Sate v. Gonzales

2020 Ohio 4495
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 18, 2020
DocketWD-19-068, WD-19-069
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

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Bluebook
Sate v. Gonzales, 2020 Ohio 4495 (Ohio Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

[Cite as Sate v. Gonzales, 2020-Ohio-4495.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT WOOD COUNTY

State of Ohio Court of Appeals Nos. WD-19-068 WD-19-069 Appellee Trial Court Nos. 2018CR0617 v. 2019CR0096

Jamie Gonzales DECISION AND JUDGMENT

Appellant Decided: September 18, 2020

*****

Paul A. Dobson, Wood County Prosecuting Attorney, and David T. Harold, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee.

Misty Wood, for appellant.

ZMUDA, P.J.

I. Introduction

{¶ 1} In this consolidated appeal, appellant, Jamie Gonzales, appeals the judgment

of the Wood County Court of Common Pleas, sentencing him to 66 months in prison

after a jury found him guilty of one count of domestic violence and six counts of

violating a protection order. Finding no error in the proceedings below, we affirm. A. Facts and Procedural Background

{¶ 2} On December 19, 2018, a criminal complaint was filed in the Bowling

Green Municipal Court, charging appellant with one count of domestic violence in

violation of R.C. 2919.25(A), a felony of the fourth degree. The complaint stemmed

from an incident that occurred on December 18, 2018, in which appellant allegedly

caused physical harm to his mother, [L.D.], a family or household member, by throwing

her on a couch inside his residence, hitting her in her arms, and shoving her head

backwards. According to the complaint, appellant was previously convicted of an

offense substantially similar to domestic violence, thereby raising the charge from a

misdemeanor of the fourth degree to a felony of the fourth degree under R.C.

2919.25(D)(3).

{¶ 3} Upon receiving the criminal complaint, the Bowling Green Municipal Court

issued a domestic violence temporary protection order in favor of L.D., in which

appellant was ordered not to enter L.D.’s residence and to stay at least 500 feet away

from L.D. Further, appellant was restrained from initiating or having any contact with

L.D.

{¶ 4} On December 26, 2018, the matter was bound over to the trial court.

Thereafter, on January 17, 2019, an indictment was filed in the trial court in case No.

2018CR0617, charging appellant with one count of domestic violence in violation of

R.C. 2919.25(A) and (D)(3), a felony of the fourth degree. Appellant entered a plea of

not guilty and the matter proceeded through pretrial discovery and motion practice.

2. {¶ 5} Meanwhile, on March 7, 2019, appellant was indicted in case No.

2019CR0096, and charged with six counts of violating a protection order in violation of

R.C. 2919.27(A)(2) and (B)(3)(a), felonies of the fifth degree.1 These charges related to

incidents that occurred on January 10, January 19, January 24, January 25, and

February 15, 2019. At his arraignment on these charges, appellant entered pleas of not

guilty, and the matter proceeded through discovery along with case No. 2018CR0617.

{¶ 6} On June 7, 2019, the state filed a notice of its intention to use evidence

pursuant to Evid.R. 804(B)(6) at trial, and requested a hearing on the issue. According to

the state’s notice, appellant “attempted to contact L.D. while incarcerated in the Wood

County Justice Center via telephone approximately 173 times. Further, he sent two

written letters to L.D., even after he was indicted in case [No. 2019CR0096] for violating

the protection order.” Moreover, the state asserted that it met with L.D.’s family

members, who expressed that L.D. was unwilling to testify at trial. Based upon its claim

that L.D.’s refusal to testify was the product of appellant’s wrongdoing, the state

indicated its intent to introduce at trial the statements L.D. made to police on the day the

alleged domestic violence took place.

{¶ 7} Five days later, on June 12, 2019, both cases proceeded to a jury trial. Prior

to jury selection, the trial court conducted a hearing on the state’s notice of its intention to

1 The indictment was subsequently amended prior to trial to reflect six charges of violating a protection order in violation of R.C. 2919.27(A)(1) instead of R.C. 2919.27(A)(2).

3. use Evid.R. 804(B)(6) evidence. At the hearing, the state called Bowling Green police

officer, Michael Clingenpeel, to the stand. Clingenpeel was the officer who arrested

appellant in connection with the domestic violence incident at issue in case No.

2018CR0617. Clingenpeel also spoke with L.D. on the night of the incident, and

described L.D.’s condition as “visibly upset, crying, and she was fearful. * * * She said

she feared for her safety.”

{¶ 8} During his testimony at the hearing, Clingenpeel referenced a call log from

the Wood County Justice Center, which established that appellant made 173 phone calls

to L.D. from the jail while he was awaiting trial. Clingenpeel reviewed the audio

recordings of those calls, and testified that appellant appeared to be “interrogating his

mom, demeaning her, to the point where she was sobbing on the phone, and her voice

appeared that she was afraid.” Clingenpeel explained that appellant directed L.D. to

appear in court in order to “get rid of the protection order, because [appellant] knew there

was a protection order in effect.” Clingenpeel described appellant’s demeanor on the

phone calls as “very demanding” and indicated that appellant was yelling at L.D. during

the calls. For her part, L.D. was sobbing on the phone and evading appellant’s questions

about the protection order.

{¶ 9} Clingenpeel also referenced letters that appellant wrote to L.D. during the

pendency of this case. In one such letter, appellant directed L.D. to appear before the

trial court to “kill the violation of a protection order” and asked L.D. if she had a “F-in

conscience.” In another letter, appellant told L.D.: “Don’t ever point your F-n finger on

4. my face, or in my face ever again! 5 months of disrespect is way worse than 15 seconds

of disrespect. Your son is going to be asking you the questions when you’re on the stand

AGAIN.” Later in the letter, appellant wrote: “So what kind of PAIN medication do

your doctors have you on now [L.D.]? That will be a question in trial.”

{¶ 10} After reviewing appellant’s letters to L.D., Clingenpeel testified as to a

prior incident of domestic violence involving appellant and L.D. in 2003. Additionally,

Clingenpeel testified that L.D.’s daughter, J.T., and sister, S.D., contacted the police

during the pendency of this case and expressed concern for L.D.’s safety in light of the

fact that appellant “abuses her all the time.” J.T. and S.D. indicated that L.D. was not

going to testify in this case because she was fearful of doing so. Clingenpeel verified that

L.D. was not present at the court despite the fact that a subpoena ordering her presence

was previously served upon her. According to Clingenpeel, L.D. was “crying and upset”

when officers served the subpoena upon her at her apartment.

{¶ 11} At the conclusion of Clingenpeel’s testimony, the trial court found that the

state established by a preponderance of the evidence that L.D.’s absence at trial was due

to appellant’s wrongdoing. Consequently, the court ruled that the Evid.R. 804(B)(6)

evidence proffered by the state would be admissible at trial. Thereafter, the matter

proceeded to jury selection, opening statements, and the state’s case-in-chief.

{¶ 12} J.T. was called to testify as the state’s first witness. J.T. began her

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2020 Ohio 4495, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sate-v-gonzales-ohioctapp-2020.