Does assault on girlfriend constitute domestic violence?
Ohio Supreme Court agrees to hear case in which a man says marriage amendment makes it unconstitutional to charge him with crime
By Staff Writer Tiffany Y. Latta
A South Lebanon man charged with assaulting his live-in girlfriend says an Ohio domestic violence law doesn't apply to unmarried couples.
The state's top court will consider whether is rightMichael Carswell, 29, is taking his argument all the way to the Ohio Supreme Court, which agreed Friday to hear oral arguments in the case 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Carswell, 430 Mary Lane, was charged with felony domestic violence Feb. 28, 2005 after assaulting girlfriend, Shannon Hitchcock.Warren County Common Pleas Court Judge Neal Bronson amended the charge to misdemeanor assault in November 2005 after Carswell's attorney argued an amendment to the state constitution approved by voters in 2004 rendered the 1979 domestic violence law unconstitutional in cases involving unmarried couples.
The state's 12th District Court of Appeals in December 2005 reversed Bronson's ruling and said Ohio's Defense of Marriage amendment banning gay marriage and the domestic violence laws were "reconcilable.''
Other appellate courts, including the fifth, seventh and ninth districts agreed. But the 2nd District Court of Appeals ruled in March that the amendment runs afoul of the domestic violence law.
The 2004 amendment states that Ohio cannot "create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the ... effect of marriage.''
Ohio Supreme Court justices will step into the dispute next week. Their decision will have an enormous impact on domestic violence cases statewide, said Warren County Prosecutor Rachel Hutzel and Carswell's attorney, Thomas Eagle of Lebanon.
Hutzel said Friday afternoon that the 2004 amendment was intended to define marriage between men and women, not address domestic violence between unmarried couples.
Hutzel added that the domestic violence law protects all family and "household members,'' including those who aren't married.
She said authorities have worked for years to curb family violence and to stiffen penalties for domestic violence offenders. If the top court rules in favor of Carswell, the penalty for repeat offenders will be reduced to misdemeanor assault, she said.
"This case has the potential to take us backward a decade in the progress we've made.''
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