The Akron Legal News

Man in group that attacked victim at bonfire has appeal rejected by appellate court

ANNIE YAMSON
Special to the Legal News
Published: May 7, 2015

Three judges in the 9th District Court of Appeals recently found that the felonious assault conviction of Caleb Klinksiek in the Medina County Court of Common Pleas was supported by the weight of the evidence.

Klinksiek appealed his conviction with a single assignment of error in which he argued that it was against the manifest weight of the evidence because of the inconsistent testimony of the state’s main witness at trial.

He called into question the testimony of Christina Paine, who stated that Klinksiek had taken part in a brutal assault on her boyfriend, Michael Heil.

Case summary states that Heil and Paine attended a bonfire at the home of Klinksiek’s girlfriend, Tiffany Allen, on the evening of March 23, 2014.

Many of the guests were drinking during the party, including Heil.

Paine testified that, after a while, she and Heil prepared to leave but, as they were on their way out, Heil was confronted by Jason Donelon and Jeremy Gibson.

Donelon was apparently upset that he had paid Heil for a tattoo that remained unfinished. Heil offered to finish the tattoo but Donelon and Gibson began punching him. When he fell down, they pair proceeded to kick him.

Paine testified that Klinksiek then came over and joined the other two men in punching and kicking Heil. When the attack stopped, Paine drove Heil to the hospital.

Deputy Frank Telatko testified that he was dispatched to Allen’s home after the incident was reported.

He said Allen and Klinksiek each denied that there had been any type of altercation and Klinksiek said that Heil was “in perfect shape” when he left the gathering.

The deputy questioned Klinksiek about his swollen right hand and Klinksiek responded that he had injured it at work.

Telatko arrested Klinksiek after hearing from the officer who had traveled to the hospital to speak with Allen and Heil.

Blood found on Klinksiek’s jeans matched Heil’s blood.

Klinksiek claimed the blood got there when he tried to break up the fight and help Heil, despite the fact that he originally claimed that there was no altercation.

Klinksiek also changed his story about his hand; a couple of weeks after the incident, he told a police deputy that he had injured his right hand while moving some old garage doors that were to be used at the bonfire.

Klinksiek was found guilty of felonious assault with a repeat violent offender specification and was sentenced to six years in prison.

In challenging the manifest weight of the evidence on appeal, he argued that Paine was not a credible witness because of several inconsistencies in her testimony.

First, Klinksiek claimed that Paine was inconsistent in her account of how much money Donelon wanted Heil to refund and her story of who threw the first punch changed from her initial statement to police.

Paine also could not remember which assailant she tried to pull away during the attack.

According to Klinksiek, Paine embellished her story by claiming that Klinksiek was smiling during the attack.

Additionally, Klinksiek stated that some of Paine’s statements were simply not plausible. For instance, he claimed that it was highly unlikely that Paine’s statement that she only had half a beer to drink at the bonfire was true.

He stated that everyone at the party was drinking except for two pregnant women.

He also questioned Paine’s story that she and Heil left the party around 11:30 at night. Klinksiek cited hospital records that proved that Paine and Heil did not arrive for treatment until well after 1 a.m.

Klinksiek also pointed to the testimony of one of the pregnant women at the party and noted her observations that only Donelon and Gibson attacked Heil.

Despite his several examples of inconsistency, the court of appeals found little merit to Klinksiek’s argument.

“Although there are inconsistencies in Ms. Paine’s account of the attack, she was consistent about Mr. Klinksiek’s role in it,” Presiding Judge Jennifer Hensal wrote on behalf of the appellate panel.

Hensal noted that, unlike Paine, Klinksiek was inconsistent about his own role in the altercation.

She pointed out that he had initially told the police that nothing had occurred during the bonfire, then that he injured his hand at work, and later, that he had injured it moving garage doors.

“The state played telephone recordings that Mr. Klinksiek had with Ms. Allen while he was in jail, in which Ms. Allen suggested possible explanations for the blood on his jeans and their need to get everyone together to get their stories figured out,” Hensal wrote.

After reviewing the record, the appellate panel ruled that the jury did not lose its way when it found that Klinksiek assaulted Heil.

“Mr. Klinksiek’s conviction is not against the manifest weight of the evidence,” Hensal wrote. “The judgment of the Medina County Court of Common Pleas is affirmed.”

Judges Beth Whitmore and Carla Moore concurred.

The case is cited State v. Klinksiek, 2015-Ohio-1483.

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