In re J.V.

• Decision Date: 30 October 2012
• Docket Number: No. 2011–0107.,2011–0107.
• Citation: 979 N.E.2d 1203
• Parties: In re J.V.
• Court: Ohio Supreme Court

979 N.E.2d 1203

In re J.V.

No. 2011–0107.

Supreme Court of Ohio.

Submitted Dec. 7, 2011.

Decided Oct. 30, 2012.

Robert L. Tobik, Cuyahoga Country Public Defender, and Cullen Sweeney, Assistant Public Defender, for appellant, J.V.

William D. Mason, Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney, and Kristen L. Sobieski, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee, state of Ohio.

Timothy Young, Ohio Public Defender, and Jill Beeler and Amanda J. Powell, Assistant Public Defenders, urging reversal for amicus curiae Ohio Public Defender.

Michael DeWine, Attorney General, Alexandra T. Schimmer, Solicitor General, and David M. Lieberman and Elizabeth A. Matune, Assistant Attorneys General, urging affirmance for amicus curiae Ohio Attorney General.

PFEIFER, J.

Factual and Procedural Background

{¶ 1} In June 2005, pursuant to a plea agreement, the trial court found juvenile appellant J.V. delinquent and guilty of one count of felonious assault, one count of aggravated robbery, and the attendant firearm and serious-youthful-offender specifications. The court imposed a blended sentence: at least two years of incarceration at the Ohio Department of Youth Services ("ODYS") and a stayed adult sentence of three years. Several legal challenges that are immaterial here were filed while J.V. was incarcerated. Near the end of his sentence at ODYS, J.V. was involved in a fight that led the trial court to invoke the theretofore stayed adult sentence.

{¶ 2} On appeal, the court of appeals affirmed the invocation of the stayed adult sentence. We accepted J.V.'s discretionary appeal, which presents two propositions of law. The first proposition of law states, "The invocation of an adult prison sentence upon a juvenile, pursuant to R.C. 2152.14, violates the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article I, Sections 10 and 16 of the Ohio Constitution." We conclude to the contrary that the invocation of the adult prison sentence was constitutional. The second proposition of law states, "A juvenile court does not have the authority to impose criminal punishment (including post-release control) after the delinquent child turns 21." We agree, and reverse that portion of the court of appeals decision.

Law and Analysis

Standard of Review

{¶ 3} Because both propositions of law involve only questions of law, our review is de novo. In re M.P., 124 Ohio St.3d 445, 2010-Ohio-599, 923 N.E.2d 584, ¶ 13.

I. Constitutionality of Invocation Provisions of R.C. Chapter 2152

{¶ 4} R.C. Chapter 2152 is a relatively recent enactment of the General Assembly that became law on January 1, 2002. "The overriding purposes for dispositions under this chapter are to provide for the care, protection, and mental and physical development of children subject to this chapter, protect the public interest and safety, hold the offender accountable for the offender's actions, restore the victim, and rehabilitate the offender." R.C. 2152.01(A). We have addressed R.C. 2152.14, which allows for the invocation of the adult portion of a dispositional sentence, three times. State v. D.H., 120 Ohio St.3d 540, 2009-Ohio-9, 901 N.E.2d 209; In re M.P.; and In re C.P., 131 Ohio St.3d 513, 2012-Ohio-1446, 967 N.E.2d 729. But we have not addressed the constitutionality of the invocation provisions of R.C. 2152.14 in these cases. Our summary of R.C. 2152.14 in D.H. provides background to our analysis in this case:

R.C. 2152.14(E) governs under what instances a juvenile court may invoke the adult portion of a serious youthful offender's sentence for failure to successfully complete the traditional juvenile disposition. The statute requires a finding by clear and convincing evidence that the juvenile is "unlikely to be rehabilitated during the remaining period of juvenile jurisdiction" and that the juvenile has engaged in further bad conduct pursuant to R.C. 2512.14(A) or (B) [sic, 2152.14]. R.C. 2512.14(E) [sic] reads:

"(E)(1) The juvenile court may invoke the adult portion of a person's serious youthful offender dispositional sentence if the juvenile court finds all of the following on the record by clear and convincing evidence:

"(a) The person is serving the juvenile portion of a serious youthful offender dispositional sentence.

"(b) The person is at least fourteen years of age and has been admitted to a department of youth services facility, or criminal charges are pending against the person.

"(c) The person engaged in the conduct or acts charged under division (A), (B), or (C) of this section, and the person's conduct demonstrates that the person is unlikely to be rehabilitated during the remaining period of juvenile jurisdiction."

