State v. Yacobucci

2019 Ohio 36
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 8, 2019
Docket18 CAC 07 0055
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 2019 Ohio 36 (State v. Yacobucci) 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. Yacobucci, 2019 Ohio 36 (Ohio Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Yacobucci, 2019-Ohio-36.]

COURT OF APPEALS DELAWARE COUNTY, OHIO FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

JUDGES: STATE OF OHIO : Hon. W. Scott Gwin, P.J. : Hon. Patricia A. Delaney Plaintiff-Appellee : Hon. Craig R. Baldwin, J. : -vs- : : Case No. 18 CAC 07 0055 DAVID YACOBUCCI : : Defendant-Appellant : OPINION

CHARACTER OF PROCEEDING: Criminal appeal from the Delaware Municipal Court, Case No. 17TRC19450

JUDGMENT: Affirmed

DATE OF JUDGMENT ENTRY: January 8, 2019

APPEARANCES:

For Plaintiff-Appellee For Defendant-Appellant

CHRISTOPHER BALLARD SHAWN DOMINY 70 North Union Street 1900 Polaris Parkway, Suite 450 Delaware, OH 43015 Columbus, OH 43240 [Cite as State v. Yacobucci, 2019-Ohio-36.]

Gwin, P.J.

{¶1} Appellant appeals the May 25, 2018 judgment entry of the Delaware

Municipal Court denying his motion to suppress. Appellee is the State of Ohio.

Facts & Procedural History

{¶2} After an incident on October 14, 2017, appellant was cited with OVI in

violation of R.C. 4511.19(A)(1)(a) and refusal of a chemical test while having a prior

conviction in violation of R.C. 4511.19(A)(2).

{¶3} Appellant filed a motion to suppress evidence on November 1, 2017.

Appellant argued his detention was not justified because the officers did not have the

requisite reasonable suspicion of criminal activity to justify the detention of his vehicle; his

continued detention was not justified; and his arrest was not justified. Appellant filed a

supplemental memorandum to his motion to suppress evidence on May 9, 2018, arguing

it was unreasonable and unlawful for the trooper to detain him for exercising his right to

freedom of speech.

{¶4} The trial court held a hearing on appellant’s motion on May 11, 2018.

Trooper Darius Patterson (“Patterson”) testified that on October 14, 2017 at 12:30 in the

morning, he was on regular patrol while in uniform and in a marked cruiser. Trooper

Lindsay Barrett (“Barrett”) called for assistance and indicated to him there was a

gentleman interfering with her traffic stop while she had multiple occupants in the car and

a person out of the car for field sobriety tests. Barrett informed Patterson she was in the

parking lot of Tequila Cowboy. Patterson stated he arrived on the scene and Barrett

waved him down, gave him a description of the individual, and pointed to him walking

towards the building. Barrett informed Patterson the individual was interfering with her Delaware County, Case No. 18 CAC 07 0055 3

investigation by yelling at her during the stop and told Patterson she was concerned

because the individual seemed intoxicated.

{¶5} Patterson testified that when he first made contact with the individual, later

identified as appellant, appellant was very irate, shouting at the top of his lungs, mixing

between German and English, and continued on a long tirade shouting for quite some

time. They initially had a back-and-forth conversation, but Patterson let appellant vent

his anger. Patterson stated they were standing directly next to his vehicle on the driver’s

side. Patterson noticed appellant had a strong odor of alcohol and his eyes were glassy

and bloodshot. Patterson believed appellant was impaired because he was irate, was

screaming in German about the Gestapo, was positioning himself into a Nazi salute while

screaming about the Gestapo, and seemed to be repeatedly shouting the phrases “Zieg

Heil” and “we will stop you; fear the police.” Patterson did not arrest appellant and did not

tell him he was not free to leave; however, Patterson thought appellant would be in

investigative custody.

{¶6} Patterson testified he was concerned for the safety of the public, as there

were lots of people watching the events unfold. Patterson testified to appellee’s Exhibit

2, dash-cam video from his cruiser.

{¶7} The video shows Patterson telling appellant, “Hey come here, Come over

here. Keep your hands out of your pockets.” Appellant is repeatedly screaming and

shouting various phrases, such as “are you the Gestapo,” “Zieg Heil,” you need to be

filming this for YouTube,” “I don’t want to be tasered or shot,” and other German phrases

for a continued period of time while Patterson is attempting to have a conversation with

appellant and telling him he is not going to be shot or tasered. Appellant repeatedly asks Delaware County, Case No. 18 CAC 07 0055 4

Patterson if he “knows what I’m saying.” The video shows Patterson’s cruiser lights are

activated and the encounter takes place in a parking lot, where multiple patrons are

walking around and cars are coming in and out.

{¶8} Patterson stated that he and a sergeant from the Columbus Police spoke

with the manager of Tequila Cowboy, who stated he did not feel comfortable having

appellant inside the bar. The officers decided they were not going to press charges for

obstructing a stop, but since appellant was clearly impaired, they decided the safe bet

was for him to find a ride home. Patterson advised appellant not to drive, that he should

get a ride, and then parted ways with appellant.

{¶9} After Patterson believed appellant was going to call for a ride, he ended his

cruiser video and was about to leave, when he asked the Columbus Police what was

going on. The Columbus officer told Patterson appellant jumped in a white Buick in the

driver’s seat and was attempting to leave the scene immediately after they told him to call

for a ride. Patterson observed the white Buick pull out of the parking lot on to McCoy

Center. Patterson made contact with appellant and administered field sobriety tests.

{¶10} On cross-examination, Patterson confirmed the information he received that

night was that there was a guy in a white shirt yelling at Barrett and he detained appellant

based on the information Barrett provided. Patterson thought appellant yelling at Barrett

was obstructing official business because it appeared to Patterson that Barrett did not

feel safe handling her business. When asked if Barrett told Patterson she didn’t feel safe,

Patterson stated “she wouldn’t have asked for another unit if she would have.” Patterson

did not recall Barrett saying “disregard.” Delaware County, Case No. 18 CAC 07 0055 5

{¶11} Patterson stated he had his cruiser lights on when he got around the parked

cars and had his uniform on. Patterson testified he gave appellant instructions to “hey,

come over here. Over here. Keep your hands out of your pockets.” Patterson’s gun was

not drawn.

{¶12} Sergeant Chris Wheeler (“Wheeler”) was finishing up a traffic stop on the

night of October 14, 2017 and overheard some of the traffic stop Barrett was making. He

could hear some shouting and could tell she was concerned someone was interfering

with her traffic stop. Wheeler stated Barrett is a very confident individual who does not

normally call for back-up unless she feels she needs it and he could tell she needed some

back-up. Barrett told Wheeler she was conducting a stop and appellant kept going back

and forth during her stop yelling, being very disruptive, and making it unsafe for her to

conduct her business. Barrett expressed to him that she felt unsafe. Wheeler stated he

could tell appellant was highly intoxicated. In regards to whether to charge appellant,

Wheeler spoke with Columbus police officers and made the decision that, if appellant

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

Related

State v. Booker
2023 Ohio 4231 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2023)
State v. Hashi
2020 Ohio 177 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2020)
State v. Martin
2019 Ohio 2517 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2019)
State v. Barnett
2019 Ohio 2313 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2019)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2019 Ohio 36, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-yacobucci-ohioctapp-2019.