Salem officer may run as Independent

By MARY ANN GREIER, Special to The Review

LISBON — Columbiana County residents may have an Independent choice for sheriff this fall, with a Salem police officer filing paperwork to seek the spot, spokesmen for Common Pleas Court and the Board of Elections confirmed.

The news about Salem Patrolman Austin French taking out petitions and requesting court approval for his qualifications to run came one day after Republican incumbent Sheriff David Smith dropped out of the race.

A spokesman for Common Pleas Court Judge David Tobin said Tuesday that French had taken the initial steps and had his fingerprints sent away for a background check. All candidates for sheriff went through the same process, including Smith.

A spokesman for the Board of Elections also confirmed that Independent petitions had been requested for the office of sheriff. The deadline for Independent candidates to file petitions is 4 p.m. March 3, the day before the primary.

Independents don’t run until the general election, meaning if French files petitions by the deadline and has them certified by the Board of Elections, he could create a three-way race for sheriff.

The three Republican candidates seeking the party nomination include Perry Township Police Chief Ray Stone, and Sheriff’s Office retirees Daniel “Skip” MacLean and Jerry Herbert, who both work security for county Municipal Court. MacLean serves as head of security. The lone Democratic candidate is Leetonia Police Chief John Soldano, who lost to Smith in the last general election for sheriff in 2004.

Even with a drunk driving charge from October hanging over his head, Smith filed for re-election, but withdrew on the last day candidates could withdraw from the primary without appearing on the ballot. If convicted, he would have been barred from running because he would have failed to meet the qualifications for seeking the office.

In a one-paragraph letter, he wrote that he wanted to withdraw from the race “...with deep regret.”

He also wrote that there would be no more comment on the matter, referring all questions to his Columbus attorney Brad Koffel.

When contacted, Koffel said,“Sheriff Smith was ready to withdraw his name from this race two days after he got arrested. I talked him out of it.”

He told Smith he wanted a minimum of 90 days to investigate the case before any decisions were made and he told him to file for re-election. According to the results of a urine test taken after Smith was arrested on Interstate 70 in Guernsey County, his alcohol content was twice the legal limit for urine, but according to Koffel most states don’t use urine because the results are “inherently unreliable.”

Koffel didn’t want to evaluate Smith’s case based on that or what happened when he tried to blow in good faith for a breath test and the machine produced an invalid sample. He also didn’t want the evaluation based on what was being said in Columbiana County about the situation.

The case remains scheduled for trial on Feb. 21 in Cambridge Municipal Court, but a motions hearing has been reset for Feb. 29 on Koffel’s motion to have the urine test suppressed. He said it’s likely the trial date will be moved.

When asked if Smith dropping out of the race affected his legal approach, Koffel said the sheriff will need to take some time to decide personally what he wants to do. He said his advice to Smith was that he shouldn’t resign or plead guilty unless it’s determined that any defense would be meaningless.

He also said that by law, it was his understanding the sheriff could serve out his term if convicted — he just couldn’t run for re-election. He wouldn’t have to resign. Any resignation would have to be submitted to county commissioners.

At this point, Koffel said he’s still waiting for the state to provide some discovery or record of all their evidence. He’s also waiting for his request to be granted for a sample of the urine for an independent test that could show how alcohol levels continue to spike even weeks or months later.

He claimed the state can’t prove the sample was properly refrigerated or preserved. He also said the state didn’t check the sugar levels in the sample, which can make alcohol levels appear to increase.

“The videotape that the world saw is not a guy twice the legal limit,” Koffel said, referring to the dashboard camera footage of Smith being stopped.

Smith would have been seeking his third four-year term. He was first elected in 2000 and re-elected in 2004, now with close to 30 years of law enforcement under his belt.