State v. Linner
Ohio Municipal Court
665 N.E.2d 1180 (1996)
- Written by Tammy Boggs, JD
Facts
For 13 months, Bernice Linner (defendant) lived with her girlfriend, Vickie Birch. The same-sex couple had an intimate, lesbian relationship. One evening, Linner and Birch had a fight over money, and a physical altercation resulted. Linner was six feet tall, weighed 260 pounds, and was much bigger and stronger than Birch. Linner severely assaulted Birch, who suffered a black eye, bruises, cuts, scratches, bruise marks on both arms, and a badly bitten lip. Under Ohio’s domestic-violence statutes, the state (plaintiff) criminally charged Linner for domestic violence. At trial, Linner asserted that she had acted in self-defense, notwithstanding her significant physical advantage. At the close of trial, Linner’s counsel moved for acquittal based on a legal argument that Birch did not qualify for protection under the domestic-violence statutes because she was not a family or household member. Linner claimed that the domestic-violence law did not apply to same-sex couples.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Black, J.)
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