State v. Boyer

Citations

• 2017 Ohio 4199
• 92 N.E.3d 213

Syllabus

The trial court, in reliance upon State v. Hand, 149 Ohio St.3d 94, 2016-Ohio-5504, 73 N.E.3d 448, determined that the use of Defendant-appellee's prior juvenile adjudication as an element of a charge of having weapons under disability in violation of R.C. 2923.13(A)(2) violated Defendant-appellee's due process rights, resulting in the dismissal of the charge. The Hand decision is premised upon the conclusion that it is fundamentally unfair to enhance an adult sentence upon the basis of a juvenile adjudication which did not include the right to a jury trial. It is not fundamentally unfair, and, thus, not a due process violation to make a juvenile adjudication an element of a weapons under disability charge because the conduct at issue is the individual's choice - made as an adult - to possess a firearm or dangerous ordnance in disregard of the legal disability. Judgment reversed and remanded. (Donovan, J., dissenting).