State v. Schwegmann, 2018 Ohio 3757

Defendant Ryan Schwegmann was convicted after a bench trial of domestic violence under R.C. 2919.25(A) for injuring his then-girlfriend, Faith Thomas, during an altercation at her apartment.
Thomas testified they had dated six months, Schwegmann had lived with her for about a month, stayed overnight every night, and moved most of his belongings into her apartment.
Thomas described being assaulted (hair set on fire, struck, restrained, fingers down her throat); her 911 call, bodycam video, officer testimony, and injury photos were admitted and corroborated her account.
Defense sought to cross-examine Thomas about an audio recording in which she allegedly said she had threatened to falsely accuse a different man (Michael Powell) of domestic violence; the court excluded that evidence as not relevant to Schwegmann.
Trial court found Thomas credible and convicted Schwegmann. He appealed, arguing erroneous limitation of cross-examination and that the evidence failed to prove cohabitation. Court of Appeals affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Schwegmann)	Held
Whether trial court abused discretion by barring cross-exam about a prior threat to falsely accuse someone of domestic violence	The excluded recording was not relevant to Schwegmann; cross-examination limitation was proper	The recording showed Thomas threatened to make false accusations (against another person), which impeached her truthfulness and bias	No abuse of discretion: the threat concerned a different person and was not clearly probative of truthfulness toward allegations about Schwegmann
Whether evidence established cohabitation (element of domestic-violence statute)	Victim’s testimony, corroborating evidence, and lack of proof of an alternative residence established cohabitation	Schwegmann argued he had another residence with his mother and therefore did not cohabit with Thomas	Affirmed: weight of evidence supported cohabitation; conviction not against manifest weight of the evidence

State v. Acre, 6 Ohio St.3d 140 (1983) (limitation of cross-examination is reviewed for abuse of discretion)
State v. Adams, 62 Ohio St.2d 151 (1980) (definition of abuse of discretion)
State v. Boggs, 63 Ohio St.3d 418 (1992) (Evid.R. 608(B) and impeachment by proof of prior false accusations)
State v. McGlothan, 138 Ohio St.3d 146 (2014) (victim’s testimony that parties lived together can establish cohabitation element for domestic-violence statute)
State v. Martin, 20 Ohio App.3d 172 (1st Dist. 1985) (standard for manifest-weight review)
State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (1997) (framework for manifest-weight claims)