At trial, the defendant testified that the daughter had given him her parents' checkbook and credit cards with the understanding he could use them.

The State, on rebuttal, offered the transcript of the daughter's testimony pursuant to Ohio Rev.

That court held that the daughter's absence at trial and the lack of cross-examination at the preliminary hearing violated the Confrontation Clause.

They reasoned that out-of-court statements can be admissible if they bear an adequate “indicia of reliability,” even if the declarant is not available to testify in court.

The Supreme Court later ruled, in Crawford v. Washington, that because the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution specifies the right to confrontation, an “indicia of reliability” was not an adequate substitute for cross-examination.