From yesterday's decision in Ohio v. Sebring, decided by the Ohio Court of Appeals, in an opinion by Judge Jill Flagg Lanzinger, joined by Judge Jennifer Hensal (and with Judge Donna Carr concurring in the judgment):
Mr. Sebring was friends with the parents of C.S., a 16-year-old girl. C.S. had a sixteenth birthday party at her house. Several of C.S.'s friends, including Q.H. and E.B., attended the birthday party. Mr. Sebring, who was 34 years old at the time, also attended the birthday party.
According to E.B., the teenagers at the party (all of whom were in high school) swam, ate, and then went to the basement to watch a movie. The adults stayed upstairs, but Mr. Sebring went to the basement with the teenagers. E.B. testified that there were three couches in the basement, and that she was sitting on one of them while Mr. Sebring was sitting on another couch. Mr. Sebring asked E.B. to come sit next to him, but she declined. Mr. Sebring then "squeezed" himself between E.B. and another person on the same couch. Mr. Sebring rested his hand on E.B.'s knee and started playing with her hoodie. E.B. testified that Mr. Sebring gave her an alcoholic beverage, which E.B. explained contained Tito's and orange juice. E.B. testified that she was familiar with the taste of alcohol, and that she saw Mr. Sebring pour Tito's into the drink. When questioned by the trial court, E.B. clarified that Tito's is a brand of vodka.
E.B. testified that Mr. Sebring asked to drive her home at least twice, but she declined. Mr. Sebring then had E.B. add him to Snap Chat, a messaging app. E.B. left the party and Q.H. drove her home. Mr. Sebring then started messaging E.B. through Snap Chat. In one of the messages, Mr. Sebring asked E.B. to return to the party, indicating that he "misse[d] his drinking buddy." E.B. did not immediately respond to Mr. Sebring's messages. Mr. Sebring then messaged E.B.: "Tell your mom that you want to spend the night here and let me eat that Pussy * * *." E.B. took a picture of the message, which the State introduced as an exhibit at trial. E.B. testified that Mr. Sebring apologized to her the next day for sending inappropriate messages, and that she blocked him on Snap Chat. On cross-examination, E.B. testified that the content of that message was not the type of thing that she discussed with her adult friends.
