In re S.D.

Citations

• 2019 Ohio 1867

Syllabus

DELINQUENCY – SELF-DEFENSE – WEAPONS – TAMPERING WITH EVIDENCE : Where the juvenile failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that he had not violated any duty to retreat or avoid the danger, his adjudication for discharging a firearm on or near a public road or highway was not against the manifest weight of the evidence. Where the juvenile fired his weapon in a gas station parking lot in the presence of multiple people before tossing the weapon to an acquaintance who, along with the juvenile, fled from the scene, it could reasonably be inferred that the juvenile had knowledge that an investigation into his actions was likely and that he had handed off the weapon with the specific intent to impair its availability, and therefore, his adjudication for tampering with evidence was supported by sufficient evidence. Where the evidence established that the juvenile had concealed a weapon on his person before producing the weapon and firing it in a gas station parking lot, his adjudication for carrying a concealed weapon was supported by the sufficiency and the weight of the evidence.