State v. Costilla

2024 Ohio 3221, 249 N.E.3d 925
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 23, 2024
DocketL-23-1122
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 2024 Ohio 3221 (State v. Costilla) 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. Costilla, 2024 Ohio 3221, 249 N.E.3d 925 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Costilla, 2024-Ohio-3221.]

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

State of Ohio/City of Toledo Court of Appeals No. L-23-1122

Appellee Trial Court No. CRB-23-2973

v.

Antonio Milo Costilla DECISION AND JUDGMENT

Appellant Decided: August 23, 2024

*****

Rebecca Facey, City of Toledo Prosecuting Attorney, and Jimmie Jones, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee.

Tyler Naud Jechura, for appellant.

ZMUDA, J.

I. Introduction

{¶ 1} This matter is before the court on appeal of the judgment of the Toledo

Municipal Court, sentencing appellant to 180 days in jail, with 150 days suspended, and

placing appellant on probation for one year, following a trial to the court and guilty

verdict on one count of domestic violence in violation of R.C. 2919.25(A) and one count

of assault in violation of R.C. 2903.13, each a misdemeanor of the first degree. Finding

no error, we affirm. II. Facts and Procedural Background

{¶ 2} On March 29, 2023, Toledo Police received two 911 calls regarding a

disturbance at a home on Willard Street. Each call was brief, with the second call

received around the time the first call disconnected.

{¶ 3} The first caller gave her name and address and requested help removing

someone from her home. The caller then exclaimed, “He’s exposing his privates and

everything.” When asked who the caller is referencing, she identifies him as her “kid’s

dad.” The caller then says, “I just want him to leave” and states, “He’s trying to push me

out of my own house” and “He’s dumping beer and he’s all drunk.” She adds, “He’s an

alcoholic” and “He’s wrecking all my stuff.” As the caller starts to say, “My daughter is

freaking the fuck-,” she stops talking to the 911 operator and another female voice is

heard screaming, “He’s going to fucking kill you” as the operator asks, “what’s his name,

what’s his name,” before the call disconnects.

{¶ 4} A second 911 call is received, and immediately the caller is heard screaming,

“Stop. Mom, he’s going to fucking kill you.” The caller then speaks to the 911 operator

and asks for police to come to the address, providing the street and address. The 911

operator informs the caller that 911 received a call already and police are en route to that

address. The caller never provides her name to the 911 operator, but continues to scream,

“Stop, please send somebody, hurry, please, please, please.” From this point, the caller

stops speaking to the 911 operator, but can be heard yelling and screaming at a distance

from the phone. The recording also includes a man’s voice, saying, “Don’t touch me” and

2. “Why are you so loud?” The recording then includes three voices arguing. Finally, the

caller says, “Please mom, please get out.” As the 911 operator asks if there are weapons

or if anyone needs medical attention, the call disconnects.

{¶ 5} Police arrived around 11:40 a.m. to the address, and proceeded toward the

home, the upper unit of a duplex. Police first encountered the victim’s daughter on the

front porch, and the daughter told officers that appellant was in the home, breaking

everything, and he had stabbed her mother in the face. As police climbed the stairs to the

upstairs unit, they encountered the victim at the door to the residence, trying to get inside.

The victim identified herself, and she had visible injuries and blood on her face and head.

Both the victim and her daughter gave appellant’s name to the officers, and the victim

told officers that appellant “was just beating the fuck out of me,” and that he did not live

there.

{¶ 6} Officers asked appellant to open the door, but he refused and remained

barricaded in the home. Police forced their way into the residence and took appellant into

custody in the living room, just inside the front door. The home was in disarray, with

belongings broken and strewn all over the floor. Appellant was combative and appeared

inebriated. As police instructed him to stop resisting, appellant claimed he was not

resisting, and stated, “No, that’s my lady, bitch, she’s tripping, bro.” Police cleared the

home as officers placed appellant in the back of a cruiser for transport downtown.

3. {¶ 7} On March 29, 2023, appellant was charged with one count of domestic

violence in violation of R.C. 2919.25(A), a misdemeanor of the first degree, and one

count of assault in violation of R.C. 2903.13, a misdemeanor of the first degree.

{¶ 8} On May 3, 2023, the matter proceeded to a bench trial.

{¶ 9} At trial, the city had only one witness, Officer Kevin Gracely. After

establishing Officer Gracely’s background, the city immediately sought to introduce the

prosecution’s composite Exhibit A, identified as a 911 call. The defense objected “until

there’s more foundation laid.” The city identified the exhibit as a 911 call, with a

certificate of authenticity, a “self-authenticated document,” and indicated the call was

part of the discovery exchanged with the defense. The trial court permitted the city to

play the 911 audio. After playing audio, the trial court admitted composite Exhibit A

without objection.

{¶ 10} Officer Gracely then testified that he was dispatched to the Willard Street

residence on March 29, 2023, in the morning. He was wearing a body camera and

testified that he reviewed the video recorded on that date. The city then played Officer

Gracely’s body camera footage identified as Exhibit B, without objection, stopping at

intervals to ask Gracely questions.

{¶ 11} Referring to the video, Gracely identified the young woman he first

encountered as the victim’s daughter. Police were responding to a possible domestic

violence situation, and Gracely asked the daughter the name of the man in the residence.

She told him, “Antonio.” He then encountered the victim as she came down the steps, and

4. noted a cut under her left eye that was bleeding and swollen. After he helped take

appellant into custody in the home, other officers secured the home. Nobody else was

present besides appellant, the victim, and the victim’s daughter.

{¶ 12} The city then presented Exhibit C, a group of photographs of the victim’s

head and face, showing injury and blood, and pictures of the home, showing property

damage. Officer Gracely testified that the victim’s injuries were recent, based on the

redness and swelling and active bleeding. The trial court admitted the photographs

comprising Exhibit C without objection. The city then introduced Exhibits D and E, birth

certificates for two children sharing appellant’s surname, born to the victim and appellant,

with only one of the birth certificates listing appellant as father. The trial court admitted

Exhibits D and E without objection.

{¶ 13} On cross examination, Officer Gracely admitted that the victim’s daughter

told him that she did not witness anything but arrived after the altercation and destruction

in the home. Gracely also testified that he did not take the photographs that were

admitted, depicting the injury and damage, and no weapon was taken from the scene.

{¶ 14} At the close of testimony, defense counsel moved for acquittal, for the first

time challenging “some statements from a video from someone who’s not subject to cross

examination in this case.” Counsel argued that appellant’s name was not mentioned on

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2024 Ohio 3221, 249 N.E.3d 925, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-costilla-ohioctapp-2024.