In Re N.K., Unpublished Decision (12-24-2003)

2003 Ohio 7059
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 24, 2003
DocketNo. 82332.
StatusUnpublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 2003 Ohio 7059 (In Re N.K., Unpublished Decision (12-24-2003)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law.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In Re N.K., Unpublished Decision (12-24-2003), 2003 Ohio 7059 (Ohio Ct. App. 2003).

Opinions

JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION
{¶ 1} N.K. appeals from an order of Juvenile Division Judge Janet E. Burney that found him delinquent. He claims the evidence was insufficient or inadequate to sustain charges of rape1 and gross sexual imposition2 committed by a ten-year old against two five-year olds, that the judge erred in finding that delinquency proceedings were appropriate under the circumstances, that he received ineffective assistance of counsel, and that he was denied his constitutional right to a speedy trial because of a seventeen month delay between the alleged offenses and the complaint. We affirm.

{¶ 2} From the record we glean the following: On December 13, 2000, then ten-year-old N.K. was playing with C.H., his five-year-old neighbor, at her home in Cleveland C.H.'s mother found N.K. in her daughter's bedroom with his hands on the front of her daughter's pants. Both children subsequently admitted that C.H. had "licked" or "sucked" N.K.'s penis, but they differed about the events leading up to the incident. C.H. claimed that N.K. told her he would tell her friends not to play with her if she did not comply, and that he pushed her head down to make her submit. N.K., however, stated that they were playing a game called "bar," during which C.H. was serving him drinks, that she asked him to marry her and, when he refused, she suddenly pulled down his pants and did the act. He claimed that he did not resist or push her away because he would get in trouble if he pushed C.H., and because he was on medication that made him confused and unable to think clearly.3

{¶ 3} The mother reported the incident to the police and, apparently, to neighbors. The allegations prompted A.W., then six years, who had also played with N.K., to tell her mother that he had touched her on her "front part" and "bottom," and that she had touched his private part. She stated that these incidents occurred during the summer of 2000, prior to her sixth birthday.

{¶ 4} The initial investigation was conducted by Detective Gregory Wheeler, and some interviews were conducted by social worker Jackie Little of the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services.4 Det. Wheeler did nothing else,5 and no action was taken until the case was referred to Det. Karl Lessman, who referred the case for prosecution based primarily on the information contained in Ms. Little's reports. On May 20, 2002, a delinquency complaint was filed charging N.K. with committing an act of rape against C.H.; on September 17, 2002, the complaint was amended to include a second charge of rape resulting from the boy's conduct with A.W.

{¶ 5} The judge found that N.K. committed an offense of rape against C.H., and the lesser included offense of gross sexual imposition against A.W., and found him delinquent. She imposed probation, conditioned on continued juvenile sex offender counseling, as well as continued treatment for his ongoing psychological disorders. She also imposed, among other things, a curfew, an after-school activity requirement, and community service obligations.

{¶ 6} N.K. moved for new trial or to dismiss the complaint for lack of jurisdiction. Before his post-trial motion was ruled upon, he filed a notice of appeal from the adjudication and disposition. On February 14, 2003, the judge denied the motion to dismiss or for new trial, but she amended the finding of delinquency, sua sponte, to reduce the verdict of rape against C.H. to gross sexual imposition, thereby finding N.K. delinquent for committing two counts of gross sexual imposition. Despite the amended finding, however, the judge did not alter the dispositional order. N.K. states five assignments of error, which are included in Appendix A to this opinion.

I. Jurisdiction
{¶ 7} Before addressing this issue we note that the first assignment of error refers to the February 14, 2003 order that is not on appeal here. Although the judge issued a ruling on the post-trial motion and App.R. 4(C) allows premature notices to be rendered timely after entry of judgment, that rule applies only where the entry has been announced and not yet journalized. N.K.'s notice of appeal refers only to the January 9, 2003 judgment and disposition, and makes no claim that the judge had then announced her ruling on his post-trial motion. Therefore, the January 13, 2003 notice of appeal does not allow a challenge to the February 14, 2003 order denying the post-trial motion.

{¶ 8} The more difficult questions we face are whether this court has jurisdiction over any part of the appeal, and whether the judge had jurisdiction to enter the February 14, 2003 ruling, which included modification of N.K.'s adjudication. In State v. Soward6 the court ruled that R.C. 2953.05 prohibited any filing of a notice of appeal until after a motion for new trial had been ruled on. Since the repeal of that statute, however, courts have found that App.R. 4(B) allows a party the option of filing a notice of appeal from a final judgment while a motion for new trial is pending.7 Therefore, we find that we have jurisdiction over the appeal filed on January 13, 2003, but that appeal does not include the later ruling.

{¶ 9} A notice of appeal normally divests the trial judge of jurisdiction to enter further orders and, thus, there is a question whether the February 14, 2003 order is valid.8 A judge does have jurisdiction to enter orders that do not interfere with the exercise of appellate jurisdiction.9 However, the ruling denying the motion and, sua sponte, modifying N.K.'s adjudication to reduce the rape finding to gross sexual imposition, interfered with this court's jurisdiction. Therefore, the February 14, 2003 order, including the reduction of the charge against N.K., is void. Moreover, there is no need to remand this case for a ruling on the post-trial motion. Although limited remands are appropriate when a party has requested relief from judgment under Civ.R. 60(B),10 such motions differ from motions for new trial under Civ.R. 59. A motion for new trial made in a juvenile proceeding tolls the deadline for filing an appeal,11 but a motion for relief from judgment does not.12 Because a party who files a motion for new trial need not file a notice of appeal until the motion is ruled on, there is no need to provide for a limited remand because the party filing the notice of appeal has made a procedural choice.13 By filing a notice of appeal prior to the judge's ruling, N.K. effectively nullified the motion for new trial. The first assignment of error is overruled.

II. Due Process
{¶ 10} N.K.'s due process argument in his first assignment of error raises issues that must be addressed under the second assignment, which challenges the sufficiency of the evidence. He claims it was error to prosecute him for sex offenses because he was only ten years old at the time of the incident with C.H., and nine or ten years old at the time of the incidents with A.W.

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Bluebook (online)
2003 Ohio 7059, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-nk-unpublished-decision-12-24-2003-ohioctapp-2003.