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An unpublished opinion of the North Carolina Court of Appeals does not constitute controlling legal authority. Citation is disfavored, but may be permitted in accordance with the provisions of Rule 30(e)(3) of the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure.

NO. COA08-245 NORTH CAROLINA COURT OF APPEALS Filed: 2 December 2008 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA v. WILLIAM PAUL RONZIO, JR. Wake County Nos. 04 CRS 1593-94

Appeal by defendant from judgments entered 1 March 2007 by Judge Paul C. Ridgeway in Wake County Superior Court. Court of Appeals 13 October 2008. Attorney General Roy Cooper, by Associate Attorney General Jess D. Mekeel, for the State. Robert J. McAfee, for defendant-appellant. ELMORE, Judge. Heard in the

Court of Appeals Slip Opinion

On 11 January 2004, defendant William P. Ronzio was cited for driving while impaired ("DWI") and driving while license revoked. On 8 December 2004, defendant was convicted in Wake County District Court. [See Motion to Amend] Defendant appealed and a trial de The case was tried at

novo was held in Wake County Superior Court.

the 28 February 2007 Criminal Session of Wake County Superior Court. The evidence presented at trial tended to show the following: On the morning of 11 January 2004, Joseph Stevens was driving along

-2Highway 401 South between Raleigh and Garner, North Carolina. Stevens observed a black, Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck with lightly tinted windows "come up kind of flying." Both vehicles stopped at

a light, and Stevens observed shadows inside the pickup truck on the driver's side. After the light changed, the truck pulled away Stevens later saw the pickup truck While

and Stevens lost sight of it.

again on Highway 401 as he was approaching Fuquay-Varina.

stopped at a traffic light, Stevens watched the pickup truck turn onto Airport Road. Stevens also turned onto Airport Road and came

upon the same truck at the bottom of a hill and on the side of a ditch, "turned over" and "against [a] tree." Stevens observed a

person walking along the side of the road, approximately ten feet away from the truck. Stevens stopped his vehicle and asked the

person if he needed any help, but the person declined Stevens' offer of assistance. Stevens then drove home and called 911.

Stevens identified defendant as the person he spoke to on the side of the road, and testified that defendant "must have been" the driver of the truck. Captain Tom Veasey, who was acting captain of the FuquayVarina Fire Department, was among those who responded to Stevens' 911 call. the side Captain Veasey observed "an overturned Chevy S-10 off of the road[,]" with defendant "pacing around the

vehicle[.]"

Defendant informed Captain Veasey "that he had been

out drinking" and that a man named "Adam," whom he had met for the first time that evening, was driving the truck. Defendant

described "Adam" as "a white guy about his height, wearing blue

-3jeans, blue shirt, no jacket." Defendant told Captain Veasey that

"Adam had left him hanging upside down in the vehicle, just ran off." Captain Veasey stated that he "definitely smelled a strong Captain Veasey

odor of alcohol" coming from defendant's breath.

also stated that he saw no other person in the area of the vehicle. According to Captain Veasey, defendant asked if he could leave and "come back later, that he had to get out of North Carolina." Trooper C.V. Barrett of the North Carolina Highway Patrol also responded to the scene of the accident. Trooper Barrett was

directed to a Garner EMS vehicle where he found defendant standing in the back of the vehicle. Trooper Barrett testified that

defendant was "fighting . . . off" EMS workers who were attending to a cut on defendant's cheek. Trooper Barrett introduced himself

to defendant, and defendant asked him if he "had found the driver or guy that was with him." Defendant told Trooper Barrett that a

"friend of his, a Paul `McSomething,' was driving, he only knew him for a week." Defendant was unable to provide a description of Trooper Barrett later learned from fire

"Paul McSomething[.]"

department officials that defendant had provided the name "Adam," along with a description, as the driver of the vehicle. Defendant

made no mention to Trooper Barrett of any individual named "Adam." Trooper Barrett asked for defendant's driver's license, but

defendant stated he did not have one because he had lost it the previous day due to a charge for driving while intoxicated. During the course of the conversation, Trooper Barrett observed that defendant's "eyes were red, glassy," that "[h]e had a strong odor

-4of alcohol on his breath," and that he "seemed unsteady on his feet." After talking with defendant, Trooper Barrett investigated defendant's vehicle and the surrounding area. Trooper Barrett

noted only one set of footprints in the dirt as he approached the vehicle, and observed blood smears inside the vehicle on the passenger side. Trooper Barrett, who was tendered and accepted as

an expert witness in accident reconstruction, testified that there likely had been only one person in the vehicle. Trooper Barrett At

then went to the hospital to interview defendant a second time.

the hospital, Trooper Barrett "still detected the same odor of alcohol coming from about [defendant's] breath" and noted that defendant's "eyes were still red and glassy." Trooper Barrett This

asked defendant again what happened regarding his accident.

time, defendant told Trooper Barrett a different version of events. Trooper Barrett testified that defendant "advised me that . . . he was going home. He said 6 deer ran in front of him, he tapped his brakes and the brakes locked up, and he lost control, almost struck a house." Trooper Barrett determined that defendant had "consumed a sufficient quantity of impairing substance to appreciably impair his physical and mental faculties" and advised defendant that he was going to place him under arrest. Trooper Barrett gave

defendant a copy of his rights pertaining to drawing blood, and defendant threw it on the floor. Defendant then told Trooper

Barrett that "he was wrong, he shouldn't have been driving because

-5he had been drinking, and because he had been drinking it caused his license to be revoked." defendant at 12:58 p.m. Nevertheless, blood was drawn from The blood registered an alcohol

concentration of .14 grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of whole blood. [R. pp. 79-83, 96] Later, after Trooper Barrett transported defendant to the jail and read defendant his Miranda rights, defendant recanted on his statement made in the hospital and denied having driven the pickup truck. Just prior to trial, defendant made an oral motion in limine seeking to prevent admission into evidence any mention of his prior DWI charge. Defendant cited N.C. Gen. Stat.

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