Trial
Court No. CRB 1501010 A
James
J. VanEerten, Ottawa County Prosecuting Attorney, and David
R. Boldt, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee.
Amanda
A. Andrews, for appellant.
DECISION AND JUDGMENT
JENSEN, P.J.
I.
Introduction
{¶
1} Appellant, Daniel Driftmyer, appeals the judgment
of the Ottawa County Municipal Court, sentencing him to a
total of 270 days in jail following a jury trial in which he
was found guilty of one count of domestic violence. We
affirm.
A.
Facts and Procedural Background
{¶
2} On September 1, 2015, a complaint was filed with
the trial court, charging appellant with one count of
domestic violence in violation of R.C. 2919.25(A), a
misdemeanor of the first degree. Appellant's wife, S.C.,
was the victim named in the complaint.
{¶
3} At his arraignment, appellant entered a plea of
not guilty, and the matter proceeded through pretrial
discovery. A jury trial subsequently commenced on June 7,
2016, at which the state called S.C. and the investigating
officer involved with the case, Matt Gandee. Appellant called
no witnesses in his defense.
{¶
4} At trial, the following facts were elicited: On
August 29, 2015, appellant was finishing a "booze
cruise" on Lake Erie when he contacted S.C. to have her
pick him up at a bar in Sandusky. According to S.C, appellant
was visibly drunk when she arrived at the bar, as evidenced
by the fact that he was slurring his words. On the way back
to the camper in which the couple lived, which was located in
Ottawa County, appellant made several attempts to touch and
kiss S.C. S.C. pushed appellant away from her each time
because she was upset about his drunken condition.
{¶
5} Once the couple arrived back at the camper,
appellant seized S.C.'s phone and stated that "there
must be a reason why you are pushing me away from you."
Appellant took the phone into an outdoor bathroom, where he
remained for 20 minutes. Out of concern for appellant's
well-being, SC eventually entered the bathroom to check on
appellant. S.C. asked appellant for her phone, at which
point, appellant questioned her about text message
conversations he found on her phone. Suspecting infidelity,
appellant became upset and broke S.C.'s phone. The couple
then made their way back into the camper.
{¶
6} Sometime thereafter, appellant grabbed S.C.'s
leg as she was lying on the couch, and proceeded to pull her
off the couch. After pulling her to the floor, appellant
started banging S.C.'s head on the floor and choking her.
S.C. was able to get up, at which point she made her way into
a back room where her belongings were kept. S.C. was
attempting to place her belongings into a bag when appellant
entered the room and started to pull her hair and drag her by
her hair back into the living room. According to S.C.'s
testimony, this entire incident lasted two hours.
{¶
7} At the conclusion of the incident, SC fled the
camper and made her way to a laundromat, where she tried to
gather herself. She testified that she was "so scared
and so confused." She remained at the laundromat for 20
minutes, then proceeded back to the camper to get her dog and
her phone.
{¶
8} After leaving the camper, SC traveled to her
father's home. She did not contact the police until 19
hours after the incident occurred. When asked about why she
waited so long to contact the police, SC testified that she
loved appellant and was confused as to why he would treat her
in that manner. Nonetheless, she met with a friend later on
in the day, who advised her to report the incident to the
police. She took ...