The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

June 15, 2009

UPDATE: Court upholds DUI conviction

By Joe Pinchot

SHENANGO VALLEY — An appeals court has agreed that a local judge should not have declared a mistrial in the case of a man convicted of drunken driving.

Randall J. Walter, 39, of Sharon, was arrested June 6, 2007, by Sharpsville police patrolman Matthew Sharp for driving a car with an expired inspection sticker, according to Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher J. St. John.

Walter was found guilty by a jury of drunken driving-second offense, and two traffic violations. St. John sentenced Walter to 90 days to 2 years in Mercer County Jail, three years of state probation, and to pay fines.

Walter has served his jail term.

In his appeal, Walter, represented by Assistant Mercer County Public Defender James Goodwin, said St. John should not have allowed prosecutors to question Sharp about his familiarity with Walter. Sharp said Walter walked, talked and looked differently that night than he had on other nights when he had seen Walter.

Walter’s attorney objected, saying the questioning left the jurors with the impression that Walter had committed previous crimes.

St. John said the questioning objected to was a follow-up to similar questions that were not objected to.

“You let the cat out of the bag a long time ago when you didn’t object on direct examination,” St. John said at a sidebar conference with attorneys.

St. John added that Sharp’s testimony was about seeing Walter “generally in the community and does not create any inference of prior criminal activity.”

Walter also argued that there was insufficient evidence to convict him.

St. John said the issue came down to whether the jurors believed that Walter’s drinking three, 16-ounce beers rendered him incapable of driving.

Walter failed roadside sobriety tests but refused to have a blood test conducted.

“The jury obviously disregarded the self-serving testimony of (Walter,) who claimed that the alcohol did not impair his ability to drive,” St. John said.

A three-judge panel of Superior Court affirmed St. John’s decisions in an opinion filed June 5.

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