State v. Gage

104 N.E.3d 994, 2018 Ohio 480
CourtCourt of Appeals of Ohio, First District, Hamilton County
DecidedJanuary 26, 2018
DocketNO. C–160824A
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 104 N.E.3d 994 (State v. Gage) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Ohio, First District, Hamilton County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Gage, 104 N.E.3d 994, 2018 Ohio 480 (Ohio Super. Ct. 2018).

Opinion

Mock, Presiding Judge.

{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant Talis Gage appeals a conviction for walking in a roadway and impeding traffic under Cincinnati Municipal Code 506-47. We find no merit in his sole assignment of error, and we affirm his conviction.

I. Facts and Procedure

{¶ 2} On September 19, 2015, Gage was arrested and charged with obstructing official business under R.C. 2921.31, a second-degree misdemeanor, and walking in a roadway and impeding traffic, a minor misdemeanor. He first asserted his right to speedy trial on May 26, 2016. He was not tried until October 19, 2016, over a year after his arrest.

{¶ 3} Immediately before trial, the state dismissed the obstructing-official-business charge, and the case proceeded to a bench trial on the minor misdemeanor. Gage was found guilty, and this appeal followed.

{¶ 4} In his sole assignment of error, Gage contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss. He argues that the state's delay in bringing him to trial violated both his statutory and constitutional rights to a speedy trial. This assignment of error is not well taken.

II. Standard of Review

{¶ 5} Our review of the trial court's decision involves mixed questions of fact and law. We give due weight to the inferences drawn from the facts found by the trial court as long as they are supported by competent, credible evidence. We review the trial court's conclusions of law de novo to determine whether the facts satisfy *997the applicable legal standard. State v. Rice , 2015-Ohio-5481, 57 N.E.3d 84, ¶ 15.

III. Statutory Right to a Speedy Trial

{¶ 6} Gage was charged with a minor misdemeanor and a second-degree misdemeanor, which was not dismissed until the day of trial. R.C. 2945.71(D) provides that "[a] person against whom one or more charges of different degrees * * * all of which arose out of the same act or transaction, are pending shall be brought to trial on all of the charges within the time period required for the highest degree of the offense charged * * *." The state must bring a person charged with a second-degree misdemeanor to trial within 90 days of the person's arrest or the service of summons. R.C. 2945.71(B)(2).

{¶ 7} Because Gage showed that he was not tried within 90 days of his arrest, he established a prima facie violation of the speedy-trial statutes. State v. Brewster , 157 Ohio App.3d 342, 2004-Ohio-2722, 811 N.E.2d 162, ¶ 5 (1st Dist.) ; State v. Hirsch , 129 Ohio App.3d 294, 315, 717 N.E.2d 789 (1st Dist.1998). The state bears the burden to show that actions or events chargeable to the defendant have tolled enough time so that the defendant was tried within the speedy-trial period. State v. Matthews , 1st Dist. Hamilton Nos. C-060669 and C-060692, 2007-Ohio-4881, 2007 WL 2745211, ¶ 28 ; Brewster at ¶ 6.

{¶ 8} Extensions of the time period within which the state must try the accused are permissible only for the reasons expressed in R.C. 2945.72. State v. Saffell , 35 Ohio St.3d 90, 91, 518 N.E.2d 934 (1988) ; Matthews at ¶ 28. Those reasons include: (1) any period during which the accused is unavailable for hearing or trial, by reason of other criminal proceedings against him, within or outside the state; (2) any period of delay necessitated by the accused's lack of counsel; (3) any period of delay occasioned by the neglect or improper act of the accused; (4) any period of delay necessitated by reason of a plea in bar or abatement, motion, proceeding, or action made or instituted by the accused; (5) the period of any continuance granted on the accused's own motion; and (6) the period of any reasonable continuance granted other than on the accused's own motion. R.C. 2945.72(A), (C), (D), (E) and (H).

{¶ 9} Gage was arrested on September 9, 2015, and the time began running the following day. State v. Ollison , 9th Dist. Summit No. 27994, 2016-Ohio-7029, 2016 WL 5632176, ¶ 8 ; State v. Stewart , 2d Dist. Montgomery No. 21462, 2006-Ohio-4164, 2006 WL 2336629, ¶ 16. On September 21, 2015, he appeared in court and asked for a continuance to speak to an attorney. On September 28, although he appeared in court, he refused to acknowledge his own presence in the courtroom, and a capias was issued.

{¶ 10} On October 8, 2015, the court journalized a motion and entry recalling the capias and reset the date for an arraignment. The entry specifically stated that Gage "knowingly and voluntarily extends the time limitations to be brought to trial * * * from the date of the original arrest to the next scheduled date." It was signed by the defendant personally, not just his counsel. Thus, Gage knowingly waived his speedy-trial rights from the date of his arrest until October 16, the next scheduled date, and none of that time was chargeable to the state. See State v. King , 70 Ohio St.3d 158, 160, 637 N.E.2d 903 (1994) ; State v. Kristofferson , 1st Dist. Hamilton No. C-050736, 2006-Ohio-6046, 2006 WL 3333593, ¶ 5.

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Bluebook (online)
104 N.E.3d 994, 2018 Ohio 480, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-gage-ohctapp1hamilto-2018.