43
Newton Falls man sentenced to 33 days in jail for vehicular homicide, OVI in death of bicyclist
By Ed Runyan
NEWTON FALLS
Saying there was “no evidence” that Donald S. Bryant was impaired when he hit a bicyclist on Holcomb Road in Newton Township on Sept. 26, Judge Philip Vigorito sentenced Bryant to 33 days in Trumbull County Jail on Thursday.
Bryant, 54, of Holcomb Road, pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and operating a motor vehicle impaired, both misdemeanors, and will begin serving the sentence when the jail has space.
The convictions relate to Bryant saying he hit Michael Hunyady because the early-morning sun was in his eyes as he drove to a golf outing that Sunday. Judge Vigorito said the charge means Bryant was negligent for driving without being able to see clearly.
Hunyady, 19, of Holcomb Road, was riding his bicycle to work at a Newton Falls grocery store at the time of the 7:47 a.m. accident.
Bryant also will serve three years’ probation, pay a fine, serve a driver’s license suspension with work driving privileges, be assessed for alcohol and drug use and get a mental-health evaluation. The judge sentenced Bryant to 30 hours of community service, suggesting that Bryant speak to high-school students or driving schools about the crash.
Newton Falls Prosecutor A. Joseph Fritz said later he agreed to reduce the felony charge of aggravated vehicular homicide to the misdemeanor version because not one witness at the scene perceived Bryant to be impaired that day, despite a urine test that showed Bryant had a large amount of the marijuana metabolite in his system.
In fact, the test showed that Bryant had a marijuana reading of 200 nanograms-per-milliliter, which is close to six times the 35 nanograms-per-milliliter the state deems to be “some sort of impairment,” Fritz said.
The judge said the chances that Fritz would have been able to prove that Bryant’s marijuana use was the cause of the accident “seemed unlikely.” Fritz did insist that Bryant plead guilty to the OVI as part of the plea agreement, the judge noted.
Afterward, Robin Thomas of Lebanon, Ohio, one of Hunyady’s grandmothers, said she was satisfied with the plea agreement, saying she believed Bryant was remorseful for what happened, and “has to live every day knowing he killed my grandson.”
Bryant apologized before sentencing, saying he hasn’t slept well since the accident.
“My heart is broken for Michael and his family. I’ve been sick since the day. Every time I close my eyes, all I see is that young man lying on the road.” He added, “I’m so sorry for this tragic accident. I wish with all my heart I could change what happened that day.”
Bryant said after the hearing that he knew Hunyady from the grocery store and had driven past him dozens of times on the road before, probably in the evening when Hunady was coming home from the store.
When asked what he might say to students, Bryant said, “I probably should have stopped and pulled off of the side of the road.”
Hunyady’s mother, Jennifer Tuchek, gave a statement before sentencing, saying Michael rode his bicycle to and from work at the Shop N Save, which was a mile from home. He had studied welding at ETI Technical School since January 2016.
“My son, my baby, my reason for being a mom, was gone,” she said of learning that Michael had died. “I’ve been in shock for 81/2 months. I’m still waiting for him to walk through that door,” she said.
Fritz agreed with Judge Vigorito that none of the several state troopers, Newton Falls police officers or ambulance personnel who dealt with Bryant that morning found any indication that Bryant was impaired. They did not give him field-sobriety tests.
Bryant’s attorney, Rob Kokor, indicated that having a marijuana metabolite test result such as Bryant’s is not scientific proof someone is impaired.
He said his expert witness would have testified that there is “no way to correlate an impairment level to a metabolite finding in a urine sample or when the substance was consumed.”
Fritz said at a trial that the evidence from the urine test would have been presented along with the statements from the witnesses.
“I wasn’t comfortable having my case weigh just on the lab results, countered by the witnesses’ view,” he said.
Fritz acknowledged that it’s challenging to prosecute cases that involve marijuana use. For that reason, he said Ohio may need to come up with better scientific evidence to use to prosecute people using it and having accidents.