State v. Hoskins

2019 Ohio 4842
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 20, 2019
Docket19CA1093
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 2019 Ohio 4842 (State v. Hoskins) 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. Hoskins, 2019 Ohio 4842 (Ohio Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Hoskins, 2019-Ohio-4842.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT ADAMS COUNTY

STATE OF OHIO, : : Plaintiff-Appellee, : Case No. 19CA1093 : vs. : : DECISION AND BOBBI C. HOSKINS, : JUDGMENT ENTRY : Defendant-Appellant. : _____________________________________________________________ APPEARANCES:

Bruce S. Wallace, Wallace Law Firm LLC, Mt. Orab, Ohio, for Appellant.

David Kelley, Adams County Prosecuting Attorney, and Michele L. Harris, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, West Union, Ohio, for Appellee. _____________________________________________________________

Smith, P.J.

{¶1} This is an appeal from a conviction for domestic violence, a first-

degree misdemeanor in violation of R.C. 2919.25(A), which resulted after a trial to

the bench. On appeal, Appellant, Bobbi Hoskins, contends 1) that the trial court

erred by allowing her neighbor, Kylie Walters, to testify as to what the victim,

Freddie Hoskins, had said to her under the excited-utterance exception to the

hearsay rule; and 2) that her conviction for domestic violence under R.C.

2919.25(A) was against the manifest weight of the evidence and was not supported

by sufficient evidence. Because we conclude the victim’s statement was Adams App. No. 19CA1093 2

admissible as an excited utterance through the testimony of Kylie Walters, we

cannot conclude the trial court abused its discretion in admitting the statement into

evidence. Thus, we find no merit to Appellant’s first assignment of error and it is

overruled. Further, in light of our determination that Appellant’s conviction was

supported by sufficient evidence and was not against the manifest weight of the

evidence, we find no merit to her second assignment and it is also overruled.

Accordingly, having found no merit to the assignments of error raised by

Appellant, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

FACTS

{¶2} Appellant, Bobbi Hoskins, was charged of one count of domestic

violence on October 29, 2018. The complaint stemmed from an incident that

occurred on October 27, 2018, between her and her husband, Freddie Hoskins, the

victim herein, while at their home. The record indicates the pair got into a verbal

altercation which escalated to a physical altercation and ended with the victim

leaving the residence and walking to a neighbor’s house. The neighbor, Kylie

Walters, called dispatch and law enforcement responded to the scene shortly

thereafter. After interviewing both Appellant and her husband at the scene,

Appellant was arrested and charged with domestic violence.

{¶3} Appellant was appointed counsel and the matter proceeded to a bench

trial on January 14, 2019. The State presented three witnesses that included Adams App. No. 19CA1093 3

Freddie Hoskins (the victim), Kylie Walters (the neighbor), and Deputy Newland

(the deputy who responded to the call). The victim essentially refused to cooperate

with the State at trial by first claiming he did not believe he was required to testify

against his wife and then by answering that he either did not know or did not recall

to most of the questions posed by the State. However, Kylie Walters testified that

the victim knocked on her door on the night of the incident and that he appeared to

be in distress, seemed “kind of upset,” and was bleeding. She testified that when

she asked him what had happened, he stated that he had gotten into a small

argument with his “other half” and had gotten hit. The victim’s statement was

admitted into evidence as an excited utterance over the objection of Appellant.

{¶4} Deputy Newland also testified at trial and the video from the bodycam

he was wearing when he responded to the scene was played for the trial court and

admitted into evidence. Deputy Newland testified, consistent with the contents of

the video, that Appellant stated he and his wife had been in a verbal argument and

that she pushed him and he fell over a table, sustaining an injury to his nose.

Photographs of the victim’s face depicting the injury to his nose were admitted into

evidence without objection.

{¶5} The video also contained footage of Appellant and the statements she

made to law enforcement that night. In the video, Appellant admitted to law

enforcement that she did push the victim, causing him to fall over a table, but that Adams App. No. 19CA1093 4

she pushed him only after he pushed her and twisted her finger. Appellant also

stated in the video that the victim always made fun of her and that he had been

drinking on the night in question. Appellant explained that the verbal argument

started in the basement and then continued upstairs and into the kitchen. After the

victim pushed her and hurt her finger by twisting it, Appellant pushed him and he

fell over a table in the living room. Appellant denied hitting the victim with

anything thereafter and instead said he must have hurt his nose when he fell.

Appellant testified on her own behalf at trial and her testimony was consistent with

the statements she gave to law enforcement on the night of the incident, as shown

on the video.

{¶6} After considering the evidence, the trial court found Appellant guilty of

one count of domestic violence, as charged in the complaint, and sentenced her to

180 days in jail, with 177 days suspended and credit for three days served.

Appellant was also placed on community control for a period of one year and was

ordered to complete sixteen hours of community service. It is from the trial court’s

judgment entry, dated March 18, 2019, that Appellant now brings her timely

appeal setting forth two assignments of error for our review.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

I. “THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY ALLOWING KYLIE WALTERS TO TESTIFY AS TO WHAT FREDDIE HOSKINS HAD SAID TO HER UNDER THE EXCITED UTTERANCE EXCEPTION TO THE HEARSAY RULE.” Adams App. No. 19CA1093 5

II. “A CONVICTION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE UNDER OHIO REVISED CODE SECTION 2919.25(A) WAS AGAINST THE MANIFEST WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE AND INSUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT A CONVICTION.”

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR I

(¶7} In her first assignment of error, Appellant contends the trial court erred

by allowing her neighbor, Kylie Walters, to testify as to what the victim, Freddie

Hoskins, said to her based upon the excited-utterance exception to the rule

prohibiting the admission of hearsay. Appellant argues that based upon the

evidence, the victim did not appear to show nervous excitement stemming from a

startling occurrence, as required under the four-part test used in determining the

admissibility of statements as excited utterances. The State responds by arguing

that the trial court made a reasonable determination and did not abuse its discretion

in allowing the victim’s statement to be admitted into evidence as an excited

utterance. We begin our analysis with a review of the proper standard to be

applied when considering whether a trial court erred in admitting this evidence.

{¶8} In general, “ ‘[t]he admission or exclusion of relevant evidence rests

within the sound discretion of the trial court.’ ” State v. Dean, 146 Ohio St.3d 106,

2015-Ohio-4347, 54 N.E.3d 80, ¶ 87, quoting State v. Sage, 31 Ohio St.3d 173,

510 N.E.2d 343 (1987), paragraph two of the syllabus. “Thus, absent an abuse of

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Bluebook (online)
2019 Ohio 4842, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hoskins-ohioctapp-2019.