Friedlander, J.
During the State’s case-in-chief, numerous witnesses, on questioning by both the State and the defense, revealed that Bisard exhibited no signs of intoxication immediately following the accident. The State thereafter called Dr. Alan Jones to testify about the accuracy of blood-alcohol tests and to describe in general terms [footnote omitted] the effects of alcohol on the human body and various signs of impairment. With regard to the latter, Dr. Jones testified as to what it means to be a tolerant drinker, describing a tolerant drinker as an individual who is a heavy drinker and drinks alcohol over long periods of time such that they may exhibit less pronounced signs of intoxication. Dr. Jones explained that this is so because the receptors in the human brain adapt and become less sensitive and that such influences the signs and symptoms of intoxication that a person may exhibit. In short, Dr. Jones opined that it would be possible for a tolerant drinker to be intoxicated, but show no signs of intoxication.
In response to Dr. Jones’s testimony, Bisard sought to present testimony from several witnesses [footnote omitted] that he was not a heavy drinker to refute the implication that he was the sort of tolerant drinker described by Dr. Jones. Bisard argued that the State elicited testimony from Dr. Jones that was “not just on generalities of tolerance” but rather, through examples, a specific reference to Bisard. Transcript at 2714. The prosecutor disagreed with Bisard’s characterization of Dr. Jones’s testimony being specific to Bisard. The trial court agreed with the State, finding that there was nothing in Dr. Jones’s testimony that “pointed fingers at Mr. Bisard.” Id. at 2716. The trial court informed Bisard that if he called witnesses to testify that he was not a heavy drinker and to vouch for his drinking or non-drinking habits, such would open the door for the State to present evidence of his 2013 OWI arrest. [Footnote omitted.]
We begin by noting that the trial court merely foreshadowed what its ruling regarding the admissibility of his 2013 OWI arrest would be if in fact Bisard chose to present witnesses to testify as to his drinking habits. It remains, however, that Bisard did not put forth his proposed witnesses, and the State did not offer evidence of his prior OWI arrest. The trial court, therefore, was never asked to make a ruling. We find that these circumstances are akin to a motion in limine. As a general rule, motions in limine do not preserve errors for appeal. Shoultz v. State, 995 N.E.2d 647 (Ind. Ct. App. 2013), trans. denied. Thus, in this sense, the threat of opening the door to admission of the 2013 OWI arrest did not preserve the issue for appellate review and certainly did not amount to a denial of due process.
. . . .
Defendants often must make hard evidentiary choices. Here, Bisard’s choice may have been difficult, but it remains that he had a choice to make. Bisard could have chosen to present witness testimony that they had never seen him intoxicated or consume alcohol to excess, and when the State presented evidence of his subsequent OWI arrest, as the prosecutor indicated she would, Bisard could have challenged the admission of that evidence contemporaneously therewith. Bisard then could have made an argument on appeal that admission of his subsequent OWI was in violation of Ind. Trial Rule 404(b) both as to relevance and as being unduly prejudicial. Bisard could have also chosen, as he did here, to let the record stand, i.e., with testimony from numerous witnesses who observed no outward signs of intoxication from Bisard shortly after the accident and witnesses who told of the blood analysis revealing a remarkably high blood alcohol concentration level. Difficult evidentiary and strategic decisions do not in and of themselves violate a defendant’s due process right to present a defense.
Kirsch, J., and Crone, J., concur.