State v. Schmitz, 2012 Ohio 2979

Schmitz hired Kalb as his computer company administrative assistant; Kalb was recovering from heroin addiction and they developed a romantic relationship.
Kalb stole three checks from Schmitz in 2008 to support her addiction; a civil protection order was sought by Kalb’s family in response to continuing conduct.
Schmitz posted numerous pictures of Kalb and sent communications intended to humiliate and intimidate; he also sent emails threatening to publicly share her image and information.
Schmitz left a supply box at a rehabilitation facility for Kalb, and Kalb’s sister Dietsche (a detective) became involved, leading to further police involvement and charges.
Schmitz engaged in heightened conduct including emails, social media posts, and a St. Ann’s coin incident that violated a no-contact order and resulted in a jail stay.
Two indictments were filed: one for retaliation, stalking, and identity theft; another for violating a protection order and stalking; the cases were consolidated for trial, and Schmitz was convicted on all counts with a total sentence of 5 years, 7 months.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court should have declared a mistrial due to juror misconduct.	Schmitz contends mistrial warranted after juror discussions outside court.	State contends no plain error; cure via juror dismissal and admonition.	No plain error; mistrial not required.
Sufficiency of the evidence for the mens rea and elements of the stalking and retaliation convictions.	Schmitz argues insufficient evidence for menacing by stalking and retaliation.	Dietsche’s fear and pattern of conduct support elements; evidence viewed in prosecution’s favor.	Evidence sufficient for all challenged convictions.
Whether the evidence supports two separate patterns of stalking or a single pattern for two counts.	Counts challenged on the basis of timing; argues no two incidents closely related.	Court properly viewed incidents in context; there were two patterns of conduct.	Sufficiency supported multiple pattern elements; two patterns proper.
Whether the identity fraud conviction is supported where Kalb’s identity was not actually misrepresented by Schmitz.	Argues no intent to hold Kalb out as another person.	The MySpace page appeared to present Kalb’s identity to readers; evidence supports fraud.	Identity fraud supported by reasonable jury inference.

State v. Phillips, 74 Ohio St.3d 72 (1995) (trial court handlebars juror misconduct; broad discretion)
State v. Barnes, 94 Ohio St.3d 21 (2002) (plain error review standard)
State v. Payne, 178 Ohio App.3d 617 (2008) (two or more incidents; closely related timing)
State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (1991) (sufficiency standard; view of evidence in light most favorable to the prosecution)
State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (1997) (sufficiency is a test of adequacy)
State v. Otten, 33 Ohio App.3d 339 (1986) (manifest weight standard; exceptional case)
State v. Hart, 2000 WL 1824892 (2000) (victim mental distress not require expert testimony)
State v. Wilson, 2011-Ohio-4072 (2011) (manifest weight argument development required)