Opinion ID: 799063
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Factual Events

Text: On December 8, 2009, Mr. Cope was the copilot and first officer of a commercial flight from Austin, Texas to Denver, ColoradoUnited Express Flight 7686operated by Shuttle America, Inc., a subsidiary of Republic Airways. Robert Obodzinski was the captain. Mr. Cope and Mr. Obodzinski were both employees of Shuttle America. The day before the flight, Mr. Obodzinski and Mr. Cope flew from Denver to Austin. After they arrived in Austin, they went to a local hotel with their other crew members. Mr. Obodzinski invited the crew to dinner, but Mr. Cope declined, stating that he did not feel well. Mr. Obodzinski did not see Mr. Cope again until the next morning in the hotel lobby. Mr. Obodzinski testified that [Mr. Cope] had a little bit of a puffy face, and his eyes were a little red, and I assumed that since he said the night before he wasn't feeling well, that he was probably coming down with a cold. Appx., Vol. I, at 177. Mr. Obodzinski and Mr. Cope flew from Austin to Denver that morning without incident. While in the cockpit, Mr. Obodzinski detected occasional hints of the smell of alcohol. Initially, Mr. Obodzinski thought the smell was coming from a spilled drink in the cabin outside the cockpit. But when they arrived in Denver, Mr. Obodzinski leaned over Mr. Cope and took a big whiff. Id. at 191. He concluded that the smell of alcohol was coming from Mr. Cope. After completing his post-flight duties, Mr. Obodzinski contacted dispatch to delay the next leg of their flight. He also spoke with his chief pilot and Republic Airways' human resources officer. After conferring with these company representatives, Mr. Obodzinski advised Mr. Cope: If you have any problem taking a breathalyzer, call off sick and get out of here. Id. at 196. According to Mr. Obodzinski, Mr. Cope just kind of stood there looking at me blank faced. . . . He said, [`]Well I guess I better call off sick then.['] Id. at 197. Mr. Obodzinski received instructions to escort Mr. Cope to a breath testing facility in the Denver airport. Richard Jones, a breath-alcohol technician, administered two breathalyzer tests on Mr. Cope, one at 10:33 a.m. and another at 10:54 a.m. The result of the first test was .094 and the second was .084. Based on these results, Mr. Cope was not permitted to fly the next leg of his scheduled flight. Mr. Cope was indicted by the federal grand jury in the District of Colorado for operating a common carrier while under the influence of alcohol in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 342. Mr. Cope waived his right to a jury trial. After a two-day bench trial, the district court convicted Mr. Cope and sentenced him to a below-guidelines sentence of six months in prison and two years of supervised release.