Summary
The Ninth District Court of Appeals of Ohio affirmed Richard Lawrence White Jr.'s felony OVI conviction and aggregate 18-month prison sentence. The court held that White failed to make a prima facie showing that his 1999 uncounseled OVI conviction was constitutionally infirm because he did not establish that intoxication rendered his waiver of counsel invalid. Accordingly, the burden did not shift to the State to prove a valid waiver.
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Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether White established a prima facie case, by a preponderance of the evidence, that his 1999 OVI conviction was constitutionally infirm because he did not validly waive his right to counsel.
- Whether the trial court erred by denying White's motion to strike the 1999 conviction from the indictment and specifications.
Holdings
- White failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that his 1999 no-contest plea was uncounseled or that his waiver of the right to counsel was constitutionally invalid. His inability to recall whether the court explained the waiver, together with evidence that he was under the influence of alcohol, did not show that he was so impaired that he could not understand or voluntarily waive his right to counsel.
- The State had no burden to prove that White validly waived counsel because White failed to make the required prima facie showing that the 1999 conviction was constitutionally infirm.
Key quotations
“The mere fact that a defendant is under the influence of alcohol would not invalidate a waiver absent evidence that the defendant was intoxicated to such a degree as to render the defendant incapable of understanding or voluntarily waiving his rights.” (¶ 28)
“Mr. White did not meet his burden to show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that his plea leading to the 1999 conviction was uncounseled—that he was unrepresented and did not validly waive his right to counsel—and, consequently, he failed to demonstrate that his plea was constitutionally infirm.” (¶ 30)
Factual background
White was indicted for two felony OVI offenses based in part on allegations of five or more prior OVI convictions or pleas within twenty years. He sought to remove a 1999 OVI conviction, asserting that he had no lawyer, was still intoxicated when he entered his no-contest plea, and therefore did not knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waive counsel. The certified 1999-court record included a signed waiver-of-rights form, while White and an expert testified about his intoxication. The appellate court concluded that the evidence did not establish that intoxication rendered White incapable of understanding or voluntarily waiving his right to counsel.
Procedural history
A Summit County grand jury indicted White on two felony OVI counts, each alleging five or more prior OVI convictions or guilty pleas and including prior-conviction specifications. White moved to strike a 1999 Wayne County Municipal Court OVI conviction, arguing that his uncounseled no-contest plea and waiver of counsel were constitutionally invalid because he was intoxicated. The trial court denied the motion, White pleaded no contest to both counts and specifications, and the court imposed an aggregate eighteen-month prison term. The Ninth District affirmed.