A judge finds a Poland doctor guilty on some charges related to a fatal boat crash, but not guilty on other charges.

Dr. Joseph Zurich sat calmly as he waited for the verdict in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. 

It's been more than two years since he was charged with crashing his speed boat into a fishing boat on Berlin Reservoir killing one man and injuring another.  

Judge John Durkin heard the case in a non-jury bench trial.  "I know that this case has been incredibly difficult and emotional for both parties and counsel," Judge Durkin said.

Durkin found Yurich not guilty on the most serious charges of aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated vehicular assault, and of OVI, operating a vehicle while impaired. 

The judge said even though Yurich had admitted to drinking, the state failed to show beyond a reasonable doubt that he was impaired while operating the boat.

Legal analyst Dave Betras says the case was more difficult because blood alcohol samples from Yurich had been mishandled and were ruled inadmissible. 

"So the judge rightly suppressed those tests, and without those tests, they didn't have enough evidence to convict him beyond a reasonable doubt," Betras said.

Durkin did find Yurich guilty of the lesser charge of vehicular homicide for the fatal crash,  and guilty of leaving the scene.

"That the defendant's negligence was, in fact, the proximate cause of the death of Neal Cuppett," Durkin said. 

Betras says conviction on a misdemeanor is not an automatic medical license suspension in Ohio.  "Whether the state medical board takes it up I don't know, they could if they choose to," according to Betras. 

Yurich will return to court next Tuesday to learn his sentence, a sentence that might include jail time and fines or something less.