State's top court overturns conviction in Ottawa County boating death

COLUMBUS - A Fairlawn man convicted of aggravated vehicular homicide and involuntary manslaughter after he allegedly pushed a friend off a boat in Lake Erie did not receive a fair trial because the jury included a hearing-impaired woman who couldn't fully evaluate the evidence, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.

In a 5-2 decision, the court overturned the Ottawa County conviction of Scott A. Speer in the 2002 death of Jim Barnett, 40, of Barberton. Mr. Barnett drowned near Catawba Island after departing on Mr. Speer's speedboat during a small-craft advisory.

The evidence presented at trial included a recording of a 911 call made by Mr. Speer, a call that his lawyer asked jurors to closely study as evidence that Mr. Speer was not intoxicated.

Juror Linda Leow-Johnannsen had told the court she could lip-read if a witness faced her. She was placed at the front of the jury box and was able to read a transcript of the contents of the 911 recording. The defense, however, later argued that this prevented her from appreciating Mr. Speer's tone of voice, inflection, and demeanor.

The high court agreed.

"Her impairment directly prevented her from completely evaluating the specific evidence from the 911 recording presented in this case and relied on by both the state and the defense," wrote Justice Terrence O'Donnell for the majority.

"Although promoting access to the courts is and should be a primary concern for the judiciary, the trial court's paramount duty is to ensure that the accused is afforded a fair trial," he wrote.

The case had been watched closely by advocates for the disabled.

The court upheld a decision of the 6th District Court of Appeals to order a new trial in the case. The Supreme Court's majority also included Chief Justice Thomas Moyer and Justices Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, Maureen O'Connor, and Paul Pfeifer.

Justice Judith Lanzinger, of Toledo, was one of the two dissenters in the case, saying she did not believe the Ottawa court had abused its discretion in attempting to accommodate Ms. Leow-Johannsen's hearing impairment.

She noted the defense didn't object during the course of the trial to the accommodations made by the court. It was only after the conviction that Mr. Speer's attorney asked for a new trial based on the juror's apparent inability to evaluate the 911 recording.

"Although the majority is correct in stating that a court's primary concern is ensuring that an accused has a fair trial, we cannot require trial courts to be clairvoyant," she wrote. She was joined in her dissent by Justice Robert Cupp, of Lima.

Although the Ottawa judge declined to allow Mr. Speer's attorney to disqualify Ms. Leow-Johannsen "for cause," the defense opted not to exercise one of its four discretionary challenges before the trial to replace her on the jury without having to state a reason.

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Scott Speer, front, and his attorney J. Anthony Rich react to the jury's decision in his murder trial Oct. 24, 2007, in Port Clinton. Enlarge

A Fairlawn man convicted of aggravated vehicular homicide and involuntary manslaughter after he allegedly pushed a friend off a boat in Lake Erie did not receive a fair trial because the jury included a hearing-impaired woman who couldn't fully evaluate the evidence, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. In a 5-2 decision, the court overturned the Ottawa County conviction of Scott Speer.