State v. Phelps, Unpublished Decision (3-3-1997)
State v. Phelps, Unpublished Decision (3-3-1997)
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
Defendant-appellant, Edd S. Phelps, appeals his conviction in Clermont County Municipal Court for driving while under the influence of alcohol.At approximately 4:10 a.m. on March 10, 1996, Trooper Tracey Callahan of the Ohio State Highway Patrol ("OHSP") stopped appellant for speeding on westbound State Route 32 and subsequently arrested him for driving while under the influence of alcohol.
At 5:05 a.m., Callahan obtained a urine sample from appellant which he then sealed, labeled and prepared for mailing to the OHSP's crime laboratory in Columbus. Callahan kept the sample in his possession while he completed paperwork associated with appellant's arrest. Callahan deposited the sample in the mail at approximately 6:00 a.m.
The trial court denied a motion to suppress the results of appellant's urinalysis test, whereupon appellant entered a plea of no contest, was found guilty and sentenced of record. As his sole assignment of error, appellant claims the trial court erred in overruling his motion to suppress the test results.
R.C.
Appellant contends that Callahan's failure to refrigerate the urine sample for the one-hour period during which he completed paperwork violates the requirements of R.C.
The supreme court has determined that urine tests must be administered in substantial compliance with Ohio Adm. Code
This court has previously followed the Plummer ruling in finding that the state substantially complied with applicable methods for the handling of urine samples. See, e.g., State v. Cook (1992),
Other than the one hour period during which the sample was unrefrigerated, there is no evidence that appellant's sample was improperly collected, handled or processed. On the basis of Plummer and our previous holdings, we accordingly conclude that there has been substantial compliance with Ohio Adm. Code
Judgment affirmed.
KOEHLER and WALSH, JJ., concur.
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