Saturday, October 20th, 2012
High court turns down Wine's motion
By Shelley Grieshop
ST. MARYS - A bond hearing will go on as planned Monday in Auglaize County Court for former eye doctor Douglas Wine following an Ohio Supreme Court decision Friday.
The high court justices denied an emergency motion filed Wednesday by Wine's attorney Lorin Zaner that would have prevented the local court from conducting hearings in the case.
The Supreme Court also denied Wine's motion to continue and amend a bond set in February by the appeals court in Lima, which Zaner sought to reinstate Wine's passport so he could accept a job in Jamaica. Since his optometry license was revoked in April, Wine has struggled to find employment, Zaner wrote in the motion.
The high court justices on Friday didn't state a reason for their decision.
Auglaize County Prosecutor Ed Pierce had objected to the emergency motion on Thursday, mainly noting that no bond currently exists for Wine, 52, of St. Marys. According to a document he provided to the justices, the bond and conditions set by the Third District Court of Appeals was terminated in June.
Pierce requested the bond hearing on Monday in Auglaize County Common Pleas Court to establish conditions for Wine as he awaits sentencing for sexual imposition, a third-degree misdemeanor. Sentencing by law cannot take place until the Supreme Court decides to accept and/or issue an opinion on the case.
Pierce also argued that Wine could not comply with mandated reporting requirements as a convicted Tier 1 sex offender if he traveled to Jamaica.
Zaner appealed the case to the high court on Sept. 21 and filed the urgent motion on Wednesday.
Wine was found guilty by Auglaize County jurors in Oct. 2011 of gross sexual imposition, a fourth-degree felony, for assaulting a 69-year-old female relative in his St. Marys home in 2009. He was sentenced in December to 15 months in prison.
In February, Zaner appealed the local court's conviction to the Lima court, which released Wine from prison on bond while the case was under review. On June 25, the appeals court reduced the conviction to a misdemeanor charge of sexual imposition, and sent the case back to Auglaize County for sentencing.
Wine faces a maximum 60 days in the county jail and a $500 fine. He already served time in prison from Dec. 15 until the appeals court released him Feb. 29.
