In re D.R. , 2011 Ohio 4462 ( 2011 )

[Cite as In re D.R., 2011-Ohio-4462.]
STATE OF OHIO ) IN THE COURT OF APPEALS
)ss: NINTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
COUNTY OF LORAIN )
IN RE: D.R.
C.A. No. 11CA009970
APPEAL FROM JUDGMENT
ENTERED IN THE
COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
COUNTY OF LORAIN, OHIO
CASE No. 10JD29391
DECISION AND JOURNAL ENTRY
Dated: September 6, 2011
BELFANCE, Presiding Judge.
{¶1} Appellant, D.R., appeals the dispositional order of the Lorain County Court of
Common Pleas, Juvenile Division, that committed him to the Lorain County Jail for three
consecutive ninety-day terms.
{¶2} D.R. appeared in juvenile court and admitted that he was a delinquent child by
virtue of committing two counts of complicity and one count of obstructing official business.
During the dispositional hearing, D.R.’s attorney expressed some confusion with respect to
whether the recommendations that the prosecutor and the probation department made involved a
suspended jail sentence. The trial court clarified that the sentences were suspended with respect
to the county detention home because D.R. was no longer a juvenile, but that he would still serve
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the jail term in an adult facility. According to his attorney, D.R. “agree[d] with the
recommendations, to the point that he just would like this closed out[.]” When D.R. said that he
had nothing else to say, the trial court committed him to the Lorain County Jail to serve a ninety-
day jail term for each offense, with fifty-four days credit for time served within the disposition
for count one.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR
“APPELLANT WAS DENIED EFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF
COUNSEL.”
{¶3} D.R.’s assignment of error is that, because his attorney did not object to the
disposition once she realized that he would be sentenced to jail or move the trial court to permit
D.R. to withdraw his admissions, he received ineffective assistance of counsel. Specifically,
D.R. argues that he admitted the allegations in the complaint with the understanding that his
entire jail term would be suspended.
{¶4} This Court applies the same analysis to claims of ineffective assistance of counsel
for juveniles and adults: whether there was deficiency in the performance of counsel and that, but
for counsel’s errors, there is a reasonable possibility that the outcome of the proceeding would
have been different. In re Wood, 9th Dist. No. 04CA0005-M, 2004-Ohio-6539, at ¶10. In the
context of an admission of delinquency, a juvenile must demonstrate a reasonable probability
that he would not have entered the admission in the absence of counsel’s errors. See State v. Xie
(1992), 62 Ohio St.3d 521, 524. The alleged ineffective assistance of counsel must be apparent
from the record on appeal. See State v. Cooperrider (1983), 4 Ohio St.3d 226, 228. When
“allegations of the ineffectiveness of counsel are premised on evidence outside the record, * * *
the proper mechanism for relief is through the post-conviction remedies of R.C. 2953.21.” State
v. Sweeten, 9th Dist. No. 07CA009106, 2007-Ohio-6547, at ¶12.
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{¶5} In this case, D.R.’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel is based on his
representations that he misunderstood the possible dispositions that he faced; that his attorney
knew about the misunderstanding; and that his attorney should have moved to withdraw the
admission or objected to the disposition on that basis. These allegations are not premised on
evidence in the record, however, and as such, they cannot form the basis of an ineffective
assistance argument on direct appeal. See Sweeten, 2007-Ohio-6547, at ¶12. D.R.’s assignment
of error is overruled.
{¶6} D.R.’s assignment of error is overruled, and the judgment of the trial court is
affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
There were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
We order that a special mandate issue out of this Court, directing the Court of Common
Pleas, County of Lorain, State of Ohio, to carry this judgment into execution. A certified copy of
this journal entry shall constitute the mandate, pursuant to App.R. 27.
Immediately upon the filing hereof, this document shall constitute the journal entry of
judgment, and it shall be file stamped by the Clerk of the Court of Appeals at which time the
period for review shall begin to run. App.R. 22(E). The Clerk of the Court of Appeals is
instructed to mail a notice of entry of this judgment to the parties and to make a notation of the
mailing in the docket, pursuant to App.R. 30.
Costs taxed to Appellant.
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EVE V. BELFANCE
FOR THE COURT
WHITMORE, J.
DICKINSON, J.
CONCUR
APPEARANCES:
BARBARA A. WEBBER, Attorney at Law, for Appellant.
DENNIS P. WILL, Prosecuting Attorney, and NICK J. HANEK, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney,
for Appellee.