclusions of law and ruling pertaining to the issues and motions before the court.

The court first deals with the issue of double jeopardy as it relates to the ALS positive suspension and BAC charges, and will then address issues related to the ALS refusal and the OMVI charges. The court renders this joint decision based upon all the currently available case rulings in this state, including most recently State v. Travis (July 26, 1995), No. 95-TRC-2917, unreported, and State v. McKinzie (July 27, 1995), No. 95-TRC-3194, unreported, both from the Medina Municipal Court, and State v. Toriello (1995), 71 Ohio Misc.2d 81, 654 N.E.2d 1075, from the Akron Municipal Court.

The Current Status of ALS/OMVI Double-Jeopardy Law in Ohio

The court notes that the issues raised in the various cases that are subject to this entry revolve around the quickly developing argument of law that the imposition of an administrative license suspension, whether for a refusal or a test with prohibited alcohol concentration, constitutes a separate sanction and action for which double jeopardy would preclude prosecution for a charge under R.C. 4511.19 or a comparable local ordinance for OMVI. The court notes that this area of law is currently in a great state of argument and flux, as each municipal court and all twelve courts of appeals are addressing the issues of law as they find their way up the judicial system. The court first notes the current status of law on those cases which are either appellate level and/or municipal or county-court level decisions of significance:

[65]*65I. Appellate Court

State v. Gustafson (May 22, 1995), Mahoning App. No. 94 C.A 232, 1995 WL 387619 (double jeopardy found to exist on any ALS proceedings under R.C. 4511.191 to any R.C. 4511.19 OMVI proceedings).

State v. Miller (May 12, 1995), Auglaize App. No. 2-94-32, 1995 WL 275770 (no double jeopardy found between an ALS positive suspension and a BAC proceeding).

Pending appellate cases

This court’s research has determined that there are currently pending appellate cases regarding this issue in the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Twelfth Appellate Districts of this state.

II. Municipal and County Court Decisions of Significance Separate from Pending Court of Appeals Proceedings: Double Jeopardy Found Between ALS Positive and BAC Prosecution

State v. Baker (1995), 70 Ohio Misc.2d 49, 650 N.E.2d 1376 (double jeopardy not found on ALS positive to BAC charge).

Cleveland v. Miller (1995), 68 Ohio Misc.2d 52, 646 N.E.2d 1213 (double jeopardy not found on ALS positive to BAC offense).

Cleveland v. Nutter (1995), 68 Ohio Misc.2d 46, 646 N.E.2d 1209 (double jeopardy not found on ALS positive to BAC offense).

State v. Uncapher (1995), 70 Ohio Misc.2d 4, 650 N.E.2d 195 (double jeopardy not found for ALS positive to BAC charge).

State v. Travis (July 26, 1995), Medina M.C. No. 95-TRC-2917, unreported (double jeopardy not found for ALS positive to BAC charge).

State v. McKinzie (July 27, 1995), Medina M.C. No. 95-TRC-03194, unreported (double jeopardy not found for refusal to OMVI charge).

State v. Toriello (1995), 71 Ohio Misc.2d 81, 654 N.E.2d 1075 (double jeopardy not found for ALS positive to BAC charge).

There are many other decisions which have been made by municipal courts across the state, with rulings on both sides of this issue. However, a review of these other cases reflects that they have made their rulings based primarily upon the foregoing listed cases.

The vast majority of legal arguments and findings by the various courts of this state center primarily upon the double-jeopardy requirements, and the three-prong test of Dept. of Revenue of Montana v. Kurth Ranch (1994), 511 U.S. -, 114 S.Ct. 1937, 128 L.Ed.2d 767. The three-prong test is:

1. Are the elements for both proceedings the same?

2. Are the two proceedings in fact separate proceedings? and

[66]*663. Do the sanctions of the first proceedings constitute punishment?

The dichotomies of the court rulings with opposite opinions indicate that there is a wide latitude for discussion of the theories of law under Kurth Ranch. However, this court feels that an examination is first necessary of the historical perspective of the ALS process in conjunction with the history of OMVI-related pretrial license suspensions in the state of Ohio. The court feels that this is important to understand the current perspectives of the ALS process.

Prior to the commencement of the ALS process in September 1993, the state of Ohio had two separate processes by which licenses were suspended for persons arrested for OMVI-type offenses. The first was the implied consent refusal under former R.C. 4511.191, which was a license suspension based upon a refusal to take a test. The Ohio Supreme Court has previously found that the implied consent suspension was a separate proceeding, and its statutory structure solidified this finding of the court in State v. Starnes (1970), 21 Ohio St.2d 38, 50 O.O.2d 84, 254 N.E.2d 675.

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Bluebook (online)
658 N.E.2d 828, 74 Ohio Misc. 2d 60, 1995 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 52, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-seven-hills-v-adkins-ohmunictparma-1995.