State v. Cutlip, 106 N.E.3d 1263

On June 16, 2016 Eric Cutlip lost control of his car, left the roadway, struck a mailbox, and landed inverted in a ditch; he exited the vehicle, walked into nearby woods, and returned about 50 minutes later.
Emergency personnel and Officer Michael Plesz were on scene; after Cutlip identified himself as the driver he was arrested for failure to stop after an accident.
At the station Officer Plesz administered field sobriety tests and then charged Cutlip with operating a vehicle under the influence (OVI).
Cutlip moved to suppress, arguing lack of probable cause for arrest because the collision occurred off the public roadway and that field sobriety tests failed substantial-compliance standards. The municipal court denied suppression.
A jury convicted Cutlip of OVI and violating Macedonia Ordinance 335.12 (failure to stop after an accident); he was sentenced to 180 days jail. He appealed, raising two assignments of error.
The Ninth District affirmed denial of suppression (on alternative probable-cause grounds) but reversed the failure-to-stop conviction for insufficient evidence because the collision occurred off the public road.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether arrest lacked probable cause because the accident was off the public road	Cutlip: no probable cause for failure-to-stop arrest; collision was off roadway so only 24-hour reporting applied	State: officer had probable cause to arrest for failure to stop; alternatively officer had probable cause to arrest for OVI	Court: Affirmed suppression denial — Cutlip failed to challenge the court's alternative finding that probable cause existed for OVI, so suppression denial stands
Whether evidence was sufficient to convict for failure to stop after an accident (Macedonia Ord. 335.12)	Cutlip: ordinance requires collision "on a public road or highway;" his collisions were off-road (mailbox, ditch) so insufficient evidence	State: loss of control and road markings show accident arose on public road, supporting conviction	Court: Reversed the failure-to-stop conviction — insufficient evidence because collisions occurred off the public roadway

State v. Burnside, 100 Ohio St.3d 152 (Ohio 2003) (standard of review for a motion to suppress: trial court factual findings entitled to deference; legal conclusions reviewed de novo)
State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (Ohio 1991) (sufficiency review: evidence must be such that any rational trier of fact could find every essential element proven beyond a reasonable doubt)
State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (Ohio 1997) (distinguishing sufficiency and manifest-weight standards of review)