In re D.S.

856 N.E.2d 921, 111 Ohio St. 3d 361
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 29, 2006
DocketNo. 2005-0992
StatusPublished
Cited by58 cases

This text of 856 N.E.2d 921 (In re D.S.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re D.S., 856 N.E.2d 921, 111 Ohio St. 3d 361 (Ohio 2006).

Opinions

Lanzinger, J.

{¶ 1} The issue presented in this case is whether a juvenile court may require a child who was found delinquent because of committing crimes of a sexual nature [362]*362to submit to “full disclosure” polygraph examinations as a condition of community control. We are also asked to examine the extent to which such a requirement implicates the rights of a child under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. We hold that evidence must support the use of a polygraph for a particular juvenile before it is a reasonable community-control condition and that compelled self-incriminating statements are prohibited under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.

Facts

{¶ 2} Appellant, D.S., a learning-disabled 11-year-old, was adjudicated as a delinquent child for two separate crimes: rape in violation of R.C. 2907.02(A)(1)(b) and gross sexual imposition in violation of R.C. 2907.05(A)(1). A friend of D.S., another 11-year-old boy, had been on a sleepover at D.S.’s home, and D.S.’s parents had allowed the boys to watch the Playboy Channel. While the victim was sleeping, D.S. inserted his finger into the victim’s anus. During a separate sleepover involving a different boy, D.S. attempted the same type of activity.

{¶ 3} As a result of D.S.’s delinquency adjudication, the juvenile court placed him on community control. The dispositional entry of the Warren County Juvenile Court states that the court had received recommendations from the Warren County Clinical Committee and Warren County Children Services Board. Among the 12 conditions within the dispositional entry is “The child shall submit to a full disclosure polygraph and such further maintenance polygraphs as may be directed by his probation officer/therapists.” D.S. was also notified that he was placed on “intensive probation” and signed an acknowledgement that he had additional binding terms of probation in that he “(1) shall attend and engage in sex offender treatment, (2) shall cooperate with case management services of Coordinated Care Team, (3) shall be supervised at all times (line-of-sight) when in the presence of other children, and (4) shall submit to and pass polygraphs as directed.”

{¶ 4} As part of his appeal to the Twelfth District Court of Appeals, D.S. argued that the polygraph requirement was both unreasonable and a violation of his constitutional rights. The court of appeals affirmed, holding that the polygraph was a reasonable tool in the treatment and rehabilitation of juvenile sex offenders and as a community-control condition did not prohibit D.S. from exercising his Fifth Amendment rights.1

[363]*363{¶ 5} The matter is before this court on the acceptance of a discretionary appeal on the following proposition: “A dispositional term for a delinquent child that requires the child to submit to, not refuse to answer any questions during, and pass a polygraph examination on demand is an unreasonable probation term and violates the child’s constitutional rights.”

Legal Analysis

{¶ 6} Pursuant to R.C. 2152.19(A)(4), a juvenile court has broad discretion to craft an appropriate disposition for a child adjudicated delinquent. The court may place the child on community control “under any sanctions, services, and conditions that the court prescribes.” Nevertheless, R.C. 2152.01(B) provides that dispositions must be “reasonably calculated” to achieve certain statutory purposes. Those purposes 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). Accordingly, a juvenile court must consider those purposes in determining which conditions of probation to impose in crafting a community-control sanction. The court’s disposition will be upheld unless there has been an abuse of discretion.

Reasonableness of the Polygraph Condition

{¶ 7} In this case, the juvenile court ordered D.S. to submit to and pass a “full disclosure polygraph and such further maintenance polygraphs as may be directed by his probation officer/therapists.” D.S. asserts that this requirement is impermissible because the condition does not reasonably advance statutory purposes and because the polygraph requirement is unduly broad so as to impinge upon his constitutional rights. The state responds, relying for the most part on cases involving adult offenders, that full-disclosure polygraphs are common in the treatment of sex offenders.

{¶ 8} Yet juveniles are not adults. When holding that the death penalty was unconstitutional for those under 18 years old, the United States Supreme Court noted three distinctions separating juveniles from adult offenders:

{¶ 9} “First, * * * ‘[a] lack of maturity and an underdeveloped sense of responsibility are found in youth more often than in adults and are more understandable among the young. These qualities often result in impetuous and ill-considered actions and decisions.’ Johnson [v. Texas (1993), 509 U.S. 350] at 367 [113 S.Ct. 2658,125 L.Ed.2d 290] * * *.
{¶ 10} “The second area of difference is that juveniles are more vulnerable or susceptible to negative influences and outside pressures, including peer pressure. [364]*364Eddings [v. Oklahoma (1982), 455 U.S. 104] at 115 [102 S.Ct. 869, 71 L.Ed.2d 1], (‘[Y]outh is more than a chronological fact. It is a time and condition of life when a person may be most susceptible to influence and to psychological damage’). This is explained in part by the prevailing circumstance that juveniles have less control, or less experience with control, over their own environment.* * *
{¶ 11} “The third broad difference is that the character of a juvenile is not as well formed as that of an adult. The personality traits of juveniles are more transitory, less fixed.” Roper v. Simmons (2005), 543 U.S. 551, 569-570, 125 S.Ct. 1183,161 L.Ed.2d 1.

{¶ 12} With these distinctions in mind, we should evaluate the polygraph condition imposed upon this 11-year-old offender.

{¶ 13} We have not adopted the unrestrained use of polygraph results at trial, and polygraphs themselves remain controversial.2 Only if there is a stipulation between the parties do we allow the admission of polygraph results at trial, and then for corroboration or impeachment only. State v. Souel (1978), 53 Ohio St.2d 123, 7 O.O.3d 207, 372 N.E.2d 1318. The state argues that the instant case involves an entirely different issue — the efficacy of polygraph testing in rehabilitating a juvenile sex offender. The state cites studies that evaluated the use of polygraphs to treat sex offenders. The studies cited by the state, however, do not discuss the use of polygraphs with a learning-disabled 11-year-old. Even with adult sex offenders, polygraph use is not always part of the therapeutic treatment.

{¶ 14} There is ongoing debate about the success of polygraph use with juvenile sex offenders. See, e.g., Victor I.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

In re J.P.
2024 Ohio 5781 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2024)
State v. Elliott
2024 Ohio 3376 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2024)
In re T.I.
2024 Ohio 292 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2024)
Dietrich v. Dietrich
2023 Ohio 4822 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2023)
In re M.K.
2022 Ohio 4537 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2022)
In re J.C.
2022 Ohio 2993 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2022)
In re E.J.L.
2022 Ohio 2846 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2022)
In re A.J.
2022 Ohio 2669 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2022)
In re J.R.
2022 Ohio 2623 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2022)
In re D.H.
2022 Ohio 1972 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2022)
In re G.S.
2021 Ohio 3201 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2021)
In re J.S.
2020 Ohio 3413 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2020)
In re A.M.
2020 Ohio 3138 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2020)
In re L.R.
2020 Ohio 2990 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2020)
In re D.W.
2019 Ohio 5259 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2019)
In re D.C.
2019 Ohio 4860 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2019)
In re B.K.
2018 Ohio 864 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2018)
In re L.M.
2017 Ohio 8067 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2017)
In re N.D.
2017 Ohio 2901 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2017)
State v. Bohanan
2016 Ohio 8340 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
856 N.E.2d 921, 111 Ohio St. 3d 361, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-ds-ohio-2006.