State v. Hirtzinger

705 N.E.2d 395, 124 Ohio App. 3d 40
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 31, 1997
DocketNo. 96-CA-120.
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 705 N.E.2d 395 (State v. Hirtzinger) 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. Hirtzinger, 705 N.E.2d 395, 124 Ohio App. 3d 40 (Ohio Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

Brogan, Judge.

Jeffrey Hirtzinger appeals from his conviction in the Clark County Municipal Court on two counts of criminal trespass in violation of R.C. 2911.21(A)(1). *43 Hirtzinger argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction. He further argues that the trial court erred in admitting prosecution evidence that was improperly withheld from the defense and inadmissible under the Rules of Evidence. We find that the jury’s verdict was supported by both a sufficiency and the weight of the evidence. We further find that the court did not err to the prejudice of the defendant in admitting prosecution evidence not provided during discovery. The court did err, however, in admitting hearsay testimony in the form of a cellular telephone bill. Because we cannot find that error harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, we reverse and remand the cause for a new trial.

I

The relevant facts, drawn from the record below, are as follows. Appellant, Jeffrey Hirtzinger, was divorced from his wife of sixteen years, Paula Hirtzinger, in April 1996. A Standard Order of Visitation issued by the Domestic Relations Division of the Clark County Court of Common Pleas granted Mr. Hirtzinger rights of visitation with the couple’s children. These rights included visitation on alternate weekends between Fridays at 6:00 p.m.

On Friday, June 21, 1996, Mr. Hirtzinger appeared at Mrs. Hirtzinger’s residence to assert his visitation rights for that weekend. Mr. Hirtzinger brought with him a deputy sheriff, evidently to ensure that his rights would be recognized. Testimony differed as to whether he arrived at 6:25 or 6:40 p.m. In any event, Mrs. Hirtzinger ordered him off the property and told him not to come back again. Mr. Hirtzinger then left the property.

From this point chronologically, the testimony diverges sharply. The first count of trespass stems from the events of Sunday, June 23, 1996, two days after the confrontation over visitation. Mrs. Hirtzinger testified to the following sequence of events occurring on that day. At sometime after 10:00 p.m., Mrs. Hirtzinger was returning home from a shopping trip with her mother, Sally Dinnen, when she saw a vehicle coming out of her driveway. She recognized the vehicle as her husband’s turquoise Ford Ranger. She immediately dialed her husband’s cellular telephone on her own cellular phone. When he answered, she asked him what he was doing on her property. He responded by laughing and hanging up. Mrs. Hirtzinger’s testimony was confirmed by the testimony of Sally Dinnen. The divorced couple’s daughter, Jenny, also testified that, from the home, she saw her father’s truck turn around in the driveway.

Mr. Hirtzinger testified that he was at C.J. Brown Reservoir on June 23, at 10:30 p.m. He further testified that he did not receive a cellular telephone call from his wife that night, but his answering service would receive the call if he did not. Mr. Hirtzinger’s testimony was corroborated by two other witnesses, Thomas and Rilla Fogle, friends of the defendant. Both testified that on June 23, *44 the defendant was with them, and a large party of other people, at a picnic and boating outing. Mr. Fogle testified that they left the reservoir when it turned dark, approximately between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m. Mrs. Fogle testified similarly, indicating that they left around 9:30 p.m.

The second count of trespass was for Sunday, July 7, 1996, two weeks later. Mrs. Hirtzinger testified that, at approximately 8:30 p.m., Mr. Hirtzinger drove his truck into her driveway and then sat there for a number of minutes. Then he drove away. Her testimony was corroborated by Mrs. Dinnen, who also saw the truck on the property that day. Mr. Hirtzinger testified that he was boating again that day at C.J. Brown Reservoir with the Fogles. Their testimony confirmed his version of events and indicated that they did not leave the reservoir again until after dark that night.

During trial of these charges, counsel for Mr. Hirtzinger questioned Mrs. Hirtzinger about the cellular telephone call she claimed to have made on June 23. He asked her whether she had an itemized billing service for her cellular calls. She replied that she did. On redirect examination of Mrs. Hirtzinger, the prosecution introduced the cellular telephone bill into the evidence. It is undisputed that during discovery, the prosecution did not provide a copy of the bill to the defense or provide the defense with a chance to examine it. Defense counsel objected to the evidence on this basis. The court overruled the objection, finding that the evidence did not prejudice the defendant’s case sufficiently to warrant exclusion as a sanction. The bill showed that Mrs. Hirtzinger placed a cellular telephone call at 10:30 p.m. on June 23 to her ex-husband’s mobile phone, and the call lasted less than one minute. Defense counsel objected to Mrs. Hirtzinger’s competency in authenticating the bill and objected to the use of the bill as hearsay in showing when the call was placed. Both objections were overruled.

II

In his first assignment, appellant asserts the following error:

“There was insufficient evidence to support a conviction[.]”

Appellant’s arguments in support of this assignment are twofold. First, he argues that the prosecution failed to prove that the defendant lacked privilege to enter upon his wife’s property. His second argument is that, because there was conflicting testimony between the state’s witnesses and defense witnesses as to Mr. Hirtzinger’s whereabouts on the dates in question, the evidence supporting conviction was insufficient.

In regard to the first argument, appellant is correct to point out that the state must prove absence of privilege as an element of its case for criminal *45 trespass under R.C. 2911.21. State v. Newell (1994), 93 Ohio App.3d 609, 611, 639 N.E.2d 513, 514-515. Therefore, it must prove the absence beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. Here, however, Mr. Hirtzinger himself testified that his wife told him to leave the property and not come back. Moreover, there is no real dispute as to whether Mr. Hirtzinger had his former wife’s permission to enter upon the property on the dates in question. Appellant argues, however, that the order of visitation granted him a legal right to enter at any time upon the premises occupied by his minor children. To the contrary, a visitation order gives only restricted rights to enter such property for the limited purpose of visitation and during times specified in the order. State v. Imperatore (1994), 98 Ohio App.3d 384, 387, 648 N.E.2d 842, 844-845. The times relevant to Mr. Hirtzinger’s trespass conviction fell outside any of his specified visitation periods. Thus, this argument is unavailing.

Appellant’s second argument in support of this assignment is that the conflicting testimony rendered the evidence insufficient to support his conviction.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
705 N.E.2d 395, 124 Ohio App. 3d 40, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hirtzinger-ohioctapp-1997.