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).