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City of Parma Heights v. Dingman5/1/1997
JUDGMENT Affirmed.
Defendant-appellant William Dingman appeals from his convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol, driving under suspension, and driving outside of marked lanes of travel. Appellant asserts the trial court erred in its admission of certain evidence, in one of its instructions to the jury, and in its denial of his motions for acquittal. Appellant also asserts he was denied his right to a fair trial due to comments made by the prosecutor during closing argument. Finally, appellant contends the jury's verdict was against the manifest weight of the evidence. T h i s court has reviewed the record and finds appellant's assertions unsupportable; therefore, his convictions are affirmed.
Appellant's convictions stem from an incident which occurred at approximately 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 17, 1996. At that time, Officer Bernie Walls of the Parma Heights Police Department was in his cruiser traveling southbound on West 130th Street. Walls had been assigned to a special DUI detail; therefore, he was specifically looking for drivers who appeared to be under the influence of alcohol.
As Walls approached the Big Creek Parkway intersection, he noticed a black car approximately 100 yards ahead of him stopped at the light. The car was "straddling" the left-turn lane and the through-traffic lane. As Walls continued to approach, the light turned green. He saw the car proceed forward into "a wide sweeping left turn" which caused it to almost miss the parkway; the car had to "come back to go eastbound" on that road.
Walls decided to follow the car. As he drove behind it, he could see two persons in the car. Walls noticed too that the vehicle was traveling "off on the right side of the road driving with its wheels over the white line which marked the lane of travel." Approximately 500 feet further, when the car came to the first side street, which was Lawnwood Avenue, "it made another wide right-hand turn." The car proceeded to the first driveway on the left, entered it and then stopped.
Walls also turned onto Lawnwood Avenue. He continued to watch the car as he drove slowly. Walls was within 25 feet of the car when he saw the door on the driver's side open and the interior dome light illuminate the inside of the car. Walls saw a man, later identified as appellant, sitting behind the steering wheel; the man turned his head back and looked at the police car. The illumination from the car's interior light enabled Walls to clearly observe the face of the driver.
Walls continued for a short distance past the driveway in which the vehicle had stopped before turning his car around in another driveway, switching off his headlights, and proceeding back. As he again approached the black car now from the opposite direction, he noticed both of the doors of the car were open. He saw "movement around the front of the vehicle" but could not determine what was occurring. Before he came to the driveway, both doors of the vehicle closed, the car reversed into the street, and then proceeded back to Big Creek Parkway. The car turned right at the intersection and again traveled eastbound on the parkway.
Walls continued to follow. He now observed the vehicle continuously "weaving back and forth" in a dramatic fashion. Walls watched it travel in this manner for approximately a mile. The car reached the Stumph Road intersection, stopped at the light, then turned onto Stumph Road.
Walls decided to stop the vehicle at that point, so he activated his lights; he used his police radio to state his location. Another police car was in close proximity; thus, when Walls was exiting his cruiser, Officer Steven Greene drove
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