State v. Kristofferson, Unpublished Decision (11-17-2006)
State v. Kristofferson, Unpublished Decision (11-17-2006)
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant Lawrence Kristofferson appeals from the trial court's judgment convicting him of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol ("OVI"), in violation of former R.C.{¶ 2} The parties stipulated below that, on June 6, 2004, Kristofferson was cited under a city of Norwood ordinance for an OVI offense stemming from a March 27, 2004, accident. The parties did not stipulate, and the record does not indicate, which provision of the Norwood city code Kristofferson was charged with violating. Although it is not entirely clear, it appears that the Norwood case was removed to the Hamilton County Municipal Court and was later dismissed.
{¶ 3} Completely independent of the Norwood case, on September 4, 2004, Kristofferson was cited for OVI under former R.C.
{¶ 4} Following a hearing, the trial court denied Kristofferson's motion. He later pleaded no contest to the R.C.
{¶ 5} The right to a speedy trial is guaranteed by the
{¶ 6} The state argued below, and the trial court agreed, that the waiver executed in the Norwood case also applied to the state charge. We disagree. In Adams, supra, the Ohio Supreme Court held that "[w]hen an accused waives the right to a speedy trial as to an initial charge, this waiver is not applicable to additional charges arising from the same set of circumstances that are brought subsequent to the execution of the waiver."Adams, supra, syllabus. The Adams court reasoned that two different charges could entail two different defenses, and that waiving time as to one charge might not be sound strategy as to the other. Id. at 69-70,
{¶ 7} The state contends that Adams is distinguishable because, unlike in Adams, the first and second charges in this case were substantively the same and therefore that Kristofferson would not have been prejudiced by applying the waiver from the first charge to the later charge. See id. at 69-70,
{¶ 8} In sum, we conclude that Kristofferson did not waive time in the municipal court proceeding, regardless of what occurred in the Norwood case. Without a written or express oral waiver of his speedy-trial rights in the record, Kristofferson should have prevailed on his motion to dismiss. The state was required to bring Kristofferson to trial within 90 days of June 6, 2004 — the date of his initial arrest. See id. at 68,
{¶ 9} Given the disposition of Kristofferson's second assignment of error, his first assignment of error is moot. See App.R. 12(A)(1)(c).
{¶ 10} The judgment of the trial court is reversed, and Kristofferson is discharged from further prosecution in this case.
Judgment reversed and appellant discharged.
Hildebrandt, P.J., and Hendon, J., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- State of Ohio v. Lawrence Kristofferson
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Unpublished