State v. Easterling

Citations

• 2019 Ohio 2470

Syllabus

Defendant was convicted, after a jury trial, of domestic violence and obstructing official business. The State presented sufficient evidence to support those convictions. Defendant did not establish ineffective assistance of counsel during plea negotiations, nor does the record indicate that the trial court denied defendant the opportunity to explain his reasons for rejecting a previously offered plea agreement. The trial court did not err in allowing testimony at trial about the deceased victim's statements to his son as an excited utterance the admission of those statements also did not violate the Confrontation Clause. The trial court erred in convicting defendant of domestic violence as a third-degree felony although the parties stipulated that defendant had at least two prior domestic violence offenses, the jury did not make a factual finding as to those prior convictions or as to the degree of the offense. Defendant's conviction for domestic violence is modified to a first-degree misdemeanor, and his sentence for that offense is modified to the maximum 180 days in jail. Defendant's claim that the trial court erred in imposing a maximum 36-month sentence is moot. Judgment affirmed in part and affirmed as modified in part, and defendant is ordered to be released from custody as to this matter, subject to any detainers, hold orders, or other orders that would require his continued imprisonment or detention.