Sheriff withdraws request for jury trial

CAMBRIDGE — Columbiana County Sheriff David L. Smith has withdrawn both a request for a jury trial and a motion to suppress evidence in his drunken-driving case in Cambridge Municipal Court.

According to Clerk of Court Laurie Endly, Smith’s legal counsel filed the request and motion earlier this week.

She added, however, that Smith has not officially changed his innocent plea. unicipal Court Judge John Mark Nicholson is set to review case documents and schedule a hearing where Smith could change his plea.

Smith was charged with drunken driving, a first-degree misdemeanor and his first such offense, on Oct. 11, 2007.

A Ohio State Highway Patrol officer allegedly observed him swerving and speeding in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 70 in eastern Guernsey County. Smith was driving his Columbiana County-owned unmarked car when he was stopped.

Smith gave a urine sample. The Ohio State Highway Patrol’s crime lab test on the sample yielded an alcohol content of 0.222, nearly three times the state legal limit for intoxication.

Judge Nicholson was scheduled to consider the motion to suppress the urine sample evidence during a Friday hearing. That hearing has been canceled.

Smith, a Republican, has withdrawn from this year’s sheriff’s race.