From the headlines in today's Morning Journal we read that Columbiana County Sheriff Dave Smith's defense team yesterday filed motions to withdraw their demand for a jury trial and to withdraw their motion to suppress/dismissal of evidence. That motion to suppress evidence was for the urine test results. It came back showing Smith was way over the legal limit.
According to Tom Giambroni yesterday's court filings caught the Cambridge Law Director by surprise. Today a continuance was granted and there will be a "coordinated change of plea" hearing on April 18.
This should come as no great surprise. There was certainly a hint of some legal wrangling going on when Smith pulled out of the primary seeking re-election. Plea bargaining is a very common practice especially for a first time offense and it is also a money saver for all concerned.
Exactly what they are bargaining for is any body's guess and probably won't be public knowledge until the April hearing. Smith refers all questions to his attorney and his attorney apparently isn't taking calls. It will be interesting to see what comes about in April. Right now we don't know the reasons behind any of it and we can only speculate with Smith's reluctance to let us know.
What I don't understand is if they are plea bargaining why wasn't the Cambridge Law Director involved? Surely he has a fax machine. Isn't he part of the legal process down there?
We'll just have to wait and see...
ole nib
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2 comments:
Surprise, surprise, Smith is going to plead guilty according to his attorney. It was front page news in both our local papers this morning.
Actually it is not really a surprise. You had to sort of suspect something of that nature with the earlier filings. What surprised me the most is the complete 360 from the arrogant posturing in the early stages immediately following his arrest. I guess the sheriff is more a realist then what we were lead to believe. He got caught and now it's reported he's going to take his lumps like a man.
It's a shame this happened but it did. It's a rough way to end a career but I think it's the right way to make the best of a bad situation.
Good luck Dave Smith...
ole nib
I guess Dave Smith is going to take his medicine and like you said be a realist. I always liked him and still do. I can respect his decision. It is for the best. I too, wish him the best of luck. This cant be easy for him.
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