State v. Boczar, 2007-A-0034 (2-29-2008)

2008 Ohio 834
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 29, 2008
DocketNo. 2007-A-0034.
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 2008 Ohio 834 (State v. Boczar, 2007-A-0034 (2-29-2008)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Boczar, 2007-A-0034 (2-29-2008), 2008 Ohio 834 (Ohio Ct. App. 2008).

Opinions

OPINION
{¶ 1} Shawn Boczar appeals his convictions for Illegal Assembly or Possession of Chemicals for the Manufacture of Drugs and Receiving Stolen Property in the Ashtabula County Court of Common Pleas. For the following reasons, we affirm Boczar's convictions.

{¶ 2} On August 4, 2006, Boczar was indicted by the Ashtabula County Grand Jury on one count of Illegal Manufacture of Drugs, a felony of the second degree in violation of R.C. 2925.04, two counts of Illegal Assembly or Possession of Chemicals for *Page 2 the Manufacture of Drugs, felonies of the third degree in violation of R.C. 2925.041, one count of Trafficking in Methamphetamine, a felony of the fourth degree in violation of R.C. 2925.03, one count of Unlawful Possession of Dangerous Ordnance, a felony of the fifth degree in violation of R.C. 2923.17, and one count of Receiving Stolen Property, a felony of the fifth degree in violation of R.C. 2913.51.

{¶ 3} Boczar pled not guilty and the matter was tried before a jury between December 5 and 7, 2006.

{¶ 4} The following testimony was proffered at trial. Mike Yankie testified that on April 8, 2006, his 2004 Honda Rubicon (a four-wheeler) was discovered stolen from his father's property on State Route 193 in Sheffield, Ohio.

{¶ 5} On April 20, 2006, Deputy Sergeant Cary Nelson and Deputy Anthony M. Mino of the Ashtabula Sheriff's Department responded to a report of criminal trespass on Mechanicsville Road. The owner of the property, a Mr. Janson, had found a propane tank in a wooded area at the rear of the property and observed two men fleeing the property on four-wheelers. One of the men was identified as Max Whetson.

{¶ 6} The tank was described as large, painted black, and had an altered valve marked by bluish discoloration. Mr. Janson was sprayed with the contents of the tank after opening the valve. Thereupon, he dropped the tank and its contents bled out. Sergeant Nelson and Deputy Mino both inspected the tank and concluded it had contained anhydrous ammonia, an ingredient in the manufacture of methamphetamine. Mino testified there was a residual amount of ammonia left in the tank. Mino and Nelson testified the "bluing" around the valve was also evidence that the tank had contained ammonia. Finally, Mino testified it is common for producers of methamphetamine to use propane tanks in altered condition to store anhydrous *Page 3 ammonia. It is an increasingly "common practice" for producers in Ashtabula County to hide tanks in rural areas and on farm property. The tanks are often altered so that hoses can be attached to facilitate the transfer of anhydrous ammonia and because brass fittings are quickly deteriorated by ammonia.

{¶ 7} Sergeant Nelson and Deputy Mino next proceeded to the residence of James Lemieux at 3911 Woodside Drive, about two miles from where the tank was discovered, and where the Deputies had reason to believe Max Whetson could be found.

{¶ 8} Whetson was found and arrested at the Woodside Drive property. Also at the residence at this time were Lemieux, Boczar, and Boczar's girlfriend, Courtney Sposito.

{¶ 9} Deputies found a four-wheeler outside the residence, which Boczar claimed was his. The engine was warm, one of the tires was flat, and the vehicle was muddy. The ignition was stripped from the vehicle and a "toggle switch" installed so that it could be started without a key. The VIN had been removed. The four-wheeler could be identified as Yankie's, however, based on the engine number. Deputy Mino testified the value of the four-wheeler was between $500 and $5000 based on the claim paid by Yankie's insurer. Boczar testified he paid $700 for the four-wheeler, about a week earlier, to a woman from Pierpont, Ohio. Boczar also testified that he had "an idea" the four-wheeler might be stolen.

{¶ 10} Sergeant Nelson and Deputy Mino testified there was a chemical ("anhydrous") odor, similar to the odor of a methamphetamine laboratory, coming from the residence. The Deputies searched the residence and discovered the following items. In the living room, they found a cold wood-burning stove containing partially *Page 4 burnt lithium strips, rubber gloves, and paper towels with a bluish discoloration; a Rubbermaid container holding plastic tubing and timers; and a safe containing a small explosive device1, ninety-six pseudoephedrine pills in blister packs, a glass pipe with methamphetamine residue, digital scales with methamphetamine residue, a spoon and "tutors" (straws for snorting methamphetamine) with methamphetamine residue, snow seal bags, and a small amount of methamphetamine.

{¶ 11} Deputy Mino testified how each of these items could be used for the manufacturing, packaging, and consumption of methamphetamine.

{¶ 12} In a bedroom, deputies found a plastic milk jug containing a reddish liquid separated into two levels, the upper level being more translucent and the lower level more opaque. Mino testified the jug was being used to "break down" ephedrine pills, i.e. extract the ephedrine to produce methamphetamine. Mino testified the pills are dissolved in a solvent agent, in this case Coleman fuel; the solid waste (or "binders") sink to the bottom of the container and the ephedrine is contained in the clearer liquid floating at the top.2

{¶ 13} In a downstairs bedroom, deputies found a police scanner and a foil packet of methamphetamine. Deputies also found clothes, which they testified belonged to Boczar and Sposito.

{¶ 14} In the kitchen, deputies found coffee filters with bluish stains, a funnel, pliers and wire snips, a stripped lithium battery, and two containers of salt. Deputy Mino *Page 5 testified how each of these items could be used for the manufacturing of methamphetamine.

{¶ 15} Boczar was arrested after the search.

{¶ 16} A few days after his arrest, Boczar spoke with Deputy Mino. According to Mino, Boczar said he and Sposito had been staying with Lemieux for two to three months because he had nowhere else to stay; although, at the time of the arrest, Boczar claimed he was staying on Foreman Road. According to Mino, Boczar admitted to using and selling methamphetamine. Boczar also admitted to purchasing pills and lithium batteries to make methamphetamine, but denied being involved in the actual production of methamphetamine.

{¶ 17} According to Mino, Boczar said that, on April 20, 2006, he had gone with Whetson to pick up the tank on the Mechanicsville Road property, but fled when they were seen by the property owner. While fleeing, Whetson's four-wheeler went off an embankment into a creek and was abandoned. Boczar carried Whetson back to Lemieux' residence on his four-wheeler.

{¶ 18} Deputy Mino further testified that Boczar admitted the safe, the CO2 bomb, the glass pipe, and the pseudoephedrine pills were his, although the pseudoephedrine was used for allergies.

{¶ 19}

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Bluebook (online)
2008 Ohio 834, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-boczar-2007-a-0034-2-29-2008-ohioctapp-2008.