Opinion ID: 6215643
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Juvenile-court proceedings

Text: {¶ 5} The juvenile complaint against Smith alleged in Counts 1 and 2 that Smith committed the category-two offense of aggravated robbery (with predicate theft offenses), one count as to each woman, while possessing a deadly weapon and either displaying it, brandishing it, or indicating that he possessed it or was using 4 January Term, 2022 it. See R.C. 2152.02(BB)(1) (defining “category two offense” as including the offense set forth in R.C. 2911.01, aggravated robbery). Because firearm specifications were attached to the category-two offenses and Smith was alleged to have committed the offenses when he was 16 years old, binding him over to adult court would have been mandatory for Counts 1 and 2 upon a finding of probable cause. R.C. 2152.10(A)(2)(b). {¶ 6} Count 3 alleged grand theft, a fourth-degree felony, for stealing the vehicle of one of the women. Count 4 alleged a fifth-degree felony, for theft of the credit cards of one of the women. Counts 3 and 4 were both alleged to have been committed with a firearm. {¶ 7} Count 5 alleged a first-degree misdemeanor, for taking the purse and/or cellphone of one of the women, and Count 6 alleged a fourth-degree felony for failure to comply with a signal of a police officer—for operating a motor vehicle so as to willfully elude or flee from a police officer while fleeing after committing a felony. Count alleged a third-degree felony for failure to comply with a signal of a police officer—for operating a motor vehicle so as to elude or flee from a police officer and causing a substantial risk of serious physical harm to persons or property. Count 8 alleged a third-degree felony for having a weapon while under disability, for possessing a firearm after being adjudicated delinquent for an offense that would have been a felony offense of violence if committed by an adult. {¶ 8} On February 9, 2018, the juvenile court conducted a joint probablecause hearing regarding Smith and R.H. pursuant to R.C. 2152.10 and 2152.12 and Juv.R. 30. The two women and three police officers testified. {¶ 9} In a March 14, 2018 entry, the juvenile court concluded that Smith was 16 years old at the time of the charged conduct and that there was probable cause to believe that Smith had committed acts that if committed by an adult would be felonies. The juvenile court found probable cause to believe that Smith had committed the acts that would be aggravated robberies in violation of R.C. 5 SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 2911.01(A)(1), first-degree felonies, if committed by an adult (Counts 1 and 2) and grand theft in violation of R.C. 2912.02(A)(1), a fourth-degree felony, if committed by an adult (Count 3). {¶ 10} The juvenile court did not find probable cause with respect to the remaining felony counts—theft (Count 4), failure to comply (Counts 6 and ), and having a weapon while under disability (Count 8). The juvenile court also found that there was not probable cause to believe that Smith had had a firearm on or about his person or under his control at the time of the acts charged or that he had indicated that he possessed a firearm. The juvenile court ordered the matter to be “continued for amenability hearing    upon the State of Ohio’s motion for order to relinquish jurisdiction for purposes of criminal prosecution pursuant to R.C. 2152.12.” {¶ 11} On April 9, 2018, the juvenile court conducted a hearing to determine whether Smith was amenable to care or rehabilitation within the juvenile system and concluded that he was not. Pursuant to R.C. 2152.12(B), the juvenile court transferred the matter to the adult court on June 1, 2018, finding that “the safety of the community may require that the child be subject to adult sanctions.” Having found no probable cause for Counts 4 and 6 through 8 and no probable cause for the firearm specifications relating to Counts 1 through 4, the juvenile court transferred Smith’s case to the adult court for Smith’s prosecution as an adult for the acts for which the juvenile court had found probable cause—Counts 1, 2, and 3, with no firearm specifications, and Count 5—the misdemeanor. Smith alleges that because the juvenile court did not determine his amenability to care or rehabilitation within the juvenile system as to Counts 4 and 6 through 8 and the firearm specifications as to Counts 1 through 4, the adult court was authorized to prosecute him only as to Counts 1, 2, 3, and 5 of the juvenile-court complaint, with no firearm specifications. 6 January Term, 2022