BARBERTON, Ohio — The trial for former Ohio state Rep. Bob Young began and ended in Barberton Municipal Court Tuesday, after the judge heard testimony from several people including Young and his wife.
At the start of the proceedings, Young waived his right to a trial by jury and instead opted for a bench trial, where Judge Edward O'Farrell ultimately decides the outcome.
Prosecutors told the judge the trouble began after a political fundraiser for Young on July 6. That night, Young and his wife Tina hosted a gathering at their home that involved friends and alcohol.
Young testified the argument started when Tina's friend Kristen made some offensive comments to Young in front of his other guests and he told her to leave. As the argument escalated, Tina testified her husband yelled "nasty things" at her friend.
Tina said the other guests left and she went inside to take a shower. When she returned to her backyard to find Kristen, she said Young continued to yell things at her. Tina said she put up her hand to his face to quiet him and at some point grabbed her phone to call for help when he hit her on the left side of her face and ear and threw her phone in the pool.
"I felt, like, discombobulated after I was struck," she said. "I just felt I wasn't — like, I lost it for a minute, and then I turned around and I couldn't hear anything."
Young's 16-year-old daughter testified she saw her dad hit her mom from an upstairs bedroom. Defense attorneys argued she was asleep at the time, but she insisted she saw it. Surveillance video from their backyard appears to show Tina holding her hand to her face, and you hear their daughter curse and yell, "I seen you! I watched it!"
Young told a different story from the stand, arguing it was Tina who hit him during the interaction.
"It went from pointing at her talking with my hands, like I do sometimes, to getting hit, to throwing my hands like this to keep from her hitting me again," he claimed. "I may have hit her hand unintentionally or something just so I wouldn't get hit again."
"Did you intentionally slap your wife?" his attorney asked.
"Absolutely not," he replied.
His daughter said after the incident she immediately grabbed her younger brother and together with her mom they drove to Young's brother's house.
Young, who resigned on Oct. 2, was first arrested on allegations of domestic violence and assault connected to a July 7 incident involving his wife and brother. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
He was arrested for a second time in late August for allegedly violating a protection order connected to the case.
When details of the case first surfaced, Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens was among those quickly calling for Young's resignation. Stephens had said he attended the fundraiser with Young that same day and visited his home afterward, but was not present at the time of the alleged incident.
"I was disappointed and shocked to hear what allegedly transpired sometime after I had left the Young house," Stephens said at the time. "Although I believe that people are innocent until proven guilty, I asked Bob for his resignation as state representative so he can focus on his family at this time."
According to his bio, which has since been removed from the Ohio House of Representatives site, Young was serving his second term for the 32nd House District, which includes southern portions of Summit County. You can watch video from day one of Young's trial below:
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