Chagrin Falls v. Ptak
2020 Ohio 5623
| Ohio Ct. App. | 2020Background
- Victim C.W. and appellant Justin Ptak dated in 2016; after breakup C.W. received repeated unwanted calls/texts from numbers she recognized as from Ptak and blocked him; police intervened multiple times asking Ptak to stop.
- C.W. moved to Minnesota in 2017 and back to Ohio in 2018; contacts resumed, including a March 2018 exchange about photos and a May 2018 anonymous text threatening a puppy.
- C.W. sent a certified cease-and-desist letter delivered to Ptak in May 2018; in August 2018 Ptak left a signed love letter and roses on her car.
- Subpoenaed phone records from AT&T showed Ptak’s phone called C.W. 55 times in 2018, including calls on August 27–29 (the love-letter period) and after police explicitly instructed him to stop.
- In February 2019 C.W. was followed by a vehicle she filmed; a LEADS report showed the vehicle was registered to Ptak’s mother.
- Ptak was convicted by a jury of menacing by stalking (not telecommunications harassment), sentenced to jail with community-control conditions, and appealed raising five issues (sufficiency, phone-records authentication, hearsay/ineffective assistance, prosecutorial misconduct, and manifest weight).
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sufficiency of evidence for menacing by stalking | Evidence showed a pattern of conduct (multiple contacts, letter, being followed) causing C.W. mental distress; circumstantial evidence suffices | Insufficient proof linking calls/texts/following to Ptak; no threats or physical harm; no texts admitted and call durations unknown | Conviction supported; viewed in prosecution’s favor a rational jury could find elements beyond a reasonable doubt |
| Authentication of cell-phone records | Records were obtained by court subpoena and accompanied by AT&T certificate of authenticity (Fed. R. Evid. 902(11)/(13) style) | Records not authenticated under Evid.R. 803(6); no provider custodian affidavit; C.W. could not personally ID caller | Admission not an abuse of discretion; AT&T certificate and subpoena provided sufficient indicia of authenticity |
| Hearsay re: vehicle registration / ineffective assistance | LEADS printout identifying owner is a public record admissible under Evid.R. 803(8); officer authenticated it | Counsel ineffective for failing to object to hearsay when witnesses relayed plate/registration information | LEADS report properly admitted and authenticated by officer; counsel’s failure to object was not prejudicial; ineffective-assistance claim denied |
| Prosecutorial misconduct in closing | Prosecutor’s credibility arguments and comments were fair comments on testimony and lack of defense proof; isolated improper remarks were harmless | Prosecutor improperly vouched, shifted burden, made sympathy appeals and out-of-record references | Some comments improper, but no plain error or prejudice shown; conviction stands |
| Manifest weight of the evidence | The jury’s credibility findings were reasonable given repeated contacts, police involvement, routine changes, and corroborating records | Evidence weighed against conviction; victim moved on with life and there was no direct proof Ptak sent texts or drove the car | Not against manifest weight; this is not the exceptional case warranting reversal |
Key Cases Cited
- Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (establishes the reasonable-doubt sufficiency standard)
- Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (sets ineffective-assistance performance and prejudice test)
- State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (distinguishes sufficiency and manifest-weight review)
- State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (circumstantial evidence and jury factfinding principles)
- State v. Lott, 51 Ohio St.3d 160 (permitted scope of closing-argument inferences)
- State v. Richardson, 75 N.E.3d 831 (subpoena + custodian certification provide sufficient indicia of reliability for records)