In re J.T.

2011 Ohio 3324
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 30, 2011
Docket10-CA-134
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2011 Ohio 3324 (In re J.T.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re J.T., 2011 Ohio 3324 (Ohio Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

[Cite as In re J.T., 2011-Ohio-3324.]

COURT OF APPEALS LICKING COUNTY, OHIO FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

IN THE MATTER OF: JUDGES: Hon. W. Scott Gwin, P.J. J.T., Hon. William B. Hoffman, J. Hon. Julie A. Edwards, J. DELINQUENT CHILD Case No. 10-CA-134

OPINION

CHARACTER OF PROCEEDING: Appeal from the Licking County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division, Case No. A2010-0313

JUDGMENT: Affirmed

DATE OF JUDGMENT ENTRY: June 30, 2011

APPEARANCES:

For Appellee For Appellant

KENNETH W. OSWALT TODD W. BARSTOW Licking County Prosecutor 4185 East Main Street Columbus, Ohio 43213 BY: RACHEL OKTAVEC Assistant Prosecuting Attorney 20 S. Second Street, Fourth Floor Newark, Ohio 43055

Guardian Ad Litem

THOMAS GORDON 8026 Woodstream Dr., N.W. Canal Winchester, Ohio 43110 Licking County, Case No. 10-CA-134 2

Hoffman, J.

{¶1} Appellant J.T., a minor child, appeals his adjudication in the Licking

County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division. Plaintiff-appellee is the State of

Ohio.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS AND CASE

{¶2} While seventeen years-old and a student at Licking Heights High School,

Appellant was arrested for incidents involving several classmates at school.1

{¶3} On April 28, 2010, the State filed a complaint in the Licking County Court

of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division, charging Appellant with six counts of sexual

imposition, two counts of menacing and one count of voyeurism. The matter proceeded

to a bench trial on July 12, 2010. The State dismissed all the counts except for two

counts of sexual imposition. Via Judgment Entry of July 12, 2010, the trial court

adjudicated Appellant delinquent of one count of sexual imposition, and one count of

disorderly conduct, a lesser included offense. On October 25, 2010, the trial court

conducted a dispositional hearing. Via Judgment Entry of the same date, the trial court

classified Appellant a Tier I sexual offender.

{¶4} Appellant now appeals, assigning as error:

{¶5} “I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED AND DEPRIVED APPELLANT OF DUE

PROCESS OF LAW AS GUARANTEED BY THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT TO

THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION AND ARTICLE ONE SECTION TEN OF THE

OHIO CONSTITUTION BY FINDING HIM GUILTY OF SEXUAL IMPOSITION AS THAT

1 Additional facts will be included in our analysis of Appellant’s first assignment of error. Licking County, Case No. 10-CA-134 3

VERDICT WAS NOT SUPPORTED BY SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE AND WAS ALSO

AGAINST THE MANIFEST WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE.

{¶6} “II. THE APPLICATION OF S.B. 10 VIOLATES THE UNITED STATES

CONSTITUTION’S PROHIBITION AGAINST CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENTS.

EIGHTH AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION.”

I.

{¶7} An appellate court reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence examines the

evidence admitted at trial and determines whether, after viewing the evidence most

favorably to the state, the jury could have found the essential elements of the crime

proven beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Jenks (1991), 61 Ohio St.3d 259, 273. “On

review for sufficiency, courts are to assess not whether the state's evidence is to be

believed, but whether, if believed, the evidence against a defendant would support a

conviction.” State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380, 390, 1997–Ohio–52 (Cook, J.,

concurring).

{¶8} In contrast, a court reviewing the manifest weight observes the entire

record, weighs the evidence and all reasonable inferences, considers the credibility of

the witnesses and determines whether, in resolving conflicts in the evidence, the jury

clearly lost its way and created such a manifest miscarriage of justice that the conviction

must be reversed and a new trial ordered. State v. Schlee (Dec. 23, 1994), 11th Dist.

No. 93–L–082. “The discretionary power to grant a new trial should be exercised only in

the exceptional case in which the evidence weighs heavily against the conviction.” State

v. Martin (1983), 20 Ohio App.3d 172, 175. An appellate court must defer to the factual Licking County, Case No. 10-CA-134 4

findings of the jury regarding the weight to be given to the evidence and credibility of the

witnesses. State v. DeHass (1967), 10 Ohio St.2d 230, paragraph one of the syllabus.

{¶9} Appellant was adjudicated delinquent of sexual imposition, in violation of

Ohio Revised Code Section 2907.06(A)(1):

{¶10} “(A) No person shall have sexual contact with another, not the spouse of

the offender; cause another, not the spouse of the offender, to have sexual contact with

the offender; or cause two or more other persons to have sexual contact when any of

the following applies:

{¶11} “(1) The offender knows that the sexual contact is offensive to the other

person, or one of the other persons, or is reckless in that regard.”

{¶12} Revised Code Section 2907.01(B) defines “sexual contact” as “any

touching of an erogenous zone of another, including without limitation the thigh,

genitals, buttock, pubic region, or, if the person is a female, a breast, for the purpose of

sexually arousing or gratifying either person.”

{¶13} At the July 12, 2010 adjudicatory hearing P.W., an alleged victim in this

matter, testified:

{¶14} “Q. Okay. And you started not being friends, correct?

{¶15} “A. Right. We would get into - -

{¶16} “Q. And why is that?

{¶17} “A. We would get into arguments very often and he would harass me all

the time. He would call me names, and he would violate my privacy, and I would

always tell him to stop but he wouldn’t listen.

{¶18} “Q. And how would he violate your privacy? Licking County, Case No. 10-CA-134 5

{¶19} “A. He would, like, graze my legs, and try and give me shoulder

massages, trying to move up to my chest, and he would - - then I’d tell him no and then

he’d get mad. And then, when he would get mad, he would call me names and start

making fun of me and then causing us to get into another argument.

{¶20} “Q. And did he - - when you said he tried to touch your breasts, did he

touch your breasts?

{¶21} “A. Yes.

{¶22} “Q. How did he do that?

{¶23} “A. He came from over top.

{¶24} “Q. What do you mean, like - -

{¶25} “A. Like he would move from my shoulders and then move down. He

would graze and then I would tell him to stop.

{¶26} “Q. And he’d touch your breasts - -

{¶27} “A. Yes.

{¶28} “Q. - - actually? And when was that?

{¶29} “A. I remember the one incident - - it happened over multiple times, but the

one incident I can actually put a date on was right after winter break, because we were

in study hall and my boyfriend had just left the classroom and we started dating then,

so, that’s how I remember the exact date.

{¶30} “Q. Oh, okay.

{¶31} “A. So it was right after winter break?

{¶32} “Q. Right after winter break? And did you report it then? Licking County, Case No. 10-CA-134 6

{¶33} “A. No, I just - - I pretty much ignored it because I would tell him to stop,

and then he’d stop for a while, and then he’d keep - - he would – he was consistent - -

{¶34} “Q. How - -

{¶35} “A. - - about trying.

{¶36} “Q. And how often did he touch your breasts?

{¶37} “A. About - - he would try about once a week, but he wouldn’t - - I wouldn’t

let him do it very often, because I would tell him to stop. I would yell at him then we’d

get into another argument.

{¶38} “Q. Okay. And - - but he succeeded once and that was over your shirt - -

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Related

State v. McCreary
2022 Ohio 2899 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2022)
In re J.T.
2012 Ohio 2796 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2012)

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2011 Ohio 3324, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-jt-ohioctapp-2011.