In re R.Z.

Citations

• 2022 Ohio 3630

Syllabus

JUVENILE COURT – JURISDICTION – R.C. 2152.02 – R.C. 2945.67(A) – APPELLATE REVIEW – FINAL ORDER – R.C. 2505.02 – PROBABLE CAUSE – BINDOVER: The juvenile was a \child\ under R.C. 2152.02 and fell within the juvenile court's exclusive subject-matter jurisdiction under R.C. 2151.23(A)(1) because he was apprehended before his 21st birthday for an alleged act committed before his 18th birthday. The state properly exercised its right to appeal under R.C. 2945.67(A) because the juvenile court's finding of no probable cause, and subsequent sua sponte dismissal of the charge, was the functional equivalent of granting a motion to dismiss. The juvenile court's order dismissing the juvenile complaint without prejudice was a final, appealable order under R.C. 2505.02(B)(4), because the dismissal prevented an adjudication of the delinquency charges alleged in the complaint. The state did not meet its burden of establishing probable cause to believe that the juvenile engaged in conduct that would have constituted burglary if he was an adult when the only evidence connecting the juvenile to the crime consisted of a BCI notification, which established only a preliminary association between the juvenile and biological evidence recovered from the scene, was an investigative lead, and required additional verification, and the state failed to present evidence explaining the meaning of a preliminary association to the juvenile court. [But see DISSENT: Where the state presented evidence that a DNA hit in CODIS identified a preliminary association between the juvenile and the DNA found on evidence from the scene, that the victim did not know the juvenile, and that there was no reason for the juvenile to have been in victim's home, there was probable cause to find that the juvenile engaged in conduct that would have constituted the offense of burglary if committed by an adult.]