State v. Auerswald, 2013 Ohio 742

Defendant Dennis K. Auerswald was convicted of aggravated murder and murder; forgery was severed and the State proceeded on the aggravated murder conviction.
Maureen Auerswald, the wife, died February 10, 2009 from acute intoxication by ethylene glycol; Auerswald was charged with the deaths.
The trial involved a ten-day jury trial with 39 State witnesses and 2 defense witnesses; the jury found guilt on the charged counts and the court sentenced Auerswald to life with parole eligibility after 30 years.
Evidence included testimony about prior domestic violence and marital discord as background to show motive, intent, and plan under Evid.R. 404(B).
Auerswald appealed raising five assignments of error challenging evidentiary rulings, defense access to evidence, expert testimony, sufficiency, and weight of the evidence.
The court affirmed, holding the challenged evidentiary rulings were harmless or proper and that the convictions were supported by sufficient evidence and not against the manifest weight.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
admissibility of other-acts evidence	Auerswald argues 404(B) and 403 violations by admitting prior acts.	Auerswald contends the evidence was improper to prove character and lacked relevance.	Evidence admitted for motive/intent/planning was admissible; not reversible error.
hearsay in the 911 call and redaction	Sought to exclude non-excited utterances as hearsay; redaction required.	9/2006 911 call contains excited utterances under Evid.R. 803(2).	Excited utterance exception satisfied; no abuse of discretion in admitting the 911 recording.
expert testimony on suicide and manner of death	Dr. Santamaria and Dr. Felo provided expert opinions on suicide and homicide.	Challenge to admissibility/competency of experts and reliance on hearsay data.	No plain error; trial court properly admitted expert testimony; findings supported.
sufficiency and manifest weight	The State presented overwhelming circumstantial and direct evidence of intent and causation.	Insufficiency and weight undermines murder/aggravated murder verdicts.	Convictions are supported by sufficient evidence and not against the manifest weight.

State v. Diar, 120 Ohio St.3d 460 (2008-Ohio-6266) (guides admissibility of other-acts evidence balancing 404(B) with background context)
State v. Roper, 2005-Ohio-6327 (9th Dist. 2005) (strict standard for admissibility of other-acts evidence under 404(B))
State v. Curry, 43 Ohio St.2d 66 (1975) (other acts as background to demonstrate scheme/plan)
State v. Thomas, 2011-Ohio-1629 (9th Dist. 2011) (contextualizes admissibility of other-acts evidence)
State v. Veal, 2012-Ohio-3555 (9th Dist. 2012) (jury presumed to follow limiting instructions on 404(B) evidence)
State v. Wallace, 37 Ohio St.3d 87 (1988) (excited utterance requirements and factors)
State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (1991) (circumstantial vs direct evidence; equal weight in jury instruction)
State v. Hale, 119 Ohio St.3d 118 (2008-Ohio-3426) (due process and proper scope of expert testimony)