State v. Galvin, 2016 Ohio 5404

On July 4, 2014, David Nageotte was found dead, face down in the middle of a public street after having been struck and run over by a motor vehicle. William Galvin later admitted driving the vehicle and was observed with slurred speech and the odor of alcohol; physical evidence tied his vehicle to the scene.
Galvin was indicted on aggravated vehicular homicide (two counts), driving under the influence, and failure to stop after an accident (with a death furthermore clause).
At trial Galvin conceded his car ran over Nageotte’s body but argued (1) an unidentified vehicle struck and killed Nageotte before Galvin’s car ran over him, or alternatively (2) Nageotte’s voluntary act of lying in the roadway constituted contributory negligence relieving Galvin of criminal liability.
The State’s experts (medical examiner and State Highway Patrol reconstructionist) testified the injuries resulted from a single auto–pedestrian event and were consistent with being struck and run over by one vehicle.
Defense experts (an accident reconstructionist and a forensic pathologist) opined that Nageotte was first struck while upright by another vehicle and that some injuries were inconsistent with being run over while prone.
The jury convicted Galvin of vehicular homicide (lesser-included of aggravated vehicular homicide) and failure to stop; he was acquitted on remaining counts. Galvin appealed, arguing the trial court erred by refusing a jury instruction on contributory negligence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court erred by refusing a jury instruction that the victim’s act of lying in the roadway could be considered contributory negligence that bars criminal liability	The State argued contributory negligence is not a defense to aggravated vehicular homicide unless it is the sole proximate cause of death	Galvin argued evidence supported that Nageotte voluntarily lying in the street was a sufficient, sole proximate cause of death such that contributory negligence instruction was warranted	Court held no error: contributory negligence may not be used unless the victim’s conduct is the sole proximate cause of death; record did not show that here

Blakemore v. Blakemore, 5 Ohio St.3d 217 (Ohio 1983) (abuse of discretion standard explained)
State v. Langenkamp, 137 Ohio App.3d 614 (Ohio Ct. App. 2000) (contributory negligence cannot excuse criminal liability unless sole proximate cause)
State v. Garland, 116 Ohio App.3d 461 (Ohio Ct. App. 1996) (same principle reiterated)