State v. Mahoney

517 N.E.2d 957, 34 Ohio App. 3d 114, 1986 WL 8405, 1986 Ohio App. LEXIS 10288
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 30, 1986
DocketC-850373
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 517 N.E.2d 957 (State v. Mahoney) 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
State v. Mahoney, 517 N.E.2d 957, 34 Ohio App. 3d 114, 1986 WL 8405, 1986 Ohio App. LEXIS 10288 (Ohio Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

Shannon, P. J.

This appeal derives from the judgment entered and sentence imposed pursuant to the verdict of a jury finding the defendant-appellant, Martin Mahoney, guilty of two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, with specifications, as he stood charged in an indictment.

The two fatalities occurred as the result of a head-on collision, which was the last in a series of events that began during the early evening hours of November 21, 1984.

At about 6:20 p.m. on that date, Mahoney, then twenty years of age, met one Reichart. Together, they went, in Mahoney’s automobile, first to a bowling alley where each had some beer to drink and then to another establishment where Mahoney drank more beer and Reichart consumed a number of mixed drinks. Mahoney then drove back to the bowling alley where they learned that a party was being held in the near vicinity. With Reichart giving directions, Mahoney drove to the gathering, at which three high-school students, Steven Heile, James P. Anderson and Michael Over-berg, were among those in attendance.

After a short time, Reichart and Mahoney went to purchase a case of beer to replenish the supply at the party. In the course of the return trip, Mahoney found himself behind an automobile being driven by a young woman, Jenny Reilly, who was on her way home. According to her testimony, she was experiencing difficulty with the car’s mechanism which caused it to hesitate before accelerating. Mahoney’s pace was slowed as a result of the sluggish speed of Reilly’s car.

As the two vehicles descended a grade in the undulating roadway, Mahoney’s patience was exhausted and he decided to pass Reilly’s vehicle despite the fact that such maneuver required him to drive to the left of the center of the road, clearly marked with double yellow lines. Mahoney passed. But, when his car was some one and one-half to two car lengths ahead of Reilly’s car, her accelerator functioned and her speed increased. At that moment, Mahoney’s car was approaching the crest of the rise of the hill opposite the downgrade and was still to the left of the double yellow lines.

Shortly before this time, Anderson and Overberg had left the party in Heile’s car, -with Heile driving. As Mahoney approached the crest of the hill, Heile was driving on the right side of the center lines on the opposite grade. The two vehicles met, head-on, just as Heile came over the crest and as Mahoney “floored” his accelerator to complete his passing of Reilly.

Anderson and Overberg were so severely injured that death resulted in the hospital to which they were removed. Reichart and Mahoney also suffered extensive injuries, and Heile’s injuries were such that he was un *116 conscious for a week and unable to recall any of the events of the evening after he had left the party.

On November 29,1984, the Hamilton County Grand Jury returned an indictment charging Mahoney with two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and one count of driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. On December 7,1984, Mahoney entered pleas of not guilty to those charges and, through counsel, sought discovery and a bill of particulars.

On April 25, 1985, the grand jury returned a second indictment differing from the first only in that it added specifications alleging physical harm to the charges set forth originally. On April 29, 1985, Mahoney entered pleas of not guilty to the new indictment.

Trial commenced on May 6, 1985 and concluded on May 10, 1985, with the verdicts finding Mahoney guilty of the homicides, as specified, but not guilty of having committed the offenses while' under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

On May 24, 1985, the court conducted a hearing and found that Mahoney had a prior conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol as specified in the indictment, and sentenced Mahoney to consecutive terms of three to five years on each count. Further, the court ordered the suspension of Mahoney’s license to operate a motor vehicle for five years, providing expressly that the suspension was to commence upon Mahoney’s release from confinement.

On May 28, 1985, at the request of the prosecution, the court dismissed the first indictment.

Appellant gives us twelve assignments of error, some of which are interrelated and the first of which is that:

“The trial court committed prejudicial error by violating the individual assignment system set forth in Rule 7 of the Hamilton County Rules of the Court of Common Pleas.”

Appellant contends that although the first indictment was properly assigned by lot to the jurist who presided over the trial, that jurist had no authority to assume, automatically, responsibility for the disposition of the second indictment.

Local Rule 7(B) of the Court of Common Pleas of Hamilton County (originally effective March 1976) provides, in part:

“In accordance with Superintendence Rule 4, upon the filing in, or transfer to, a division of the Court of a civil case, or upon arraignment upon information or indictment in a criminal case, such case shall be immediately assigned by the Presiding Judge or the Court Administrator by lot to a judge thereof, who thus becomes primarily responsible for the determination of every issue and proceeding in the. case until its termination. * * *”

The only difference in the two indictments in this case is that the first did not contain the specifications set forth in the second; the crime charged remained unchanged.

In State v. Porter (1976), 49 Ohio App. 2d 227, 230, 3 O.O. 3d 276, 278, 360 N.E. 2d 759, 761, the Court of Appeals for Summit County held that the Rules of Superintendence are guidelines for judges only and cannot be used by criminal defendants as a ground for discharge, citing its prior holding in State v. Duncan (Oct. 22, 1975), Medina App. No. 581, unreported.

We adopted this rule in deciding State v. Carroll (Dec. 13, 1978), Hamilton App. No. C-780185, unreported, in which we held that the Rules of Superintendence are administrative directives only, and are not intended to function as rules of practice and procedure. See, also, State v. Smith (1976), 47 Ohio App. 2d 317, 327, 1 *117 O.O. 3d 385, 391, 354 N.E. 2d 699, 706-707; State v. Siegel (June 16, 1982), Hamilton App. Nos. C-810600 and -810601, unreported.

We see no reason to abandon these precedents in this case, especially because it was apparent from the beginning that the first indictment was properly assigned for disposition and, after the second indictment was returned, was to be dismissed. Mahoney was not prejudiced by the procedure adopted and, therefore, cannot prevail upon his first assignment of error. Resultantly, the assignment is overruled.

The second assignment of error is:

“The trial court committed prejudicial error in refusing to order the prosecution to provide a proper bill of particulars.”

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Weber v. Forinash
2015 Ohio 3187 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2015)
Brown v. Brown
2014 Ohio 2402 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2014)
State v. Pendleton
2011 Ohio 2024 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2011)
State v. Ellis, Unpublished Decision (8-15-2006)
2006 Ohio 4231 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2006)
Caudill v. Caudill, Unpublished Decision (3-10-2006)
2006 Ohio 1116 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2006)
State v. Burke, Unpublished Decision (3-7-2006)
2006 Ohio 1026 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2006)
State v. Worrell, Unpublished Decision (3-31-2005)
2005 Ohio 1521 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2005)
State v. Voland
716 N.E.2d 299 (Clermont County Court of Common Pleas, 1999)
State v. Duncan
719 N.E.2d 608 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1998)
State v. Jacobs
670 N.E.2d 1014 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1995)
State v. Laub
621 N.E.2d 585 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1993)
State v. Beam
601 N.E.2d 547 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1991)
State v. Manning
598 N.E.2d 25 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1991)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
517 N.E.2d 957, 34 Ohio App. 3d 114, 1986 WL 8405, 1986 Ohio App. LEXIS 10288, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mahoney-ohioctapp-1986.