State v. Wirtanen

674 N.E.2d 1245, 110 Ohio App. 3d 604
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 26, 1996
DocketNo. E-95-058.
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 674 N.E.2d 1245 (State v. Wirtanen) 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. Wirtanen, 674 N.E.2d 1245, 110 Ohio App. 3d 604 (Ohio Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

Per Curiam.

This accelerated case is before the court on appeal from a judgment of the Sandusky Municipal Court, which found appellant, Robert A. Wirtanen, guilty of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, a violation of R.C. *606 4511.19(A)(1). Appellant appeals that judgment and asserts that the following error occurred in the proceedings below:

“The Trial Court erred when it overruled Defendanb-Appellant’s motion to dismiss which motion asserted that Defendant-Appellant’s statutory right to a speedy trial had been violated.”

On January 22, 1994, appellant was arrested and charged with a violation 1 of R.C. 4511.19(A)(1). Appellant expressly stated, in writing, that he did not wish to waive his right to a speedy trial. On January 24, 1994, appellant entered a plea of not guilty. On that same date, appellant’s trial counsel filed a motion requesting a pretrial conference. The pretrial was scheduled for February 25, 1994. A jury trial was scheduled for March 15,1994.

On March 2, 1994, appellant filed a motion for a continuance; trial was then scheduled for May 17,1994. On May 13,1994, appellee, the state of Ohio, filed a motion for a continuance. Appellee asserted that the arresting officer, P. Frost, would not be available on the scheduled trial date. Appellee’s motion was granted, and trial was set for June 21, 1994. On June 3, 1994, appellant moved for another continuance. This motion was granted and the trial was set for July 26,1994.

On July 22,1994, the prosecution again asked for a continuance. It maintained that the arresting officer was on vacation and would not be able to testify on the scheduled trial date. The trial court granted this motion and stated that appellant’s trial would be scheduled on “the next available date.”

On October 20, 1994, appellant’s trial was scheduled for November 15, 1994. On November 8,1994, appellant filed a motion to dismiss the cause for appellee’s alleged failure to comply with the Ohio’s speedy trial statute, R.C. 2945.71. Appellee filed a memorandum in opposition to the motion. On November 14, 1994, appellant filed a motion for a continuance of the scheduled November 15, 1994 trial for the purpose of researching the law and preparing a response to appellee’s memorandum in opposition. In his motion, appellant acknowledged that the granting of his motion for a continuance would extend the time for trial under the speedy trial statute. Appellant’s motion was granted and, on January 4,1995, trial was rescheduled for January 24,1995.

Appellant, on January 18, 1995, requested another continuance. This request was granted; trial was scheduled for March 21,1995.

*607 On March 15, 1995, appellant filed a “supplement” to his motion to dismiss. He contended that four hundred seventeen days had passed since his arrest and that, of this total, at least one hundred twenty-nine days were “arguably chargeable” to the state.

On May 2, 1995, the trial court scheduled May 19, 1995 as the date for a hearing on appellant’s motion to dismiss. Although the record does not contain a motion for a continuance filed on behalf of either party, the hearing on appellant’s motion was rescheduled for July 20, 1995. The only notation appearing on the docket sheet that relates to this change is dated May 19,1995 and reads: “CASE TO BE RESET FOR HEARING PER PROSECUTO [sic ].”

On July 27, 1995, the trial court denied appellant’s motion to dismiss and set this case for trial on “the next available date.” On August 22, 1995, trial was scheduled for September 6, 1995. On that date, appellant appeared, pled no contest and was found guilty. After sentencing, appellant filed his timely notice of appeal.

The sole issue in this case is whether appellant was brought to trial within the time limit mandated by the relevant provision of R.C. 2945.71.

Violation of R.C. 4511.19(A)(1) is a misdemeanor of the first degree. R.C. 4511.99(A)(1) and (2). R.C. 2945.71 provides:

“(B) A person against whom a charge of misdemeanor, other than a minor misdemeanor, is pending in a court of record, shall be brought to trial:

« * * *

“(2) Within ninety days after his arrest or the service of summons, if the offense charged is a misdemeanor of the first or second degree, or other misdemeanor for which the maximum penalty is imprisonment for more than sixty days.”

The Ohio speedy trial statute is constitutional and mandatory and must be strictly construed against the state. State v. Singer (1977), 50 Ohio St.2d 103, 109, 4 O.O.3d 237, 240, 362 N.E.2d 1216, 1220. Once the statutory limit has expired, the defendant has established a prima facie case for dismissal. State v. Howard (1992), 79 Ohio App.3d 705, 707, 607 N.E.2d 1121, 1122; State v. Geraldo (1983), 13 Ohio App.3d 27, 28, 13 OBR 29, 30-31, 468 N.E.2d 328, 330. At that point, the burden is upon the state to demonstrate that sufficient time was tolled pursuant to R.C. 2945.72 to leave fewer than ninety days chargeable to the state. State v. Broughton (1991), 62 Ohio St.3d 253, 261, 581 N.E.2d 541, 547-548. A failure of the state to comply with the mandates of the Ohio speedy trial statute requires discharge of the defendant. R.C. 2945.73; State v. Benson (1985), 29 Ohio App.3d 321, 324, 29 OBR 448, 451-452, 505 N.E.2d 987, 991.

*608 In the present case, the ninetieth day after appellant’s arrest was April 22, 1994. However, appellant established that he was not brought to trial until September 6, 1995, five hundred ninety-two days after his arrest. Thus, the burden was on the state to demonstrate any tolling or extension of the statutory limit of ninety days.

R.C. 2942.72 provides that the speedy trial time limit is extended for the following relevant reasons:

“(E) Any period of delay necessitated by reason of a plea in bar or abatement, motion, proceeding, or action made or instituted by the accused;

“(H) The period of any continuance granted on the accused’s own motion, and the period of any reasonable continuance granted other than upon the accused’s own motion * *

Appellant contends that the state failed to demonstrate that the requirements of R.C. 2945.72(E) and (H) were met as to the following time periods and that they are, therefore, chargeable to the state:

(1) 1/24/94 to 2/25/94 — a total of thirty-two days between appellant’s request for a pretrial and the pretrial itself.

(2) 5/13/94 to 6/3/94 — the period of twenty-one days the trial was continued on the state’s request based upon the unavailability of the arresting officer.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
674 N.E.2d 1245, 110 Ohio App. 3d 604, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-wirtanen-ohioctapp-1996.