Following a bench trial, Anthony Gaston was convicted of aggravated stalking,1 burglary,2 kidnapping,3 and criminal trespass.4 He filed a motion for new trial, which the trial court initially granted. Then, following the State’s motion for reconsideration, the trial court vacated its order granting the motion for new trial. Gaston appeals, arguing that the trial court erred by: 1 denying his demurrer as to Count 1 aggravated stalking; and 2 conducting a trial without getting Gaston’s waiver of his right to testify on the record. Gaston also contends that the trial court abused its discretion in considering documents submitted by the State after the motion for new trial hearing without giving Gaston the opportunity to challenge such evidence. We vacate and remand, for reasons that follow. Construed in favor of the verdict,5 the evidence shows that Gaston married Gina Tobey on September 24, 2005.6 Tobey obtained a temporary protective order against Gaston on June 20, 2006, because his behavior had “become so erratic she just didn’t feel safe. . . . He would be so angry at times, and she just didn’t know what he was going to do, and she didn’t feel safe.”7 On June 26, 2006, Gaston waited in the bushes outside Tobey’s home, and when she came outside to warm up her car, he chased her to the house and kicked in the door. He then followed her into the house, grabbed her arm, lead her outside, and put her into the car. Tobey jumped out of the car three times, and each time Gaston put her back in the car, at one point climbing over her car to get to Tobey, before driving away with her in the passenger seat. A neighbor who observed the incident called 911, and the police apprehended Gaston shortly after he left the neighborhood.
Gaston was charged with aggravated stalking, burglary, kidnapping, and criminal trespass, and the trial court found him guilty on all counts following a bench trial. After the trial, Gaston filed a motion for new trial, which the trial court granted. The State thereafter filed a motion for reconsideration, submitting two documents in support thereof. The trial court then vacated the order granting the motion for new trial. This appeal followed.
