State v. Conner

948 N.E.2d 497, 192 Ohio App. 3d 166
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 14, 2011
DocketNos. F-07-025 and F-07-026
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 948 N.E.2d 497 (State v. Conner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Conner, 948 N.E.2d 497, 192 Ohio App. 3d 166 (Ohio Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

Cosme, Judge.

{¶ 1} This appeal arises from a judgment of the Fulton County Court of Common Pleas, following a jury verdict finding appellant guilty of rape, burglary, and aggravated burglary. We conclude that appellant’s rape conviction was not against the manifest weight of the evidence, but the burglary and aggravated-burglary convictions were improperly predicated on an ex parte domestic-relations order. Therefore, we affirm in part and reverse in part.

[170]*170{¶ 2} Appellant, Todd W. Conner, was indicted in two separate cases. In case No. 06CR000177, he was charged with two counts of burglary. In the second case, No. 06CR000181, he was indicted on two counts of rape and one count of aggravated burglary. The charges all stemmed from incidents at the marital residence on October 27, November 1, and December 8, 2006, between appellant and his estranged wife (“S.C.”) during the pendency of their divorce proceedings.

{¶ 3} After a jury trial, appellant was found guilty on one count of rape, the aggravated-burglary count, and one burglary count. The jury acquitted appellant on the other burglary and rape counts. Appellant was sentenced to incarceration of four years for the burglary conviction, five years for the aggravated-burglary conviction, and five years for the rape conviction. The sentences were ordered to be served consecutively, resulting in a total term of imprisonment of 14 years.

{¶ 4} This appeal was timely brought. However, after the trial proceedings were transcribed, appellant’s counsel discovered that the transcript omitted appellant’s entire direct testimony, as well as the entire testimony of, or reference to, appellant’s witness, Amber Van Gunten. The equipment had failed to record portions of the record.

{¶ 5} Appellant’s counsel filed a motion to supplement the record, pursuant to App.R. 9, noting that the proceedings had been tape recorded, and several gaps in the recording indicated that the missing testimony could not be obtained. Counsel also noted that “there were other less serious gaps in the tapes. However, trial counsel simply can not remember what specifically may be excluded.” A proposed supplement to the record, containing information related to the missing portions of the record, was stipulated to by the parties and adopted by the trial court. Pursuant to App.R. 9(C), this supplemental statement was added to the record for purposes of this appeal.

{¶ 6} Appellant argues four assignments of error. We will address those assignments of error out of order.

I

{¶ 7} In appellant’s fourth assignment of error, he argues as follows:

{¶ 8} “Conner’s right to due process of law was violated by the trial court because the trial was recorded on a malfunctioning tape recorder instead of using an official court reporter. As a result, important portions of the trial were not properly recorded and transcribed.”

{¶ 9} Crim.R. 22 provides that in serious offense cases, “all proceedings shall be recorded.” Because a serious offense includes “any felony” and the state charged appellant with committing numerous felonies, the court had a duty to [171]*171record the proceedings in this case. See Crim.R. 2(C). However, the appellant has the duty to provide a transcript for appellate review. Knapp v. Edwards Laboratories (1980), 61 Ohio St.2d 197, 199, 15 O.O.3d 218, 400 N.E.2d 384. “This is necessarily so because an appellant bears the burden of showing error by reference to matters in the record.” Id., citing State v. Skaggs (1978), 53 Ohio St.2d 162, 7 O.O.3d 243, 372 N.E.2d 1355; see also App.R. 9(B). “When portions of the transcript necessary for resolution of assigned errors are omitted from the record, the reviewing court has nothing to pass upon and thus, as to those assigned errors, the court has no choice but to presume the validity of the lower court’s proceedings, and affirm.” Id. at 199.

{¶ 10} When a complete transcript is not available, however, appellant has the option of providing a narrative statement of the proceedings, as provided for in App.R. 9(C), or an agreed statement, as provided for in App.R. 9(D). Finally, App.R. 9(E) makes provision for the correction or supplementation of the record when material omissions have occurred by “error or accident.” See also State v. Beltowski 11th Dist. No. 2006-L-032, 2007-Ohio-3372, 2007 WL 1881497.

{¶ 11} The malfunction of recording equipment in the trial court does not result in prejudice per se. See State v. Ward, 4th Dist. No. 03CA2, 2003-Ohio-5650, 2003 WL 22413424, If 28; State v. Drake (1991), 73 Ohio App.3d 640, 647, 598 N.E.2d 115. In addition to demonstrating that the transcript is inadequate, appellant must also show that he was prejudiced by the faulty recordings. Beltowski at ¶ 28.

{¶ 12} In this case, appellant’s trial was recorded, but only by an unmonitored and unreliable electronic recording system. As a result, significant gaps in the transcript exist. We are troubled by the fact that the missing transcript portions in this case involved essentially all of the testimony that supported appellant’s defense. The fact that his only other witness was omitted entirely, without even a mention of her in the recording, indicates that major problems existed with the recording system used by the trial court. In addition, other smaller “inaudible” sections create the impression that the missing information in the transcript overall is pervasive.

{¶ 13} Nevertheless, pursuant to App.R. 9(C), appellant filed a supplemental statement of the missing testimony, which the trial court approved “after a review of the proceedings, pleadings, and personal notes taken during the course of the Trial.” Further, the trial court’s judgment entry states that “[a]ttorneys for the State and the Defendant have both agreed and stipulated that the proposed supplement to the record is ‘materially accurate and complete,’ and that it should and ought to be, ‘admitted as part of the official record.’ ”

[172]*172{¶ 14} Therefore, although we agree the trial court should take steps to ensure that recording equipment is working properly, the issue in this case has been resolved. Since appellant stipulated that the supplement to the record was accurate and complete, he may not now argue that the record is insufficient for this court to review or that he was prejudiced by the failure to record the omitted testimony.

{¶ 15} Accordingly, appellant’s fourth assignment of error is not well taken.

II

{¶ 16} In appellant’s first assignment of error, he argues as follows:

{¶ 17} “The convictions for Burglary and Aggravated Burglary were legally insufficient because the Ex Parte Order issued when the divorce action was filed could not form a basis for burglary because it was civil in nature and not properly served on Conner. And, because there was no evidence offered that he intended to commit any criminal act while at the marital residence [sic].”

{¶ 18} Appellant essentially argues that an ex parte temporary civil order in a divorce action, which was not properly served, cannot be the basis for the trespass element in his convictions for burglary and aggravated burglary, as a matter of law. We agree.

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Bluebook (online)
948 N.E.2d 497, 192 Ohio App. 3d 166, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-conner-ohioctapp-2011.