State v. Godoy, 2019 Ohio 4625

Background

Early morning single-vehicle crash on I-71; appellant Pete Godoy was alone in a badly damaged truck and admitted drinking one 12-ounce beer earlier that evening.
Trooper Bishop observed odor of alcohol, glassy/bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, unsteadiness, and poor handwriting; dashcam captured Godoy saying he thought a tire blew out.
Godoy performed poorly on three standardized field sobriety tests, including 6 of 6 HGN clues; he refused breath and urine tests.
Godoy contended he suffered a cardiac event and loss of consciousness while driving, causing a crash and concussion; neurologist Dr. Andrefsky testified Godoy reported palpitations and symptoms consistent with concussion and opined a drop in blood pressure caused loss of consciousness.
Jury convicted Godoy of OVI; trial court convicted him of failure to control. Sentencing included jail (partially suspended), one-year license suspension, fines, and community control.
Godoy appealed raising three assignments of error: (1) manifest weight challenge based on cardiac event/concussion theory, (2) ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to move mistrial/dismiss panel after a juror made prejudicial voir dire comments, and (3) trial court erred by permitting HGN-based statistical testimony tying HGN clues to likelihood of BAC over .08.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether OVI verdict is against manifest weight where appellant claims cardiac event/concussion caused crash and signs misread as intoxication	Godoy: greater weight supports loss of consciousness and concussion; observed signs were medical, not alcohol impairment	State: trooper observations, HGN and other FST failures, odor, admission of beer, dashcam and witness credibility support intoxication	Court affirmed: jury credibility choices reasonable; not an exceptional case to overturn on manifest weight
Whether counsel was ineffective for not moving for mistrial or other remedies after a venireperson made prejudicial comments	Godoy: counsel should have moved for mistrial, dismissed entire panel, sought voir dire of jurors, and requested curative instruction	State: counsel decisions were reasonable trial strategy; the biased veniremember was dismissed for cause; no demonstrated prejudice	Court affirmed: no deficient performance or prejudice shown; remarks not so inflammatory and jurors affirmed impartiality
Whether trial court erred in admitting trooper testimony that HGN results correlate to an 88% chance BAC > .08	Godoy: such statistical probability testimony is improper and prejudicial without expert foundation	State: officer was trained, followed NHTSA protocol, statistics came from NHTSA manual, and substantial other evidence of impairment made any error harmless	Court affirmed: under facts admission did not prejudice substantial rights given officer foundation and other evidence

Key Cases Cited

State v. Otten, 33 Ohio App.3d 339 (9th Dist. 1986) (standard for manifest weight review)
State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (1997) (manifest weight reversal is extraordinary)
State v. Bresson, 51 Ohio St.3d 123 (1990) (HGN admissible with proper foundation but cannot prove exact BAC)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (two-prong ineffective assistance standard)
State v. DeHass, 10 Ohio St.2d 230 (1967) (weight and credibility of evidence are for the trier of fact)
State v. Bradley, 42 Ohio St.3d 136 (1989) (Deficient performance and prejudice prongs for ineffective assistance)
State v. Gondor, 112 Ohio St.3d 377 (2006) (presumption of competent counsel)
Blakemore v. Blakemore, 5 Ohio St.3d 217 (1983) (definition of abuse of discretion)
Pons v. Ohio State Med. Bd., 66 Ohio St.3d 619 (1993) (review of discretionary rulings)
State v. Moine, 72 Ohio App.3d 584 (9th Dist. 1991) (lay witness testimony about intoxication and observable behavior admissible)
State v. Martin, 20 Ohio App.3d 172 (1st Dist. 1983) (quoted regarding rarity of manifest weight reversals)