Thursday, August 09, 2012

Juvenile Law Updates

Last Monday Ohio's 12th. District Court of Appeals found that Clermont County's Juvenile Court had erred in denying a motion to exclude from evidence videotaped statements made by a 13-year-old boy to Union Township Police because of a Miranda violation in a case in which the individual had been adjudicated as delinquent on May 11, 2011 in which the delinquency complaint filed with the court alleged defendant had committed an act which would be rape if committed by an adult. Citing a number of decisions holding that a suspect must be advised of his rights even if questioning by law enforcement occurs during a "custodial interrogation," the Court held "After a careful review of the record, we find that appellant was in custody, for the purposes of Miranda, when he gave his statements to (police)… (The officer) had a duty to advise appellant of his Miranda rights; these warnings were necessary and not provided.” The case was reversed and remanded [ See In re J.S., 2012-Ohio-3534 ]

Yesterday, the Ohio Supreme Court's new Court News Ohio service described the "sweeping new legislation in Senate Bill 337 designed to ease the side effects of criminal conviction and help non-violent ex-offenders re-enter the workforce after serving their time. Some of the bill's lesser-known provisions are specifically designed to help juvenile offenders , including procedures for the sealing of juvenile records, removing sexual battery & gross sexual imposition from the list of offenses for which juvenile records can't be sealed, and the confidentiality of juvenile criminal records checks. Senate Bill 337 also amends provisions of Section 5 of Am. Sub HB 86, which provided for the establishment of The Ohio Interagency Task Force on Mental Health and Juvenile Justice to investigate and make recommendations on how to "most effectively treat delinquent youth who suffer from serious mental illness or emotional and behavioral disorders." [ SB 337 Analysis ]

These developments follow the Supreme Court's adopting amendments to its rules of evidence, appellate procedure, civil procedure, criminal procedure, and juvenile procedure, including those to Juv. R. 3, which mandates that juveniles consult with legal counsel before waiving their right to an attorney in specific cases, back in May.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

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