The conduct that can result in the enforcement of an adult sentence includes committing, while in custody or on parole, an act that is a violation of the rules of the institution or the conditions of supervision and that could be charged as any felony or as a first-degree misdemeanor offense of violence if committed by an adult, R.C. 2152.14(A)(2)(a) and

(B)(1), or engaging in conduct that creates a substantial risk to the safety or security of the institution, the community, or the victim. R.C. 2152.14(A)(2)(b) and (B)(2).

Pursuant to R.C. 2152.14(D), the court may not invoke the adult sentence without another hearing, and the juvenile has the right to counsel and to present evidence on his behalf. In fact, the right to counsel cannot be waived. Id. Furthermore, the adult portion of the sentence invoked as a result of the evidence may be more lenient, though not more severe, than the original stayed sentence. R.C. 2152.14(E)(2). Since the adult portion of D.H.'s sentence has not been invoked, this opinion does not address the constitutional ramifications of invoking the adult sentence under R.C. 2152.14 in light of Blakely [v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004) ] and [State v. ] Foster [109 Ohio St.3d 1, 2006-Ohio-856, 845 N.E.2d 470].

The statutory scheme establishes that a juvenile subject to serious-youthful-offender status, despite the carrot/stick of the possible imposition of an adult sentence, remains squarely in the juvenile court system. The juvenile cannot be sent directly to an adult facility for the acts that led to his serious-youthful- offender status. The juvenile court retains jurisdiction. The juvenile would have to engage in separate conduct detrimental to his own rehabilitation in the juvenile system to be committed to an adult facility. The aims of the juvenile system—and its heightened goals of rehabilitation and treatment—control his disposition. To get the rehabilitative benefit of the juvenile system, the juvenile's case must remain in juvenile court.

D.H., 120 Ohio St.3d 540, 2009-Ohio-9, 901 N.E.2d 209, ¶ 31–38.

{¶ 5} With that background, it is clear that the issues before us have not been addressed. In this case, J.V.'s stayed sentence has been invoked, and he has challenged the constitutionality of two aspects of the invocation provisions of R.C. 2152.14, which were specifically not addressed in D.H. First, J.V. argues that the judicial fact-finding necessary to invoke the stayed adult sentence violates J.V.'s right to a trial by jury. Second, J.V. argues that the burden of proof should be the heightened "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard of criminal trials rather than the lesser "clear and convincing" standard of R.C. 2152.14(E)(1). Unlike D.H., which did not require us to "address the constitutional ramifications of invoking the adult sentence under R.C. 2152.14 in light of Blakely and Foster, " today we squarely address these constitutional challenges. D.H. at ¶ 37.

Judicial Fact-finding

{¶ 6} J.V. argues that R.C. 2152.14(E) violates his right to a trial by jury by allowing the judge to substitute his own judgment as to certain factual findings for a jury's. J.V. relies on Apprendi v. Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 490, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), which states, "Other than the fact of a prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt."

{¶ 7} We conclude that the Apprendi line of cases is not even in play, because the juvenile court did not increase the penalty that J.V. was subject to. Apprendi does not prohibit all judicial fact-finding; it prohibits only that which increases the penalty beyond the statutory maximum. Id. at 490, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435. The "statutory maximum" is the maximum sentence "allowed by the jury verdict or by the defendant's admissions at a plea hearing." State v. Foster, 109 Ohio St.3d 1, 2006-Ohio-856, 845 N.E.2d 470, at ¶ 7.

{¶ 8} In this case, based on delinquency admissions, J.V. was sentenced to a blended sentence. The adult portion of the sentence was stayed, "pending the successful completion of the traditional juvenile disposition." R.C. 2152.13(D)(1)(c). When the juvenile court invoked the stayed sentence because J.V. did not successfully complete his juvenile disposition, the judge did not increase J.V.'s sentence; he merely removed the stay. The sentence had already been imposed.

{¶ 9} As we have explained, R.C. 2152.14 does not require the stay to be lifted, and it allows the juvenile court to impose a lesser sentence than the stayed sentence when the adult portion of a stayed disposition is invoked. In In re C.P., we stated:

Once the request is filed, the adult portion of the sentence cannot be invoked without a public hearing. R.C. 2152.14(D). The juvenile has a right to counsel that may not be waived and the right to present evidence on his own behalf, "including evidence that [he] has a mental illness or is a mentally retarded person." Id. If the person submits evidence that he has a mental illness or is mentally retarded, the court must consider that evidence in determining whether to invoke the adult portion of the SYO [serious youthful offender] dispositional sentence.

Further, pursuant to

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