Mayor's wife pleads guilty to DUI charge

COLUMBUS (AP) -- The wife of a Democratic gubernatorial candidate pleaded guilty Wednesday to the less severe of two drunken-driving charges against her but is challenging a count that carries a mandatory jail sentence.
Frankie Coleman, wife of Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, admitted in Franklin County Municipal Court to a charge of driving while impaired and a traffic offense of failure to control her car, which hit a parked pickup truck last month.
But Coleman, 55, pleaded innocent to a second drunken-driving charge based on a blood-alcohol test that measured 0.271 percent -- more than three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent. She is challenging the officer's certification to administer the breath test.
State law requires motorists whose blood-alcohol level is 0.17 percent or higher to spend at least three days in jail and three days in a treatment center.
The lesser drunken-driving charge is based on officers' observations and sobriety tests at the crash site.
Frankie Coleman said in a statement that she is willing to accept responsibility.
Coleman's lawyers argue officer Joseph Chapman, who gave the blood-alcohol test at the suburban Bexley Police Department, should have been required to take a 16-hour training course before his certificate to administer the tests was renewed because the old one had expired.
"The Legislature and the Department of Health made the rules very strict because of the additional penalties, so the prosecution is going to have to prove that the rules were complied with. We don't think they can do that," Mark Serrott, one of Coleman's lawyers, said outside the courtroom.
A hearing over the certification has been set for Dec. 6 before Judge Scott VanDerKarr. Coleman gave up her right to a jury trial.
City Prosecutor Steve McIntosh said he does not believe the certificate had lapsed.
"While it's a fairly novel argument on their part, I think the case law supports our decision," he said.
If prosecutors win the certification argument and Coleman is convicted of both offenses, they can choose which drunken driven charge VanDerKarr will sentence her on. They are expected to select the charge that carries the mandatory jail sentence.
If the defense challenge succeeds, the judge would exclude the test as evidence and the second drunken-driving charge would be dropped.
The lesser drunken-driving charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of three days in jail or three days in a treatment program, as well as a six-month license suspension.