Gilbert v. Welter

Citations

• 2025 Ohio 4887

Syllabus

TESTIMONY — OATH — SWEAR IN — EVID.R. 603 — R.C. 2317.30 — — SECTION 7, ARTICLE 1 of the OHIO CONSTITUTION — WAIVER — PLAIN ERROR — MOTION TO STRIKE — CIV.R. 59: Where an objection to the trial court's failure to swear in a witness is not timely made, any resulting error is waived. Where the trial court failed to swear in a witness before the witness testified, the court did not err in allowing the jury to hear the witness' testimony or in denying plaintiffs' motion to strike where the court administered a belated oath to the witness after testimony was concluded, the witness swore that the testimony previously given was truthful, plaintiffs had the opportunity to cross-examine the witness, and the record contained no indication that the witness would have testified differently had the oath been timely administered.Under these same circumstances, the record did not establish that the trial court's failure to swear in a witness before that witness testified deprived plaintiffs of a fair trial or resulted in the rendering of a judgment that was contrary to law, and the trial court did not err in denying plaintiffs' Civ.R. 59 motion to set aside the jury verdict and order a new trial.