State v. Osburn

In State v. Osburn, 9th Dist. No. 07CA0054, 2008 Ohio 3051, the trooper called the defendant, who was a tow truck driver, to come to an accident scene and tow a damaged vehicle. The trooper did not "see anything wrong with defendant's driving." However, while the trooper was conducting an inventory of the crashed vehicle, he smelled a "moderate odor" of alcoholic beverage on the defendant's breath, and the defendant admitted to drinking two beers prior to reporting to the scene. The trooper asked the defendant to perform field sobriety tests, which the defendant failed. In these circumstances, the Ninth District held the trooper had a reasonable suspicion of a criminal act, which was supported by specific, articulable facts, which justified the trooper's decision to administer field sobriety tests to the defendant. Id. at P9-10.