State v. Hubbs, 2012 Ohio 5313

Hubbs was convicted of violating a protection order (R.C. 2919.27) in a Montgomery County Municipal Court bench trial.
The protection order barred contact with his former wife except on matters concerning the children.
Dates of the alleged offense were stipulated to be June 10–11, 2011; Sarah Hubbs testified about many calls on those dates unrelated to the children’s welfare.
Hubbs testified he only called twice about the children; other calls were made by his mother and his son.
The State cross-examined Hubbs about prior protection-order violations and the trial court overruled objections during cross-examination.
Hubbs was sentenced by a retired judge; the sentencing entry misstated a guilty plea, but that error is not at issue on appeal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Ineffective assistance for not calling mother	Hubbs contends counsel’s failure prejudiced him	Record lacks proffer of mother’s testimony; outcome uncertain	First Assignment of Error overruled
Admissibility of prior convictions for violation of the same order	State argues prior convictions admissible to impeach credibility	Admission violated Evid.R. 608(B) and 609(A)(2)	Second Assignment of Error sustained; admission were improper and not harmless

State v. Hamilton, 77 Ohio App.3d 293 (Ohio App.3d 1991) (limits impeachment by prior similar convictions in bench trials)
Goney v. State, 87 Ohio App.3d 497 (Ohio App.3d 1993) (impeachment rules; credibility evidence; prior convictions)
Michigan v. Tucker, 417 U.S. 433 (Supreme Court 1974) (right to a fair trial when waiving jury)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (defendant must show deficient performance and prejudice)
Gordon v. United States, 383 F.2d 936 (D.C. Cir. 1967) (impeachment purpose and relevance of prior acts; limits on same-crime impeachment)
State v. Fawn, 12 Ohio App.3d 25 (Ohio App.3d 1983) (impeachment and admissibility principles; fairness of trial)