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Arguments asking for new trial rejected
ED runyan
WARREN
The 11th District Court of Appeals has rejected legal arguments asking that Keith Urso, 50, of Warren, be granted a new trial on his 15th drunken-driving conviction that resulted in a 10-year prison term late last year.
Urso’s attorneys questioned the fairness of being unable to cross-examine a witness and asked the court to throw out the results of a blood-alcohol test that was performed with a machine plugged into the same outlet as a small refrigerator.
After the October trial, Urso’s attorney, Anthony Consoldane of the Trumbull County Public Defender’s Office, said rulings in the case made it “the most one-sided case I’ve ever been involved in.” Consoldane retired recently after many years as a defense attorney.
Consoldane said it was unfair that he was unable to cross-examine a witness who described Urso’s behavior behind the wheel Jan. 31, 2010, in Bazetta Township. The witness, John Beil, suffered broken bones in an unrelated fall at his house before the trial and was unable to testify.
The judge also refused to allow Consoldane to question Beil at his home, but a recording of Beil’s 911 call was used during the trial, and his wife, Margaret Beil, testified.
The appeals court said the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prevents testimony from being used in court without cross-examination, but it doesn’t prevent recordings of 911 calls without cross-examination.
As for the blood-alcohol DataMaster device being plugged into the same outlet as a small refrigerator, the appeals court said no evidence was presented to indicate that condition would result in flawed test results.
The owner’s manual says a dedicated outlet for the DataMaster is preferred, but the manual doesn’t say the machine will work improperly if an outlet is shared, the appeals court ruled.
A Trumbull County deputy sheriff also testified that a second appliance plugged into the outlet would never result in a false reading on the DataMaster, only indicate the need to retest, the appeals court said.
Urso’s blood-alcohol was measured at 0.286 — more than 31/2 times the legal limit of 0.08.
In asking that Urso be denied bond before trial, county Prosecutor Dennis Watkins said Urso had been driving without a license since 1979 and had racked up 31 moving violations, including one for killing a woman while driving drunk in 1982.