State v. Urso

961 N.E.2d 689, 195 Ohio App. 3d 665
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 16, 2011
DocketNo. 2011-T-0005
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 961 N.E.2d 689 (State v. Urso) 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. Urso, 961 N.E.2d 689, 195 Ohio App. 3d 665 (Ohio Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

Cynthia Westcott Rice, Judge.

{¶ 1} Appellant, Keith J. Urso, appeals his conviction, following a jury trial, in the Trumbull County Court of Common Pleas, of operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol (“OVI”) with a prior felony OVI conviction and a specification of having previously been convicted of five or more OVI offenses within the last 20 years. At issue is whether the trial court erred in denying appellant’s motion to suppress the results of his breathalyzer test and his admission of guilt and whether the jury’s verdict was against the manifest weight of the evidence. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

2} Appellant was indicted on two counts of OVI. In count one, he was charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, having previously been convicted of a felony OVI, in violation of R.C. 4511.19(A)(1)(a) and (G)(1)(e), a felony of the third degree, with a specification that he had previously been convicted of five or more OVI offenses in the last 20 years. In count two, he was charged with operating a motor vehicle with a prohibited blood-alcohol concentration of .286, having previously been convicted of a felony OVI, in violation of R.C. 4511.19(A)(1)(h) and (G)(1)(e), a felony of the third degree, with a specification that he had previously been convicted of five or more OVI offenses in the last 20 years. Appellant pleaded not guilty.

{¶ 3} The state filed a motion to deny pretrial bail, pursuant to Article I, Section 9 of the Ohio Constitution and R.C. 2937.222. Following a hearing, the court granted the state’s motion. Appellant appealed the court’s ruling, and in State v. Urso, 11th Dist. No. 2010-T-0042, 2010-Ohio-2151, 2010 WL 1948329, this court affirmed the trial court’s judgment granting the state’s motion to deny pretrial bail.

[670]*670{¶ 4} Subsequently, appellant filed a motion to suppress the result of his breathalyzer test. He also filed a motion in limine to prohibit the state from introducing any evidence regarding his admission of guilt. Following hearings on the motions, the trial court denied both, and the case proceeded to jury trial.

{¶ 5} On January 31, 2010, at approximately 12:45 p.m., Jack Beil was driving north on Bazetta Road in Mecca Township with his wife, Margaret Beil, about one-half mile south of State Route 88. Mr. Beil observed a dark blue Chevrolet Corsica in front of them driving erratically. Mr. Beil was so concerned about the driver’s erratic driving that he called 9-1-1. The state introduced a recording of Mr. Beil’s 9-1-1 call, in which Mr. Beil said that there was a driver in front of him on Bazetta Road who was going to get into an accident because the driver was driving “all over both sides of the road.” Mr. Beil said that the driver stopped in the middle of the road and then started moving again. He said that there were oncoming cars driving on the opposite side of the road and he was concerned that the driver was going to hit them head-on.

{¶ 6} Mr. Beil saw the driver, later identified as appellant, stop at a stop sign at the intersection of Bazetta Road and Route 88 near Monty’s Restaurant. In describing appellant to the dispatcher, Mr. Beil said, “I think it’s a lady. It’s long hair.” Appellant then turned east on Route 88 and pulled into Monty’s parking lot and stayed in his car. Mr. Beil told the 9-1-1 operator that he was going to stay at the stop sign at Bazetta Road and Route 88, to see if appellant stayed in his car. Mr. Beil then pulled into Monty’s parking lot, and told the dispatcher, “She, whatever it is [man or woman] was sitting there with her head back sleeping, clunked out. So, I’ll just sit here at Monty’s and see * * * when [the sheriffs deputies] come.”

{¶ 7} Margaret Beil testified that while she was driving with her husband north on Bazetta Road, a car pulled out in front of them. Appellant was driving slowly, so they had to slow down. Appellant went off the right side of the road. He then returned to the road, crossed the center line, just missing the ditch, then returned to their lane of travel and stopped in the middle of the road. Mrs. Beil had then called 9-1-1 and passed the phone to Mr. Beil, who spoke to the dispatcher.

{¶ 8} Mrs. Beil testified that the car resumed moving, crossed the center line again, and was driving in the wrong lane and in the wrong direction. Two cars were driving in that lane heading toward appellant, and he almost hit them. Appellant stopped again, sat in the road for awhile, and then resumed driving.

{¶ 9} The dispatcher said that she had notified the sheriffs deputies, and Mr. Beil said he would stay with appellant until the deputies arrived. Mrs. Beil then saw appellant stop at the stop sign at Route 88 for four to five minutes.

[671]*671{¶ 10} Mrs. Beil testified that as they had gotten closer to the vehicle, she had been able to see that the driver had long hair and she thought he might have been a woman. She said that while still stopped at the stop sign, she saw appellant pull into Monty’s. Appellant parked his vehicle in the parking lot, put his head back on the head rest, and just sat there. Mr. Beil then drove into Monty’s parking lot and parked beside appellant. Mrs. Beil said that except for a few seconds when a pick-up truck passed by appellant’s car, she was able to see appellant the entire time from when he was stopped at the stop sign to when he parked at Monty’s. Mrs. Beil said that during this entire period, appellant had his head back on the head rest, no one else was in his car, and he did not drink anything.

{¶ 11} Mrs. Beil said they were in the parking lot for about two minutes when a park ranger arrived. She then got out of the car to see if the driver was a man or a woman. Mrs. Beil and the ranger approached appellant’s vehicle, and Mrs. Beil saw that the driver, who was still sitting behind the wheel, was a man. The ranger asked the Beils to leave the area and said they would be contacted later for their statements.

{¶ 12} Frank Tomaino, a park officer with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, testified that he had responded to the dispatch report of an erratic driver who was then in the parking lot of Monty’s Restaurant. As Officer Tomaino pulled into the parking lot, he observed the described vehicle, which was still running, and pulled in behind it.

{¶ 13} Tomaino approached the car from the driver’s side and saw appellant in the driver’s seat with his head against the seat rest with his mouth open and eyes closed. The officer tried to wake him by pounding on the window. When appellant eventually awoke, he was incoherent. The officer yelled at him to unlock the door. Appellant could not find the electric door lock. He was fumbling with the controls on the door panel and had the back window going up and down. When the window was down, the officer smelled a strong odor of alcoholic beverage coming from inside the car.

{¶ 14} Appellant turned around and unlocked the back door. Tomaino opened the back door, reached in and unlocked the front door, opened that door, shut off the car, pulled the keys out of the ignition, and pulled appellant out of the car. Appellant’s speech was slurred. He was unable to respond to the officer’s questions or to produce his driver’s license. He could not stand on his own and was leaning against the car.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
961 N.E.2d 689, 195 Ohio App. 3d 665, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-urso-ohioctapp-2011.