City of Lakewood v. Cirino, Unpublished Decision (2-1-2001)
City of Lakewood v. Cirino, Unpublished Decision (2-1-2001)
Opinion of the Court
Defendant-appellant herein, Matt A. Cirino, appeals from his conviction in the Lakewood Municipal Court on one count of Driving Under Suspension or Revocation or in Violation of License Restrictions, Lakewood Codified Ordinances 335.07. Because we conclude that the evidence received at trial was sufficient to support the appellant's convictions, we affirm the ruling of the trial court.
On April 18, 2000, at approximately 11:35 p.m., the appellant was pulled over in the city of Lakewood driving southbound on W. 117th Street after he was observed running a red light. The officer who pulled over the appellant proceeded to check the current status of the appellant's driving privileges in Ohio by running a LEADS report. This report indicated that the appellant's license was suspended because of his failure to comply with Ohio's Financial Responsibility Act (FRA), R.C.
The appellant further asserts that his conviction was not supported by evidence at the trial because a computer printout of his driving record, which was generated at the time of his trial, showed that the appellant was not under an FRA suspension at the time that he was pulled over for going through a red light on April 18, 2000. Yet, the appellant readily admits that his license was suspended at the time of the incident1 and, indeed, his counsel stated of the appellant at trial: if he was charged under driving under a court suspension, there's little doubt he would be guilty.
The appellant timely filed the within appeal from the verdict of the trial court and submits five assignments of error for this court's review. As the five assignments of error are interrelated and have a common basis in law and fact, they will be addressed concurrently in this opinion. Assignments of error one through five state:
I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED AND VIOLATED THE DEFENDANT'S CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS WHEN IT CONVICTED HIM OF AN OFFENSE WHICH WAS NOT SUPPORTED BY SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE.
II. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED AND VIOLATED THE DEFENDANT'S CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS WHEN IT CONVICTED THE DEFENDANT OF AN OFFENSE THAT HE WAS NEVER CHARGED WITH HAVING VIOLATED.
III. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED AND VIOLATED THE DEFENDANT'S CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS CRIM.R. 7(D), WHEN IT WITHOUT ANY NOTICE TO THE DEFENDANT, DE FACTO AMENDED THE OFFENSE THE DEFENDANT WAS CHARGED WITH HAVING VIOLATED, AND THEN CONVICTED HIM OF THAT AMENDED CHARGE.
IV. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED AND VIOLATED THE DEFENDANT'S CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS WHEN IT ADMITTED EVIDENCE THAT WAS COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT TO THE OFFENSE THE DEFENDANT WAS ALLEGED TO HAVE VIOLATED.
V. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED AND VIOLATED THE DEFENDANT'S CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS WHEN IT CONVICTED THE DEFENDANT ON CHARGES OF DRIVING UNDER A LICENSE SUSPENSION WHERE THE DEFENDANT DID NOT EVEN HAVE A DRIVER'S LICENSE.
The appellant's entire argument rests on the premise that he was charged under Lakewood Codified Ordinance 335.07(a), but convicted of violating Lakewood Codified Ordinance 335.07(d). In fact, the citation issued to the appellant only charged the appellant with a violation of 335.07, no subsection was indicated. The mere fact that the ticket also included the dates of the purported FRA suspension did not prohibit the trial court from finding the appellant guilty of violating his court ordered license suspension, which is also an offense under 335.07.
In City of North Olmsted v. Greiner (1983),
[a] traffic ticket will satisfy legal requirements, if it apprises a defendant of the nature of the charge together with a citation of the statute or ordinance involved. If either of these two elements is omitted, the ticket is subject to dismissal upon timely motion unless it is amended to correct the deficiency. (Emphasis sic.) Citing Cleveland v. Austin (1978),
55 Ohio App.2d 215 ,220 .
Although a traffic ticket must cite to the statute or ordinance which has allegedly been violated, there is no requirement that a specific subsection also be indicated. In the present case, contrary to the assertion of the appellant, the appellant was not charged with a violation of section
In Barberton v. O'Connor (1985),
Thus, we conclude that the appellant was properly convicted of driving while under suspension and we overrule each of the appellant's assignments of error.
Judgment affirmed.
It is ordered that appellee recover of appellant its costs herein taxed.
The court finds there were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
It is ordered that a special mandate issue out of this court directing the Lakewood Municipal Court to carry this judgment into execution. The defendant's conviction having been affirmed, any bail pending appeal is terminated. Case remanded to the trial court for execution of sentence.
A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to Rule 27 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure.
ROCCO, P.J., and DYKE, J., CONCUR.
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