Ohio men's basketball player Ken Ottrix pleaded not guilty to allegations he drove under the influence of alcohol at his hearing in Athens Municipal Court Monday.
Ottrix, 21, was stopped on July 21 near College Street and Union Street at 3:07 a.m. by Ohio University Police Officer Joshua Durst. The junior center/forward was arrested and charged with driving drunk and not using headlights.
Officer Durst was unable to comment about the incident because the details of the case have been passed on to Mike Miller, Athens city prosecutor. Miller will release them at his discretion, Durst said.
According to the police ticket, Ottrix took the breathalyzer test and allegedly registered a blood-alcohol content of 0.18 milligrams per deciliter -- well above the legal limit in Ohio of 0.08.
The (breath) test was given an hour after he was stopped
said Pat McGee, managing attorney at the Center for Student Legal Services and Ottrix's legal counsel. An important factor will be to determine what his condition was when he was driving as opposed to what his condition was when he took the test an hour later.
We also have to check to see if the stop was valid, whether there was probable cause to make an arrest and whether the (breathalyzer) test is valid. All of that takes a little bit of time. We have to get the information and make a determination whether (the case) should proceed to trial, McGee added.
Ottrix's pretrial is scheduled for August 24.
Ohio men's basketball coach Tim O'Shea was unavailable for comment in compliance with the athletic department's policy for ongoing judicial cases said Brian Gunning director of media relations for Ohio athletics.
Derek Scott
associate athletic director in charge of communication and broadcasting
said the university will wait until the case is finalized before any action is taken by judiciaries and the athletic department.
It would be premature and unfair for us to speculate on an ongoing judicial case. Scott said. Whenever there are allegations of this nature made in the direction of one of our student-athletes, they are something we are going to take very seriously.
Ottrix averaged 1.6 points per game
scoring 22 points in 14 appearances off the bench for the Bobcats last season.,",17,Archives,Mark Shugar,",",",",",","
14523,2006-08-10 06:00:00,Bobcats add Michigan State transfer,",First-year Ohio women's basketball coach Sylvia Crawley announced Tuesday that a transfer student from Michigan State University has been added to the 2006-07 Bobcat roster.
Jennifer Poff
a 5-foot-8 point guard and Spanish major
will sit out the upcoming season in compliance with NCAA regulations. In her freshman season
Poff averaged 1.0 points per game in 21 appearances off the bench for the Spartans
with a career-high nine points in a contest against Western Carolina.
Poff's career at St. Johns High School in St. Johns
Mich.
