State v. Beltz

654 N.E.2d 199, 71 Ohio Misc. 2d 35, 1995 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 27
CourtMarysville Municipal Court
DecidedMarch 6, 1995
DocketNos. 94 TRC 7265, 94 TRC 5639, 94 TRC 6083, 95 TRC 0433, 94 TRC 6636, 94 TRC 5992, 94 TRC 6215, 95 TRC 0286, 95 TRC 0290, 94 TRC 6868 and 94 TRC 6870
StatusPublished

This text of 654 N.E.2d 199 (State v. Beltz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Marysville Municipal Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Beltz, 654 N.E.2d 199, 71 Ohio Misc. 2d 35, 1995 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 27 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1995).

Opinion

Kevin Pelanda, Judge.

These matters came before the court on February 15, 1995 on motions by defendants seeking dismissal of driving under the influence charges. Defendants assert that the Double Jeopardy Clauses of the Fifth Amendment and the Ohio Constitution preclude prosecution of the traffic charge due to the administrative suspension of their drivers’ licenses imposed by the arresting officer shortly following their arrest. For the reasons herein below set forth, defendants’ motions must be overruled.

At the hearing, the parties stipulated and agreed that each of these cases involves charges of operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol (“O.M.V.I.”) under R.C. 4511.19, or a substantially similar municipal ordinance. Further, the parties stipulated that in each case the defendant’s operator’s license was summarily suspended by the arresting officer upon each defendant’s respective refusal to consent to a chemical test under R.C. 4511.191, which incorporates the so-called Administrative License Suspension law of Ohio (“A.L.S.”).

Defendants allege that the A.L.S. constitutes a penalty or punishment within the context of the Double Jeopardy Clause. They argue that the criminal [37]*37prosecutions on the underlying traffic charge seek unconstitutionally to impose additional penalties in a proceeding separate from the A.L.S.

The Fifth Amendment of the federal Constitution applies to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. Benton v. Maryland (1969), 395 U.S. 784, 89 S.Ct. 2056, 23 L.Ed.2d 707. The Ohio Supreme Court has determined that the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Ohio Constitution is equivalent in scope and effect to the federal clause. State v. Thomas (1980), 61 Ohio St.2d 254, 15 O.O.3d 262, 400 N.E.2d 897.

These double jeopardy provisions prohibit three distinct but related actions:

(1) A second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal. See North Carolina v. Pearce (1969), 395 U.S. 711, 89 S.Ct. 2072, 23 L.Ed.2d 656; Heath v. Alabama (1985), 474 U.S. 82, 106 S.Ct. 433, 88 L.Ed.2d 387;
(2) A second prosecution for the same offense after conviction. See Ohio v. Johnson (1984), 467 U.S. 493, 104 S.Ct. 2536, 81 L.Ed.2d 425;
(3) Multiple punishments in different proceedings for the same offense. See North Carolina v. Pearce, supra.

The third of these actions is at issue in the cases at bar.1

In both Montana Dept. of Revenue v. Kurth Ranch (1994), 511 U.S. -, 114 S.Ct. 1937, 128 L.Ed.2d 767, and United States v. Halper (1989), 490 U.S. 435, 109 S.Ct. 1892, 104 L.Ed.2d 487, the government sought imposition of civil sanctions or taxes after successful criminal prosecutions. In the O.M.V.I. cases at bar, the state is pursuing criminal prosecutions after the civil A.L.S. sanctions have already been imposed. One court has suggested that the order in which the civil and criminal proceedings are prosecuted and the punishments/sanctions imposed may affect applicability of the Double Jeopardy Clause. United States v. Newby (C.A.3, 1993), 11 F.3d 1143. However, if the Fifth Amendment truly proscribes both multiple prosecutions and multiple punishments, the order of the proceedings should not matter. See Kurth Ranch, supra, at -, 114 S.Ct. at 1955-1960, 128 L.Ed.2d at 789-796.

