April 20, 2014
ToledoFreePress.com
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n CLERK CONTINUED FROM 8 “Mr. Kerger has mentioned Person X — this mystery person who has never been mentioned until just now — who he claims bought the alcohol,” McDonald said during closing remarks. “Why would these two young men, bright, futures ahead of them, risk everything to fabricate a story for some unknown mystery person?” A written statement made by Thompson during the April 16, 2013, search of Foxx Liquor indicated he didn’t remember the specific Feb. 1 transaction but could have sold alcohol to Pappas without carding him because he recognized him as a regular customer. That’s “not a defense,” McDonald said. HOEFLINGER “The law in Ohio is that … if a defendant checks for an ID on a certain date and that person comes in again and that person asks for alcohol and if that person is a minor, regardless of how many times before he’s asked for his ID, the defendant is guilty,” he said. Thompson’s statement that he could have made the sale is “not proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” Kerger argued. The state called five witnesses on the first day of trial. Two witnesses were called by the defense on the second day: Earl Mack, a retired Ohio Department of Public Safety agent who worked in alcohol enforcement for 26 years, and Foxx Liquor part owner Andy Jarbou. Jarbou, who was among the five employees working Feb. 1, 2013, testified that Thompson always wore a hat and glasses, facts which Kerger noted the two teens did not mention in their initial descriptions of the clerk. Jarbou also testified that after a September 2012 sting in which Thompson sold alcohol to an underage patron working undercover, he was suspended for four weeks and retrained on checking IDs. Reminders to check IDs were also posted by all registers, Jarbou said. “I don’t care how many signs Mr. Jarbou [posts],” Kountouris said during his closing remarks. “There’s signs everywhere [on the road, but] does everybody follow the signs? No.” Mack testified that when he worked as an agent he was not permitted to wear a mask during store searches or
interviews as Agent Michael Hakeos did at Foxx Liquor during the April 16, 2013, search. Thompson’s lawyers had questioned whether Hakeos, who took the stand as a witness for the state April 14, intimidated Thompson by leaving his mask on while interviewing him. During crossexamination, McDonald noted that Mack’s boss at the hotel where he now works as a part-time security officer is one of the part owners of Foxx Liquor.
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Kerger said he accepted the verdict, but questioned the judge’s sentence. “The jury didn’t accept our explanation. Their verdict is their verdict,” Kerger said. “The thing that’s odd is during the trial [Judge Bates] kept out all references to the Brian Hoeflinger crash and then he used that as the fact to enhance the sentence. Seems like if it was in for that it ought to have been in for the trial. But that was his ruling.” Hoeflinger’s parents, Brian and Cindy Hoeflinger, were in the courtroom both days along with their children. Brian said that although nothing will bring back their son, they hope the sentence will send a strong message “that institutions that sell alcohol can’t sell to minors and expect to get away with it without having consequences.” “For us it was important because it’s a first step in a chain of events that have to keep happening to stop kids from gaining access to alcohol,” Brian said. “Our son died and it was alcohol-related and we can never bring that back, but we can certainly try to stop it for the future. “It does send a message and I think the judge did want to send a message and I think the prosecutor’s office wants to send a message that this won’t be tolerated,” Brian said. Cindy said she is frustrated and heartbroken that her son and his friends were able to obtain liquor so easily. “I have a right to believe my children are not allowed to buy alcohol until they are 21. That is a law,” she said. “So I should have a reasonable expectation that my son can’t walk into a state liquor store and buy alcohol.” Foxx Liquor had its liquor license revoked in August 2013, but still sells beer and wine. Thompson still faces two additional counts of selling or furnishing alcohol to a minor stemming from separate incidents allegedly occurring at Foxx Liquor on April 12, 2013. O
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