Sheriff’s court hearing delayed

The sheriff was hiring a
lawyer in the Guernsey County area.

By D.A. WILKINSON

VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU

LISBON — Columbiana County Sheriff David L. Smith’s arraignment on a charge of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence has been postponed to 8:30 a.m. Oct. 31.

He was originally set to appear today in Cambridge Municipal Court in Guernsey County.

Smith, 57, was charged by the Ohio State Highway Patrol after he was stopped in his county car on Interstate 70 about 9:30 p.m. Thursday.

He was also charged with speeding and driving outside marked lanes.

Smith had referred calls to Atty. Lawrence Stacey II of Lisbon. But Stacey said Wednesday he no longer represents Smith.

The attorney said Smith was hiring counsel in the Guernsey County area. He did not know the name of the lawyer or firm.

Court postponements are common. Hiring local attorneys familiar with local personnel and procedures is also a common practice.

Stacey has been quoted as saying Smith went to a meeting of the Buckeye State Sheriffs’ Association in Columbus and felt fine after dinner and a couple of beers at a restaurant before heading toward Columbiana County.

The attorney said Tuesday that he did not recall mentioning the alcohol and said he could not comment any more since he no longer represented the sheriff.

Smith told the patrol he had been at a sheriff’s association dinner.

Robert A. Cornwell, the association’s executive director, said Smith and other sheriffs were at a meeting that ended at 2 p.m. Thursday.

Smith is apparently working. He did not return a message left at his office in the courthouse.

Smith has canceled, and not rescheduled, a hearing set for today with the commissioners for his 2008 budget.

County Prosecutor Robert Herron and Coroner Dr. William Graham remain on the commissioners’ schedule.

Smith, Herron and Dr. Graham have worked together to warn county residents in recent years about the growing drug problem in the county.

The commissioners will have budget hearings for several more weeks.

wilkinson@vindy.com

See a video of the sheriff’s traffic stop at Vindy.com.