In re A.S.

Citations

• 2019 Ohio 2359

Syllabus

DELINQUENCY – EVIDENCE/WITNESS/TRIAL – JUV.R. 40: The juvenile court's decision adjudicating A.S. delinquent in connection with the robbery of a pizza-delivery driver was not against the manifest weight of the evidence: the victim testified that a group of young males lured her to a home, attacked her, and stole her wallet the police traced the phone number used to place the delivery order to a youth who admitted to being involved in the incident, and that youth testified that he had been with A.S. that night, and that he had seen A.S. punch the victim. The juvenile court did not violate Juv.R. 40 in relying on a witness's testimony implicating A.S. in connection with the robbery of a pizza-delivery driver: the juvenile court could assess the evidence, including credibility of the witnesses, as part of its duty to undertake an independent review of the magistrate's decision, and the magistrate never explicitly commented on the credibility of the witness's statement that he had seen A.S. punch the victim. [But see DISSENT: The magistrate did not rely on the testimony of a witness in finding A.S. delinquent because the magistrate found the witness not credible with respect to A.S.'s involvement therefore, the juvenile court's decision finding the witness credible was in error, and the juvenile court's decision was against the manifest weight of the evidence.]