[Cite as State v. Ewing, 2018-Ohio-451.]
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS
TWELFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT OF OHIO
WARREN COUNTY
STATE OF OHIO, :
CASE NOS. CA2017-05-062
Plaintiff-Appellee, : CA2017-05-063
: OPINION
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:
ROY J. EWING, :
Defendant-Appellant. :
CRIMINAL APPEAL FROM WARREN COUNTY COURT
Case No. 2017CRB000039
David P. Fornshell, Warren County Prosecuting Attorney, Kirsten A. Brandt, 520 Justice
Drive, Lebanon, Ohio 45036, for plaintiff-appellee
Rose & Dobyns Co., L.P.A., Blaise S. Underwood, 97 North South Street, Wilmington, Ohio
45177, for defendant-appellant
M. POWELL, J.
{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant, Roy Ewing, appeals his conviction in the Warren County
Court for domestic violence.
{¶ 2} On January 14, 2017, appellant's wife, Jamie Ewing, called 9-1-1 after an
argument with appellant escalated and became physical. The responding police officers
talked to appellant and Jamie separately. Jamie was upset and her eyes were a little bit
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puffy and watery. Jamie told one officer that appellant grabbed her by the throat several
times, grabbed her by the hair, and shoved her hard enough that she hit a back door, hit
her head, and landed on the floor. The officer observed red marks on Jamie's neck and
found a lump of curly hair on the laundry room floor, just outside the office where the
argument mostly took place.
{¶ 3} On January 15, 2017, appellant was charged by complaint with one count of
domestic violence in violation of R.C. 2919.25, a misdemeanor of the first degree. That
same day, the trial court issued a temporary protection order which required appellant to
refrain from contacting Jamie. Appellant was personally served with the temporary order
on January 15, 2017. Three days later, he was charged by complaint with violating the
temporary order for sending an email to Jamie.
{¶ 4} The record indicates that a few days after appellant was charged with
domestic violence and removed from the house, Jamie broke into appellant's safe and
removed money and firearms. What Jamie specifically took from the safe and did with the
items is a matter of dispute.
{¶ 5} The domestic violence and violation of a protection order charges proceeded
to a jury trial on April 7, 2017. Prior to trial, appellant moved the trial court for permission
to cross-examine Jamie regarding the "safecracking" incident. The motion asserted that
Jamie wanted to initiate divorce proceedings and "secure leverage over [appellant] in these
divorce proceedings. This is why she: (1) was untruthful with the police when they
interviewed her during the night in question; and (2) broke into [his] safe and stole his items
just days after he was charged." In other words, the motion asserted that cross-examining
Jamie about the "safecracking" incident would show that she lied about the domestic
violence incident in an effort to have appellant removed from the home so that she would
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have sole access to his assets and obtain them before she sought a divorce.
{¶ 6} The trial court denied the motion, finding that given the factual dispute
regarding the "safecracking" incident, "It's the court's opinion that it would be confusing to
the jury and it would mislead the jury to get into this factual dispute." On April 7, 2017, the
jury found appellant guilty as charged.
{¶ 7} Appellant now appeals, raising one assignment of error:
{¶ 8} THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DENYING APPELLANT'S "MOTION TO
PERMIT INQUIRY ON CROSS EXAMINATION RE: SAFECRACKING."
{¶ 9} Appellant argues that the trial court's refusal to allow defense counsel to
cross-examine Jamie regarding the "safecracking" incident violated appellant's Sixth
Amendment right to confrontation. Specifically, appellant asserts that such cross-
examination would have revealed Jamie's motive to lie about the domestic violence incident
in order to remove appellant from the house and subsequently "beg[i]n staging for assets
immediately upon learning [he] wanted a divorce."
