State v. Tate

The issue presented by this appeal is whether appellant knoAvingly, intelligently and voluntarily waived his right to trial by jury.

The accused’s right to be tried by a jury is secured in this state by Section 10, Article I of the Ohio Constitution2 *52and R. 0. 2945.17.3 Since the potential, as well as the actual, penalty imposed for this misdemeanor violation was imprisonment, appellant Tate possessed this right. However, “ [t]he guarantee of a jury trial in criminal cases contained in the state and federal Constitutions is not an absolute and unrestricted right in Ohio with respect to…