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Hantz v. State

Defense counsel did not render ineffective assistance of counsel based on the failure to file a meritless plea in bar.

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Lisa Hantz was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol to the extent she was a less safe driver DUI and speeding. She appeals, claiming that her trial counsel was ineffective in failing to file a plea in bar.1 Because a single written judgment of conviction covers both her conviction for DUI and her plea to speeding, there was no basis for a plea in bar. The failure to file such a meritless plea does not constitute ineffective assistance of counsel. Accordingly, we affirm.

Construed in favor of the verdict, see Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 99 SCt 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979, the evidence showed that at approximately 4:00 a.m., on December 28, 2014, a state patrol trooper saw Hantz driving her car on Interstate 75 in heavy rain at a speed of 90 miles per hour in a 65-miles-per-hour zone and veering into other lanes of traffic. The trooper stopped the vehicle and, upon approaching it, smelled alcohol on Hantz’s breath, saw that her eyes were bloodshot and watery, and observed that she was slow of speech. Based on Hantz’s admission that she had consumed an alcoholic beverage, her performance on field sobriety tests, and a roadside breath sample indicating the presence of alcohol, the trooper arrested Hantz for DUI. After the trooper read the implied consent notice to Hantz, she refused to submit to a state-administered breath test. The trooper issued citations to Hantz for DUI and speeding.

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