State v. Hendricks, 2012 Ohio 1924

Hendricks convicted of felonious assault for punching a 15-year-old girl and breaking her jaw.
Trial court sustained a hearsay objection preventing impeachment of the victim with a prior statement.
Evidence at trial showed the victim and a friend, both 15, were with Hendricks and others at a McDonald’s and later at a house where alcohol was consumed.
Discrepancies existed in the victims’ accounts of how they arrived at the house and what happened during the incident.
The court instructed on felonious assault and the lesser-included offense of simple assault; the jury returned a felonious assault verdict.
Hendricks appealed two rulings: exclusion of a prior statement for impeachment and lack of aggravated assault instruction; the court affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Impeachment by prior statements allowed?	Hendricks argues the court erred by barring impeachment evidence under hearsay.	Hendricks contends the prior statement was admissible to show inconsistency, not to prove truth.	Court erred on hearsay grounds but no inconsistency shown; not admissible for impeachment.
Aggravated assault instruction required?	Hendricks contends aggravated assault should have been instructed as a lesser included offense.	No proper objection; trial strategy presumed; plain error not shown.	No plain error; failure to request instruction upheld; appeal affirmed.

State v. Williams, 38 Ohio St.3d 346 (1988) (not hearsay when offered to prove declarant made the statement)
State v. Deem, 40 Ohio St.3d 205 (1988) (aggravated assault as lesser offense considerations)
State v. Clayton, 62 Ohio St.2d 45 (1980) (defendant may waive lesser-included offense instruction; trial strategy)