Published: September 18, 2008 11:11 pm            

Officer fights OWI charge

Judge questions why Waymire’s license was returned

NOBLESVILLE — A Kokomo police officer charged with drunken driving will challenge the legality of a Hamilton County sobriety checkpoint, in an effort to have his case thrown out.

Officer Shawn Waymire appeared in Hamilton Superior Court Thursday for a pretrial conference on two counts of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Waymire, 29, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Waymire was pulled over by Hamilton County sheriff deputies shortly after singer Jimmy Buffett concluded his July 29 concert at Verizon Wireless Music Center.

Thursday, Waymire’s attorney, Jim Crum, told Hamilton Superior Court Judge Gail Bardach he would file a motion to suppress Waymire’s arrest. Crum said he wanted, if possible, to have the motion heard on a date prior to Waymire’s Oct. 15 trial date.

Bardach told Crum she would look at the court calendar to see if a separate date for hearing the motion was available.

She then proceeded to ask how Waymire obtained a hardship driver’s license without her knowledge.

Crum explained Waymire, who lives in Tipton, “negotiated” the hardship license with the Tipton County prosecutor.

Bardach then informed Crum of a change in Indiana law, effective July 1, which she said makes Waymire’s hardship license invalid.

Under the old law, a resident could ask his local prosecutor for a hardship license after losing his/her license in a drunken-driving arrest. The new law, Bardach said, requires the driver to ask the judge in his/her case to issue the hardship license.

“I don’t think his hardship license is valid,” Bardach said. “It doesn’t matter where he lives, all that matters is that he either failed a chemical [blood alcohol] test, or he refused to take a test. If one of those things happens, he can only be issued a hardship license [by the judge in his case].”

Waymire had a .10 blood alcohol level when he was booked into the Hamilton County Jail just after midnight July 30, according to police. After being stopped at the checkpoint, he handed the deputy his driver’s license and his Kokomo police ID. When asked how much he’d had to drink, Waymire, who is 6’3” and 250 pounds, said “about six” to the officer. He said he’d stopped drinking around 6 p.m., but reportedly failed several sobriety dexterity tests.

Waymire’s attorney said Thursday the decision on whether or not to fight the charges could be determined by the ruling on his motion to suppress.

Crum would not offer details on what he contends was improper about the sobriety checkpoint, but Kokomo Police Sgt. Dave Mitchell, who heads the department’s internal investigations, said Thursday he’s heard several other concertgoers arrested that night are also challenging the checkpoint.

Mitchell said Waymire was relieved of his police powers immediately after the arrest, but remains on paid duty. His duties, at present, involve supervising athletics at the Kokomo Police Athletic League fields, Mitchell said.

Mitchell said Waymire will still be subject to a KPD professional standards investigation, regardless of what happens in the criminal proceedings.

And based on Judge Bardach’s comments Thursday, Mitchell said he plans to look into whether or not Waymire is entitled to a driver’s license.

“If the judge said he doesn’t have a valid license, then I’m going to tell him he can’t drive, period,” Mitchell said. “He can get someone else to drive him to work.”

Scott Smith can be reached at (765) 454-8569 or at scott.smith@kokomotribune.com

        

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