Man Appeals Domestic Violence and Abduction Conviction

A jury trial found a man guilty of third degree felony
domestic violence and abduction. The case states that a concerned neighbor called police
after witnessing the defendant beating a woman and hearing her yelling
to stop touching her. When police arrived, the woman alleged that she
had been held in the apartment and that the man had struck her several
times in the head and face. The man was then arrested and indicted on
domestic violence and abduction charges. The defendant-appellant denied
these allegations, and claimed that he did not cause the victim’s
injuries. The jury was unanimous, and found him guilty. His domestic violence
charge was also elevated because of prior domestic violence offenses.
The defendant-appellant appealed his conviction on the basis of five errors:

1) Trial court erred in permitting the state to submit evidence of a third
domestic violence conviction when only two priors were required, 2) Trial
court erred in allowing the state to submit an unsigned entry as evidence
of prior conviction, 3) Trial court erred by refusing to allow evidence
of valid judgment entry, 4) Trial court erred in allowing state to rehabilitate
the state’s witness’s credibility, and 5) Trial court erred in
allowing the state to cross examine the defendant outside of the scope
of admissibility. In this domestic violence conviction, error in admitting
judgment entry of past conviction that did not contain judge’s signature
was harmless where defendant admitted conviction during direct examination,
R.C. 2945.75(B)(1) and Crim.R. 32(C).