It is difficult to characterize the A.L.S. as a “proceeding” at all. The sanction, loss of driving privileges, is accomplished with the stroke of a law enforcement [38]*38officer’s pen within minutes of arresting the suspected drinking driver — no notice, no hearing. The only “proceeding” is the appeal which occurs after the fact, and during which driving privileges remain suspended. Gone are the troublesome requirements of prior notice and opportunity to be heard. With supreme efficiency, the execution is over before the trial even begins.2

Assuming that the A.L.S. is a proceeding, the Third District Court of Appeals has already declared it to be a “separate proceeding.” Ohio Bur. of Motor Vehicles v. Williams (1994), 97 Ohio App.3d 779, 647 N.E.2d 562. Inasmuch as the A.L.S. is complete before the traffic prosecution even begins, no other conclusion is possible.

There is no question that prosecution of the traffic charge is a criminal proceeding which places the defendant in jeopardy of criminal penalties. The difficult question is whether the antecedent A.L.S. constitutes a “penalty” within the context of the Double Jeopardy Clause. If it is a “penalty,” then one must establish whether it penalizes the same conduct, or the same elements, sought to be sanctioned by the criminal case. See Blockburger v. United States (1932), 284 U.S. 299, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306; United States v. Dixon (1993), — U.S. -, 113 S.Ct. 2849, 125 L.Ed.2d 556.

In cases where the defendant has refused to consent to a chemical test, (“refusal”), the double jeopardy issue is not as troublesome as those where the A.L.S. is imposed because the driver “tests” over the legal limit. If the A.L.S. is not a “penalty,” then the Double Jeopardy Clause has no application to the subsequent traffic prosecution. If it is a “penalty,” this court finds that it sanctions the refusal itself, not the conduct for which the defendant is being prosecuted in the subsequent pending traffic cases.

Prior to Ohio’s A.L.S. law, Ohio’s implied consent statute provided for a fixed license suspension whenever a drinking-driver suspect refused to consent to a chemical test to determine blood-alcohol concentration. See R.C. 4511.191, eff. 1968 to 1993. This does not punish the driver for driving under the influence; it punishes the driver for denying the prosecution use of the valuable chemical test in the traffic case.

[39]*39The Ohio Supreme Court has long recognized the statutory right of drinking drivers to refuse the consent to a test. The court has also recognized that such a refusal does not go unpunished. See, e.g., R.C. 4511.191(C), (D) and (E); Maumee v. Anistik (1994), 69 Ohio St.3d 339, 342, 632 N.E.2d 497, 500.

If the refusal-induced A.L.S. punishes a defendant’s conduct, the double jeopardy issue is whether the elements of the subsequent O.M.V.I. offense are the “same elements” as were already punished by the A.L.S. The elements required to impose an A.L.S. pursuant to the statute in refusal cases are simple and few:

(1) operation;
(2) of a vehicle;
(3) on a highway;

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Related

Blockburger v. United States
284 U.S. 299 (Supreme Court, 1931)
North Carolina v. Pearce
395 U.S. 711 (Supreme Court, 1969)
Benton v. Maryland
395 U.S. 784 (Supreme Court, 1969)
Ohio v. Johnson
467 U.S. 493 (Supreme Court, 1984)
Heath v. Alabama
474 U.S. 82 (Supreme Court, 1985)
United States v. Halper
490 U.S. 435 (Supreme Court, 1989)
United States v. Dixon
509 U.S. 688 (Supreme Court, 1993)
Department of Revenue of Mont. v. Kurth Ranch
511 U.S. 767 (Supreme Court, 1994)
Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles v. Williams
647 N.E.2d 562 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1994)
State v. Thomas
400 N.E.2d 897 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1980)
City of Maumee v. Anistik
632 N.E.2d 497 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1994)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
654 N.E.2d 199, 71 Ohio Misc. 2d 35, 1995 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 27, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-beltz-ohmunictmarysvi-1995.