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Man found passed out in car loses appeal of OVI conviction
JESSICA SHAMBAUGH
Special to the Legal News
Published: October 23, 2014
A man recently lost his appeal when a three-judge appellate panel held that his Fourth Amendment rights were neither violated nor even implicated when officers approached his car in an apartment complex parking lot.
The 10th District Court of Appeals affirmed a Franklin County Municipal Court ruling finding Brian Ridley guilty of operating a vehicle under the influence.
According to the facts of the case, Ridley was charged with one count of OVI after he refused to perform field sobriety tests or submit to chemical alcohol testing.
He pleaded not guilty to that charge and moved to suppress the evidence.
During a hearing on that motion, Columbus police officer Jason Penhorwood testified that he and his partner were patrolling a neighborhood on the north side of Columbus when they noticed a car with its headlights on.
Penhorwood recalled that the car was backed into a parking lot of an apartment complex and was running.
After watching the car for several minutes, the officers became suspicious and approached the vehicle.
Penhorwood said when he got to the car, he saw a man slumped over in the driver’s seat and knocked on the driver’s side window. He knocked several times but the man did not respond.
At that point, his partner opened the passenger door, reached into the car, turned off the ignition and removed the keys.
It was not until the car was turned off that the driver, later identified as Ridley, woke up.
Upon questioning, Ridley said he was waiting in the parking lot for a friend but only identified his friend using his own name.
The officers smelled alcohol on Ridley’s person and saw that his eyes were bloodshot and glassy.
Penhorwood said he believed Ridley was intoxicated so he asked him to step out of the vehicle for a field sobriety test.
Ridley was only able to climb out of the car while supporting himself on the car door and was then unsteady on his feet. He ultimately refused to complete any testing.
“The trial court denied the motion to suppress, concluding that the officers had reasonable suspicion to approach appellant’s car and had probable cause to ask appellant to exit the car and then to arrest him for OVI,” 10th District Judge William Klatt wrote in his summary of the case.
After his motion was denied, Ridley changed his plea to no contest and was convicted.
On appeal, he again argued that the evidence should have been suppressed because the officers lacked a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity when they approached his car and, therefore, their search violated his Fourth Amendment rights.
“Appellant’s argument is flawed because the officers’ initial approach to investigate appellant’s car did not involve a seizure and, therefore, did not need to be supported by reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. For this reason, we need not address appellant’s argument that the police could not enter the apartment’s parking lot to investigate his car,” Klatt stated.
Still, the judges noted that the parking lot was legally accessible to law enforcement officers.
They ruled that Ridley was free to leave when he saw officers approaching and held that just because he was passed out did not mean his personal liberty was restrained.
“Without a seizure, appellant’s Fourth Amendment rights were not implicated by the officers’ conduct,” Klatt continued.
Presiding Judge Lisa Sadler and Judge Betsy Luper Schuster joined Klatt in affirming Ridley’s conviction.
The case is cited State v. Ridley, 2014-Ohio-4356.
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