State v. McConnell

449 S.E.2d 778, 316 S.C. 272, 1994 WL 74274, 1994 S.C. App. LEXIS 42
CourtCourt of Appeals of South Carolina
DecidedMarch 7, 1994
Docket2152
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 449 S.E.2d 778 (State v. McConnell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. McConnell, 449 S.E.2d 778, 316 S.C. 272, 1994 WL 74274, 1994 S.C. App. LEXIS 42 (S.C. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

ORDER TO WITHDRAW ORIGINAL OPINION AND SUBSTITUTE SUBSEQUENT OPINION AND TO DENY PETITION FOR REHEARING

Opinion No. 2152, filed March 7,1994, in the above appeal is hereby withdrawn and the following opinion is substituted therefor.

After a careful consideration of the Petition for Rehearing, the Court is unable to discover that any material fact or principle of law has been either overlooked or disregarded and, hence, there is no basis for granting a rehearing. It is, therefore, ordered that the Petition for Rehearing be denied.

AND IT IS SO ORDERED.

/s/ William T. Howell. C.J.,

/s/ Curtis G. Shaw. J.

/s/ Jasper M. Cureton. J.

Shaw, Judge:

James B. McConnell was indicted August 9,1990 for felony DUI following a motorcycle accident March 30, 1990 in which another rider, Tiffany Toft, suffered fatal injuries. The jury convicted McConnell of the lesser included offense of reckless homicide for which he was sentenced under the Youthful Offender Act. McConnell appeals. We affirm.

On March 30, 1990, McConnell, who was seventeen at the time, was drinking beer and alcohol in his home with a number of friends from school. Some of the friends went into the garage with McConnell and began to inquire about the motorcycle McConnell acquired several weeks earlier. McConnell started the motorcycle. With Tiffany Toft, who was sixteen, riding as passenger, McConnell then rode away. Shortly thereafter the friends heard a loud crash and ran approximately 600 feet to where the motorcycle crashed.

[274]*274Toft suffered a grade-three closed head injury, multiple facial fractures, a basal skull fracture and other injuries from the accident. She subsequently died April 2, 1990. McConnell also suffered serious head injuries as well as extensive injuries to his left hip and right leg, and is currently in rehabilitation. McConnell has no recollection of the accident.

The motorcycle was travelling at a high rate of speed when it travelled through a stop sign and went approximately seventy-nine feet before striking a curb and crashed through a garage door of a house in the subdivision, leaving gouge marks in the driveway pavement. McConnell and Toft were thrown from the motorcycle, and both appeared to have struck a brick wall to the side of the driveway. Although Toft had been wearing a helmet, the helmet was apparently thrown off during the accident.

The two were taken to the hospital. At the hospital, samples of blood taken from McConnell approximately one hour after the accident reflected a blood alcohol level of .133. A sample taken from Toft at approximately the same time indicated a blood alcohol level of .025.

At trial, witnesses testified that McConnell and Toft were gone anywhere from less than one minute to five minutes before the accident. Two witnesses testified they could hear the motorcycle the entire time, while other witnesses testified they could not recall whether they heard the motorcycle the entire time.

Another witness, Tara Fry, was on the street where the accident occurred and saw the motorcycle travel past the stop sign at a high rate of speed. She could not, however, identify who was driving the motorcycle. A neighbor, Cynthia Lindenmeyer, heard the accident and heard the motorcycle rapidly changing gears just before the impact.

The defense offered the testimony of Ronald Brooks, as an expert witness in matters of motorcycles and motorcycle operation. Brooks described the specific control features of the motorcycle. When asked how to stop the motorcycle in this case Brooks explained the rider could have applied the front and rear brake, or in case of a malfunction, used the emergency switch near the throttle, or turned off the ignition. Brooks explained that a novice rider, at the first sign of losing control, would likely panic and latch down on the throttle.

[275]*275Brooks testified it would take an experienced operator to move through multiple gear changes within the short distance from the stop sign to the garage door where the collision occurred. But Brooks went on to testify that a roaring of the motor could sound like gear changes.

The defense then inquired of Brooks to consider the lack of skid marks at or near the stop sign, the gouges in the driveway, and the apparent revving of the motorcycle just prior to the accident, along with Toft’s inexperience with this motorcycle and neighborhood, to conclude whether McConnell or Toft was the driver of the motorcycle. The State objected, and the court refused to allow the opinion testimony.

The defense proffered Brooks’ testimony. In the proffer, Brooks gave his opinion that the driver had no expertise whatsoever in handling the motorcycle, and therefore Toft was the likely driver. Brooks based this opinion on evidence the motorcycle was accelerating quickly just prior to impact, and evidence there was no indication the driver attempted to use the emergency cut-off switch or otherwise stop the motorcycle before the accident. In Brooks’ opinion, McConnell, because he was familiar with the motorcycle, would have instinctively applied the brakes or cut-off switch.

In closing argument, the defense otherwise conveyed its theory of the case by pointing to evidence suggesting Toft was the driver. The defense attorney maintained the two were gone long enough to switch positions. He reminded the jury that a rider familiar with the motorcycle would be able to stop it by applying the brakes, applying the emergency switch, or turning off the ignition. The attorney also suggested that injuries to Toft at the front and back of her skull suggested she was in front of McConnell and cushioned him. Finally, the attorney suggested McConnell’s hip and leg injuries were circumstantial evidence that he attempted to stop the motorcycle by pulling it over onto himself.

I.

On appeal, McConnell argues the trial court should have directed a verdict in his favor because the State failed to establish that McConnell was the driver of the motorcycle at the time of the accident, or alternatively that he was reckless. We disagree.

[276]*276McConnell drove the motorcycle out of the driveway. Furthermore, although McConnell and Toft were not in sight, several witnesses testified they could hear the motorcycle the entire time, indicating it did not stop prior to the accident. It was proven by direct and indirect evidence sufficient for the jury to make a finding that he was the driver of the motorcycle. Although motions for a directed verdict should be granted when the evidence merely raises a suspicion of guilt, it is the trial judge’s duty to submit the case to the jury if there is any evidence, direct or circumstantial, which reasonably tends to prove the guilt of the accused, or from which his guilt may be fairly and logically deduced. State v. Irvin, 270 S.C. 539, 243 S.E. (2d) 195 (1978).

Furthermore, this case is distinguishable from In re Stacy Ray A., 303 S.C. 291, 400 S.E. (2d) 141 (1991), which McConnell cites for the proposition that the State may not rely simply on the fact of the accident itself to establish recklessness. In Stacy Ray A. there was no evidence of recklessness. Id. Stacy Ray A. was not under the influence of either alcohol or drugs at the time his car collided with a vehicle in the oncoming lane, and there was no evidence of speeding or of any other statutory violation.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Rowell
467 S.E.2d 247 (Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 1995)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
449 S.E.2d 778, 316 S.C. 272, 1994 WL 74274, 1994 S.C. App. LEXIS 42, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mcconnell-scctapp-1994.