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State v. Woodrum11/20/2001
This is an appeal from the denial by the Athens County Municipal Court of Defendant-Appellant Floyd Woodrum's motion to suppress all evidence resulting from his arrest for driving while intoxicated.
Appellant makes three general arguments. First, he maintains that there was no "reasonable and articulable suspicion" to stop and detain appellant. Second, he asserts that the arresting officer arrested appellant outside the officer's jurisdiction. Third, he argues that the officer did not have probable cause to arrest appellant for driving while intoxicated.
We find appellant's arguments to be without merit and affirm the judgment of the trial court.
I. STATEMENT OF THE CASE AND FACTS
In the early morning of July 3, 2000, Defendant-Appellant Floyd Woodrum was driving his automobile along U.S. 33, in Nelsonville, Ohio. After appellant exited the highway onto State Route 691, Officer Tom McKnight, of the Nelsonville Police Department, pulled appellant over because he had observed him driving outside his lane.
Immediately upon approaching appellant's vehicle, Officer McKnight observed what he thought were indicators of intoxication: appellant had bloodshot eyes and smelled of alcohol.
Accordingly, Officer McKnight ordered appellant out of his car to perform field-sobriety tests. Three standardized tests were administered: the walk-and-turn test, the one-leg-stand test, and the horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN) test. Officer McKnight concluded that appellant had failed all three of these tests.
Based on the results of these tests, his observations of bloodshot eyes, the smell of alcohol, and appellant's general lack of coordination, Officer McKnight arrested appellant and charged him with operation of a motor vehicle while intoxicated (OMVI), a violation of R.C. 4511.19(A)(1). Appellant was also charged with driving with a suspended license, a violation of R.C. 4507.02(B), and failing to drive within marked lanes, a violation of R.C. 4511.33.
Later that same day, appellant filed with the Athens County Municipal Court a plea of not guilty as well as requests for a jury trial and discovery.
In August 2000, after having received discovery, appellant filed a motion to suppress evidence. Amid myriad irrelevant arguments - arguments contesting the administration of unperformed tests and challenging nonexistent statements - appellant presented the lower court with the following relevant arguments: that there was no lawful cause to stop appellant, no probable cause to arrest him, that the field- sobriety tests were improperly administered, and that Officer McKnight was not trained to perform such tests. Accordingly, appellant maintained, all evidence resulting from his arrest should have been suppressed.
In September 2000, a pre-trial evidentiary hearing was held regarding appellant's motion to suppress. The sole witness put on the stand was Officer McKnight.
Officer McKnight testified that he had pulled appellant over, in what he believed was within his geographical jurisdiction, because he was weaving and violating the marked-lanes statute. He further testified that appellant smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot eyes. Based on these observations, Officer McKnight ordered appellant out of the car to administer field-sobriety tests. He then testified as to precisely how he employed these tests.
Officer McKnight further testified that it was his opinion that appellant was intoxicated. Accordingly, he arrested appellant and charged him with OMVI.
Subsequently, the trial court issued an entry denying appellant's motion to suppress evidence.
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