State v. Borgerding

695 N.E.2d 1219, 119 Ohio App. 3d 632
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 23, 1997
DocketNo. 1417.
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 695 N.E.2d 1219 (State v. Borgerding) 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. Borgerding, 695 N.E.2d 1219, 119 Ohio App. 3d 632 (Ohio Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

Wolff, Judge.

After the trial court denied his motion to suppress, Bruce Borgerding was found guilty of, among other things, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and was sentenced accordingly. He appeals.

On March 29, 1996, Greenville Police Officer Daniel Lenker arrested Borgerding and charged him, as relevant here, with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol in violation of Greenville City Ordinance 434.01(A)(3). On that same day, Borgerding was given a breath test, which resulted in a reading of 0.21 grams of alcohol per two hundred ten liters of breath.

Borgerding entered a plea of not guilty and filed a motion to suppress the results of his breath test and any incriminating statements he may have made pursuant to his arrest. With respect to suppression of his breath test results, Borgerding claimed that (1) Lenker had no probable cause to arrest him for driving under the influence, (2) the breath test had not been performed by an operator who was under the “general direction” of a senior operator, (3) there had been improper radio frequency interference, (4) improper calibration had caused a defective breath test result, and (5) the breath-testing machine had not been operated within the regulations specified by the Department of Health. Borgerding attached a memorandum in support of his motion to suppress.

Prior to the August 7, 1996 hearing on the motion to suppress, the trial court sua sponte dismissed those portions of the motion which alleged radio frequency interference, improper calibration, and failure to comply with the Department of Health regulations in administering the breath test. The basis for the court’s *634 decision was that neither the motion nor the memorandum in support “stated with particularity the grounds upon which it was made in terms of actually specific facts of that allegation. In other words, I am finding it to be too boilerplate.”

The. hearing proceeded on the other allegations in Borgerding’s motion. Officer Lenker was the only witness to testify on behalf of the city of Greenville. Lenker testified that on September 14, 1995, he had been issued an operator’s certificate by the Department of Health for administering breath tests -with the machine in question and that he had administered the breath test on Borgerding. Lenker further testified that the Greenville Police Department employed three senior operators, Sergeant Weaver, Sergeant Gerace, and Sergeant Harrison. Lenker indicated that none of the senior operators had been present when he administered the test on Borgerding, but that he could have called the senior operators if he had had any questions about the operation of the machine, and that he had, in fact, called them on other occasions. Lenker also stated that he was not supervised by the senior operators and that their function was to check the calibration of the machine.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court overruled the remainder of Borgerding’s motion. On October 2, 1996, Borgerding pleaded no contest to the charge of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. The trial court found him guilty and imposed a ten-day sentence, with seven days stayed, and a $300 fine.

Borgerding advances two assignments of error on appeal.

“I. The trial court erred in failing to order the results of the breathalyzer suppressed, because the state failed to establish that the test was conducted under the ‘general direction’ of a senior operator.”

Borgerding contends that the trial court should have granted his motion to suppress the results of his breath test because the state failed to establish that the test had been conducted under the “general direction” of a senior operator.

Ohio Adm.Code 3701-53-07(0) addresses who may perform an evidentiary breath test and provides as follows:

“Breath tests used to determine whether an individual’s breath contains a concentration of alcohol prohibited or defined by division (A)(3) or (B)(2) of section 4511.19 * * * or any other statute or local ordinance prescribing a defined or prohibited breath-alcohol concentration shall be performed by a senior operator or an operator who is under the general direction of a senior operator. General direction does not mean that the senior operator must be physically present during the conduct of the test. A senior operator shall be responsible for *635 the care, maintenance, and calibration of the evidential breath testing instruments.”

As the regulation expressly states, a senior operator need not be present when a breath test is given by an operator. See, also, Aurora v. Kepley (1979), 60 Ohio St.2d 73, 14 O.O.3d 273, 397 N.E.2d 400. Moreover, the Supreme Court of Ohio has recently held that a senior operator is not required to check the performance of an operator with respect to the use of the breath test in order for the operator to be under the “general direction” of the senior operator. Dublin v. Young (1996), 75 Ohio St.3d 472, 663 N.E.2d 1270, syllabus.

Borgerding argues that Young discussed “general direction” only in the negative, that is, it discussed only what “general direction” was not, and that the court failed to define “general direction” in the positive, that is, the court failed to explain what degree of supervision by a senior operator was necessary to substantially comply with Ohio Adm.Code 3701-53-07(C). We disagree.

In addition to concluding that a senior operator was not required to check an operator’s performance with respect to the use of the breath test, the court also concluded that under the circumstances of the case before it, the operator had indeed been under the general direction of the senior operator as required by the regulation. Young, 75 Ohio St.3d at 475-476, 663 N.E.2d at 1272-1273. Specifically, the court noted that the operator held a valid permit for operating the machine, that a senior operator and a representative from the Department of Health had been present at the operator’s proficiency examination, and that a senior operator was readily accessible if any questions ever arose regarding the machine. Id. at 476, 663 N.E.2d at 1273. Thus, Young does provide some guidance for determining whether an operator was under the general direction of a senior operator for the purposes of Ohio Adm.Code 3701-53-07(C).

Here, Lenker testified that he held a valid operator’s certificate at the time he conducted the breath test on Borgerding and that if he had questions about the operation of the machine, he could call any one of the three senior operators employed by the Greenville Police Department. Although Lenker stated that he was not supervised by the senior operators, we do not believe, as Borgerding contends, that it is then impossible for him to have been under the general direction of a senior operator.

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Bluebook (online)
695 N.E.2d 1219, 119 Ohio App. 3d 632, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-borgerding-ohioctapp-1997.