A suppression motion was overruled Monday in Anthony Hardesty Jr.’s case dealing with aggravated vehicular assault.
Charlotte Caldwell | The Lima News
LIMA — A suppression motion was overruled Monday in the Allen County Common Pleas Court in the case of a Lima man facing four charges, including aggravated vehicular assault.
Anthony Hardesty Jr.’s attorney, Stephen Chamberlain of the Allen County Public Defender’s Office, filed a motion to suppress statements Hardesty made to Lima Police Det. Brian Snyder in his hospital room July 1 because Chamberlain said Hardesty would have been considered to be in custody during the interview and was not properly advised of his rights.
Snyder testified Monday he told Hardesty he wasn’t under arrest and Hardesty wasn’t restrained with handcuffs or medical equipment, so he was free to move about.
Judge Jeffrey Reed wrote in his ruling that the recording of the interview confirmed Snyder told Hardesty he wasn’t under arrest and Snyder didn’t advise Hardesty of his rights, but he didn’t need to since Hardesty wasn’t in custody.
“Therefore, because defendant was not subject to a custodial interrogation by Detective Snyder, neither Miranda warnings nor a waiver of those rights were required for defendant’s statement to be admissible,” Reed wrote.
A jury trial in the case is set to begin Oct. 22.
Hardesty, 24, was indicted on a second-degree felony charge of aggravated vehicular assault; a fourth-degree felony charge of failure to stop after a crash; and two misdemeanors of operating a motor vehicle while impaired and driving under suspension for events that occurred around 2 a.m. June 29.
On that day on North Nixon Avenue, police responded to a man who received serious injuries to his lower extremities while unloading items from the back of his car when a car hit him then fled the scene. Witnesses provided a physical description of the man who fled.
Officers were then dispatched to another crash on West High Street which was around the corner from the first crash. Hardesty was located in a backyard on West Market Street and was allegedly intoxicated. Later Hardesty admitted to being the driver, the only one in the vehicle and drinking before the incident.
Hardesty is being held in the Allen County Jail on a $200,000 bond.
Reach Charlotte Caldwell at 567-242-0451.
