In re A.K.

Citations

• 2021 Ohio 4199

Syllabus

JUVENILE – HEARSAY – EVIDENCE – R.C. 2925.11 – DRUGS: An anonymous tip alleging that the juvenile was selling drugs was inadmissible hearsay where the prosecutor conceded that the purpose of introducing the statement was to show that the juvenile had the requisite mental state for the offense of possession of drugs, rather than to provide background on investigatory conduct by the prosecution witnesses, but the admission of this hearsay statement constituted harmless error where the record revealed that the trial court's judgment did not rely on the hearsay statement. The trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting a photograph of the contents of the juvenile's purse where the photograph was probative of whether the juvenile had actual possession of drugs, did not rise to the level of unduly prejudicial evidence, and was not used as character evidence by the trial court. The trial court's adjudication was not against the weight of the evidence because the trial court could resolve conflicting testimony in favor of the prosecution. The state presented sufficient evidence for a rational trier of fact to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the juvenile knowingly possessed drugs when an officer testified that the defendant admitted that she got the drugs \from someone on the street.\