{¶ 10} The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides a defendant
the right to confront and cross-examine witnesses on relevant issues. State v. Ray, 12th
Dist. Butler No. CA2001-06-154, 2003-Ohio-193, ¶ 8, citing Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475
U.S. 673, 106 S.Ct. 1431 (1986). This includes the opportunity to demonstrate any bias of
a particular witness. Van Arsdall at 678-679. A criminal defendant's right to cross-examine
witnesses against him, however, is not unlimited. The Confrontation Clause guarantees
only "an opportunity for effective cross-examination, not cross-examination that is effective
in whatever way, and to whatever extent, the defense might wish." (Emphasis sic.) Id. at
679; State v. McKelton, 148 Ohio St.3d 261, 2016-Ohio-5735, ¶ 170. Trial courts have
"wide latitude as far as the Confrontation Clause is concerned to impose reasonable limits
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on such cross-examination based on concerns about, among other things, harassment,
prejudice, confusion of the issues, the witness' safety, or interrogation that is repetitive or
only marginally relevant." Van Arsdall at 679; McKelton at ¶ 170; and Ray at ¶ 8.
{¶ 11} "Similarly, Evid.R. 611(B) requires trial courts to permit '[c]ross-examination *
* * on all relevant matters and matters affecting credibility.'" McKelton at ¶ 171. However,
under Evid.R. 611(A), a trial court is empowered to control the presentation of evidence,
including the "mode and order of interrogating witnesses" so as to "make the interrogation
and presentation effective for the ascertainment of the truth [and] protect witnesses from
harassment or undue embarrassment."
{¶ 12} To establish a Confrontation Clause violation, a defendant must show that he
was prohibited from engaging in otherwise appropriate cross-examination and a reasonable
jury might have received a significantly different impression of the witness' credibility had
defense counsel been permitted to pursue his proposed line of cross-examination. State v.
Vansickle, 12th Dist. Fayette No. CA2013-03-005, 2014-Ohio-1324, ¶ 42; Van Arsdall, 475
U.S. at 680.
{¶ 13} Appellant moved the trial court for permission to cross-examine Jamie
regarding the "safecracking" incident. The gist of his motion was that Jamie had a motive
to lie about the domestic violence incident because she wanted a divorce and thus needed
to remove appellant from the house so that she could "secure leverage over [him] in these
divorce proceedings." At trial, appellant was not allowed to cross-examine Jamie regarding
the "safecracking" incident. He was, however, allowed to, and did cross-examine her as to
whether she intended to divorce appellant before the domestic violence incident occurred.
{¶ 14} We find that the trial court did not violate appellant's Sixth Amendment right
to confrontation when it barred him from cross-examining Jamie regarding the
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"safecracking" incident. Such incident does not prove or disprove any of the elements of
domestic violence or violation of a protection order, the two charges against appellant. In
addition, appellant was not denied the opportunity to establish that Jamie had a motive to
lie regarding the domestic violence incident. Appellant had the opportunity and availed
himself of this opportunity to cross-examine Jamie as to whether she intended to divorce
appellant before the domestic violence incident occurred. Appellant's failure during cross-
examination to delve further into Jamie's intent to divorce did not result from a denial of
opportunity of cross-examination, and consequently did not violate his Sixth Amendment
right to confrontation. Instead, the trial court determined that any probative value derived
from questioning Jamie about the "safecracking" incident was substantially outweighed by
the danger of misleading the jury or causing confusion of the issues. Evid.R. 608(B)
protects the state's legitimate interest in preventing criminal trials from bogging down in
matters collateral to the crime with which the defendant was charged. See State v. Moshos,
12th Dist. Clinton No. CA2009-06-008, 2010-Ohio-735. Whether Jamie broke into
appellant's safe and took items was an issue peripheral to the charges against appellant,
and exploration of this issue was likely to "bog down" the criminal trial and lead to confusion
and misleading of the jury. See Garfield Heights v. Durham, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 72843,
1998 Ohio App. LEXIS 630 (Feb. 19, 1998).
{¶ 15} Appellant's assignment of error is overruled.
{¶ 16} Judgment affirmed.
RINGLAND, P.J., and PIPER, J., concur.
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