COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio Supreme Court has reinstated a felony conviction of a man who smashed a cell phone to keep his nephew from calling 911 while they fought.
The state's highest court ruled unanimously Wednesday that Raynell Robinson of Marysville in Central Ohio violated a state law against disrupting public services.
A lower court had tossed out the conviction, saying the law was meant for large-scale interference with utilities and emergency systems.
But the justices said there was no such language in the law and found it could be applied to the destruction of a single phone being used to communicate with emergency personnel.
Thirty-seven-year-old Robinson had been sentenced to 15 months behind bars on the disrupting public services count.
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