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Ohio trooper pleads not guilty to I-70 speeding | newarkadvocate.com | The Newark Advocate
July 9, 2009
Ohio trooper pleads not guilty to I-70 speeding
BY RUSS ZIMMER
Advocate Reporter
NEWARK -- An Ohio Highway Patrol trooper pleaded not guilty Wednesday morning to a 147-mph speeding ticket after he learned the judge intended to suspend his driver's license.
Jason E. Highsmith, 35, was clocked at well in excess of double the 65 mph posted speed limit on the Licking Township portion of Interstate 70 on June 28.
He was riding with a Gahanna Police Department officer whose speed was timed at 149 mph. Christopher Thomas, 33, will appear in court next week. Both men were riding 2008 Kawasaki motorcycles.
During Highsmith's arraignment Wednesday morning in Licking County Municipal Court, Highsmith appeared surprised when Judge David Branstool indicated he would be applying a "discretionary license suspension" in addition to the expected fine.
Highsmith, who has no previous traffic violations in the past 12 months in Licking or Franklin counties, told the judge he was planning on resolving the minor misdemeanor Wednesday but changed his mind when Branstool informed him his license would be revoked if he pleaded guilty.
"There is a discretionary license suspension if the operation is under reckless circumstances," Branstool said, adding the suspension could be six months to three years.
Ohio law states anyone convicted of any motor vehicle operating offense "relating to reckless operation" can be subject to the same license suspensions that would be applied to someone ticketed for reckless operation.
Highsmith, who was speaking at a near whisper to Branstool, said he was concerned a license suspension would affect his job. Highsmith was reassigned Wednesday afternoon from the Motorcycle Unit to the Delaware Post, where he will be working traffic enforcement out of a cruiser.
"I was 100 percent wrong. I made a mistake," Highsmith said, adding he did not want or expect leniency.
Branstool said the case would be set for trial. Highsmith declined to speak with media after the hearing concluded.
WHAT THE LAW SAYS
A review of the annotated Ohio Revised Code shows a 1968 appellate case established that a speeding violation can be used as the basis for a reckless operation suspension in the absence of a reckless operation charge. That ruling overturned an earlier decision, the ORC states.
Since that interpretation became law, two other cases were cited in Ohio's legal framework: One that supported the earlier opinion and another that narrowed the parameters.
In 2004, the Ninth District Court of Appeals upheld a suspension in a case where a ticket was issued for speeding violation of 81 mph in a 55 mph zone. In that instance, the offending driver was actively passing vehicles, the case summary shows.
Eleven years earlier, another appellate court decision chastised the trial court, saying it abused its discretion in finding a ticket for 70 mph in a 55 mph zone -- issued during the daytime when there was light traffic -- as qualifying as "relating to reckless operation."
The citations for Highsmith and Thomas both state the road conditions were dry, the visibility and weather were clear and the traffic was light.
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Ohio trooper pleads not guilty to I-70 speeding | newarkadvocate.com | The Newark Advocate
July 9, 2009
Ohio trooper pleads not guilty to I-70 speeding
BY RUSS ZIMMER
Advocate Reporter
NEWARK -- An Ohio Highway Patrol trooper pleaded not guilty Wednesday morning to a 147-mph speeding ticket after he learned the judge intended to suspend his driver's license.
Jason E. Highsmith, 35, was clocked at well in excess of double the 65 mph posted speed limit on the Licking Township portion of Interstate 70 on June 28.
He was riding with a Gahanna Police Department officer whose speed was timed at 149 mph. Christopher Thomas, 33, will appear in court next week. Both men were riding 2008 Kawasaki motorcycles.
During Highsmith's arraignment Wednesday morning in Licking County Municipal Court, Highsmith appeared surprised when Judge David Branstool indicated he would be applying a "discretionary license suspension" in addition to the expected fine.
Highsmith, who has no previous traffic violations in the past 12 months in Licking or Franklin counties, told the judge he was planning on resolving the minor misdemeanor Wednesday but changed his mind when Branstool informed him his license would be revoked if he pleaded guilty.
"There is a discretionary license suspension if the operation is under reckless circumstances," Branstool said, adding the suspension could be six months to three years.
Ohio law states anyone convicted of any motor vehicle operating offense "relating to reckless operation" can be subject to the same license suspensions that would be applied to someone ticketed for reckless operation.
Highsmith, who was speaking at a near whisper to Branstool, said he was concerned a license suspension would affect his job. Highsmith was reassigned Wednesday afternoon from the Motorcycle Unit to the Delaware Post, where he will be working traffic enforcement out of a cruiser.
"I was 100 percent wrong. I made a mistake," Highsmith said, adding he did not want or expect leniency.
Branstool said the case would be set for trial. Highsmith declined to speak with media after the hearing concluded.
WHAT THE LAW SAYS
A review of the annotated Ohio Revised Code shows a 1968 appellate case established that a speeding violation can be used as the basis for a reckless operation suspension in the absence of a reckless operation charge. That ruling overturned an earlier decision, the ORC states.
Since that interpretation became law, two other cases were cited in Ohio's legal framework: One that supported the earlier opinion and another that narrowed the parameters.
In 2004, the Ninth District Court of Appeals upheld a suspension in a case where a ticket was issued for speeding violation of 81 mph in a 55 mph zone. In that instance, the offending driver was actively passing vehicles, the case summary shows.
Eleven years earlier, another appellate court decision chastised the trial court, saying it abused its discretion in finding a ticket for 70 mph in a 55 mph zone -- issued during the daytime when there was light traffic -- as qualifying as "relating to reckless operation."
The citations for Highsmith and Thomas both state the road conditions were dry, the visibility and weather were clear and the traffic was light.
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Then watching the thugs you actually do get locked get released cause their isn't room, maybe the prison system need s to take a page out of the humane society regulation book, can't keep em, can't feed em, put em down
