State v. Nutter

2004 Ohio 3143, 811 N.E.2d 185, 128 Ohio Misc. 2d 24
CourtMarion County Municipal Court
DecidedMay 26, 2004
DocketNo. TRC 0312844
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 2004 Ohio 3143 (State v. Nutter) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Marion County 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. Nutter, 2004 Ohio 3143, 811 N.E.2d 185, 128 Ohio Misc. 2d 24 (Ohio Super. Ct. 2004).

Opinion

William R. Finnegan, Judge.

{¶ 1} On May 6, 2004, this case came on before the court upon the defendant James C. Nutter Jr.’s motion for reconsideration. The plaintiff was represented by Marion Assistant City Law Director Jason Warner, and the defendant was present and was represented by attorney Robert M. Owens. Thereupon, oral argument was heard on the motion.

{¶ 2} This court previously overruled the defendant’s motion to suppress evidence. The defendant has filed his motion for reconsideration, raising the argument that R.C. 4511.19(D)(4)(b) is unconstitutional, alleging that it is in violation of Section 5(B), Article IV of the Constitution of Ohio. The defendant bases his argument upon two recent rulings holding that the statute is unconstitutional, those being State v. Angle (2004), Licking Cty. M.C. No. 03 TRC 15417; and State v. Phipps (2003), Auglaize Cty. M.C. No. 03 TRC 05054. Both case decisions held R.C. 4511.19(D)(4)(b) in violation of the rule-making authority of the Ohio Supreme Court found in Section 5(B), Article IV of the Ohio Constitution.

{¶ 3} R.C. 4511.19(D)(4)(b) reads as follows:

“In any criminal prosecution or juvenile court proceeding for a violation of division (A) or (B) of this section, of a municipal ordinance relating to operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse, or alcohol and a drug of abuse, or of a municipal ordinance relating to operating a vehicle with a prohibited concentration of alcohol in the blood, breath, or urine, if a law enforcement officer has administered a field sobriety test to the operator of the vehicle involved in the violation and if it is shown by clear and convincing [26]*26evidence that the officer administered the test in substantial compliance with the testing standards for any reliable, credible, and generally accepted field sobriety tests that were in effect at the time the tests were administered, including, but not limited too, any testing standards then in effect that were set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, all of the following apply:
“(i) The officer may testify concerning the results of the field sobriety test so administered.
“(ii) The prosecution may introduce the results of the field sobriety test so administered as evidence in any proceedings in the criminal prosecution or juvenile court proceeding.
“(in) If testimony is presented or evidence is introduced under (D)(4)(b)® or (ii) of this section, and if the testimony or evidence is admissible under the Rules of Evidence, the court shall admit the testimony or evidence and the trier of fact shall give it whatever weight the trier of fact considers to be appropriate.”

{¶ 4} The relevant part of Section 5, Article IV of the Constitution of Ohio reads as follows:

“The supreme court shall prescribe rules governing practice and procedure in all courts of the state, which rules shall not abridge, enlarge, or modify any substantive right. Proposed rules shall be filed with the Court, not later than the 15th day of January, with the clerk of each house of the general assembly during a regular session thereof, and amendments to any such proposed rules may be so filed not later than the first day of May in that session. Such rules shall take effect on the following first day of July, unless prior to such day the general assembly adopts a concurrent resolution of disapproval. All laws in conflict with such rules shall be of no further force or effect after such rules have taken effect.”

{¶ 5} The court notes that at oral argument, the defendant at one point claimed that the admission of field sobriety tests was a matter of substantive law and not of procedural law. This claim of the defendant is not supported by either of the cases upon which defendant relies in his motion, and the court finds that if this issue was a matter of substantive law, defendant’s argument as to unconstitutionality of the statute would fail, as Section 5, Article IV of the Constitution of Ohio specifically states that rules governing practice and procedure shall not abridge, enlarge, or modify any substantive right. The court finds, however, that the standards of admission of field sobriety tests are a matter of procedural law, so the court shall continue to consider whether R.C. 4511.19(D)(4)(b) violates the Constitution of Ohio.

[27]*27{¶ 6} This court previously overruled the defendant’s motion to suppress, using the statute in question. Does R.C. 4511.19(D)(4)(b) conflict with the Ohio Rules of Evidence in a motion to suppress context? This court believes the answer is no. First, the express terms of Evid.R. 101(C)(1) specifically provide that the Rules of Evidence do not apply to determinations prerequisite to rulings on the admissibility of evidence when the issue is to be determined by the court under Evid.R. 104. Evid.R. 104(A) provides that preliminary questions concerning the admissibility of evidence shall be determined by the court, and in making its determination, it is not bound by the Rules of Evidence except those with respect to privileges. Thus, by its own terms, the Ohio Rules of Evidence are not applicable in suppression hearings. State v. Woodring (1989), 63 Ohio App.3d 79, 577 N.E.2d 1157. Since the Rules of Evidence do not apply in suppression hearings in the first place, R.C. 4511.19(D)(4)(b) cannot be in conflict with any Evidence Rule in a motion to suppress context.

{¶ 7} Although the above-stated reasoning deals with the defendant’s motion for reconsideration at this point of the proceedings, it only delays the inevitable issue as to whether R.C. 4511.19(D)(4)(b) is in conflict with the Modern Courts Amendment at trial. In a trial, the Ohio Rules of Evidence are applicable. This court shall therefore consider whether the statute is unconstitutional in a trial setting as well.

{¶ 8} In the cases relied upon by the defendant, State v. Phipps and State v. Angle, the courts held that State v. Homan (2000), 89 Ohio St.3d 421, 732 N.E.2d 952, which imposed a strict compliance standard with National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration standards for field sobriety tests to be admissible, was not a new evidentiary rule established in common law, but, rather, an application of an existing Rule of Evidence, that being Evid.R. 702, relating to the admissibility of evidence by expert witnesses.

{¶ 9} In considering this issue, the court has reviewed State v. Bresson (1990), 51 Ohio St.3d 123, 554 N.E.2d 1330. In Bresson, the Supreme Court was confronted with two conflicting lines of case law that had developed around Ohio, as well as other states, as to the issue of whether expert testimony was required for horizontal gaze nystagmus test results to be admitted. One line of case authority held that the horizontal gaze nystagmus test is a scientific test that requires expert testimony regarding the test’s scientific reliability and acceptance. The other line of authority held that evidence of a horizontal gaze nystagmus test is admissible so long as a proper foundation is laid as to the techniques used and the officer’s ability to use it. The Supreme Court in Bresson

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2004 Ohio 3143, 811 N.E.2d 185, 128 Ohio Misc. 2d 24, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-nutter-ohmunictmarion-2004.