In re R.M. ( 2023 )

[Cite as In re R.M., 2023-Ohio-1641.]
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS
FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT OF OHIO
HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO
IN RE: R.M. : APPEAL NOS. C-220294,
C-220295,
: C-220296,
C-220297,
: C-220298,
C-220299
: TRIAL NOS. 15-7498Z,
16-4858Z,
: 16-4859Z,
17-2739Z,
: 17-2740Z,
17-2742Z
:
: O P I N I O N.
Appeals From: Hamilton County Juvenile Court
Judgments Appealed From Are: Affirmed
Date of Judgment Entry on Appeal: May 17, 2023
Melissa A. Powers, Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney, and Keith Sauter,
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for Appellee State of Ohio,
Raymond T. Faller, Hamilton County Public Defender, and Jessica Moss, Assistant
Public Defender, for Appellant R.M.
OHIO FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEALS
CROUSE, Presiding Judge.
{¶1} Appellant R.M. appeals the juvenile court’s decisions to deny his
applications for sealing and expungement of the records of six juvenile cases. R.M.
requested sealing and expungement of four delinquency adjudications and two
juvenile cases that were bound over to adult court and subsequently dismissed. For
the following reasons, we affirm the juvenile court’s decisions.
I. Factual and Procedural History
{¶2} In March 2021, then-20-year-old R.M. filed applications for sealing and
expungement of the records of his juvenile cases from 2015 through 2017. The state
filed objections to R.M.’s applications. After a hearing, the magistrate denied R.M.’s
applications. R.M. timely filed objections to the magistrate’s decisions. Following a
hearing, the juvenile court independently reviewed the record, ruled on R.M.’s
objections, and denied his applications. R.M. now appeals the decisions of the juvenile
court.
{¶3} The records R.M. has sought to seal and expunge include a 2015
delinquency adjudication for theft, two 2017 delinquency adjudications for aggravated
robbery with firearm specifications, and a 2017 delinquency adjudication for receiving
stolen property with firearm specifications. If committed by an adult, the theft offense
would have been a misdemeanor, and the other offenses would have been felonies.
Additionally, R.M. has sought to seal and expunge the records of two 2016 cases which
were bound over to adult court and subsequently dismissed for want of prosecution.
{¶4} R.M. was 21 years old at the time of the hearing before the magistrate.
During the hearing, R.M. testified that he had employment through a temporary
employment service at a warehouse, but he could not recall the name of the business
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where he worked. R.M. also noted that he had made progress toward, but had not yet
completed, earning a high-school diploma. The state argued that R.M. had an adult
misdemeanor conviction for falsification in 2020 and another adult misdemeanor
conviction for public gaming in 2021. The magistrate also heard that R.M. had not paid
restitution in one of his cases.
{¶5} The juvenile court denied R.M.’s applications because it found that R.M.
had failed to demonstrate that he had been rehabilitated to a satisfactory degree.
II. Analysis
{¶6} In his sole assignment of error, R.M. argues that because he had
demonstrated that he was sufficiently rehabilitated, the juvenile court abused its
discretion by refusing to seal and expunge his juvenile records. Additionally, R.M.
argues that the court erred by considering his failure to pay restitution in one of his
juvenile cases as a factor that indicates that he is not satisfactorily rehabilitated.
Finally, R.M. argues that the juvenile court should have used its “extrajudicial
authority” to seal records of cases which were bound over to adult court and
subsequently dismissed there.
{¶7} This court reviews a trial court’s decision whether to seal records under
an abuse-of-discretion standard. In re A.J., 1st Dist. Hamilton No. C-210111,
2021-Ohio-3917, ¶ 6, citing State v. Floyd, 2018-Ohio-5107, 126 N.E.3d 361, ¶ 4 (1st
Dist.). An appellate court will not disturb the judgment of the trial court “unless the
court has exercised its discretionary judgment over the matter in an unwarranted way
or committed legal error.” State v. A.S., 2022-Ohio-3833, 199 N.E.3d 994, ¶ 5 (1st
Dist.).
{¶8} The juvenile-record-sealing statute provides, in relevant part, that “the
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OHIO FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEALS
court may order the records of the person that are the subject of the motion or
application to be sealed if it finds that the person has been rehabilitated to a
satisfactory degree.” R.C. 2151.356(C)(2)(e).
In determining whether the person has been rehabilitated to a
satisfactory degree, the court may consider all of the following:
(i) The age of the person;
(ii) The nature of the case;
(iii) The cessation or continuation of delinquent, unruly,
or criminal behavior;
(iv) The education and employment history of the person;
(v) The granting of a new tier classification or
declassification from the juvenile offender registry * * *;
(vi) Any other circumstances that may relate to the
rehabilitation of the person who is the subject of the
records under consideration.
Id.{¶9} Here, the court considered each of the statutory factors. The court found
that R.M. was 20 years old at the time of his application, and 21 at the time of his
hearing. The juvenile cases involved misdemeanor theft, aggravated robberies with
firearm specifications, and receiving stolen property. The court found that R.M. had
“continued criminal behavior into his adult years” with misdemeanor convictions for
falsification in 2020 and public gaming in 2021. The court noted that R.M. had not yet
earned his high-school diploma, although he was working towards it. The court further
noted that R.M. was employed through a temporary service agency at a warehouse,
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but he could not recall what the warehouse was called. Finally, the court noted under
the “any other circumstances” factor that R.M. had failed to pay restitution in one of
his juvenile cases. The factor relating to the juvenile offender registry, R.C.
2151.356(C)(2)(e)(v), is not relevant.
{¶10} The record supports the juvenile court’s findings. R.M. had delinquency
adjudications for serious offenses while a juvenile and had misdemeanor offenses after
reaching adulthood. His most recent misdemeanor offense was in the same year as his
application for sealing his juvenile record. He had subsequent misdemeanor
convictions as an adult in 2020 and 2021. He also did not pay court-ordered
restitution. Based on this record, we cannot say that the juvenile court abused its
discretion by denying R.M.’s applications.
{¶11} R.M. argues that it was inappropriate for the juvenile court to consider
his failure to pay restitution because the juvenile court lacked jurisdiction to collect
the outstanding amount after his 21st birthday. R.M. argues that he can never satisfy
this factor to show rehabilitation because it became impossible to accomplish after he
turned 21.
{¶12} Assuming, without deciding, that it was inappropriate for the court to
consider the restitution issue, it is clear that the primary factor driving the court’s
decision was the continuation of R.M.’s criminal behavior into his brief period of
adulthood. The juvenile court found that “[v]ery little weighs in favor of a finding that
[R.M.] has been rehabilitated to a satisfactory degree. He has not yet earned his high
school diploma, he has convictions as an adult, despite only being an adult for three
years, including a crime of dishonesty in his Falsification conviction. [R.M]
additionally failed to pay the ordered restitution.”
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{¶13} Finally, R.M. argues that the juvenile court should have sealed and
expunged his records in the cases numbered 16-4858 and 16-4859. These cases were
bound over from the juvenile court to the adult court. The cases were subsequently
dismissed by the adult court. R.M. acknowledges that the sealing statutes do not
provide a mechanism for the juvenile court to seal a record of a case that was
transferred to the adult court and subsequently dismissed there. The relevant statutes
provide for (1) mandatory sealing when the case (a) resulted in a dismissal by the
juvenile court after a trial on the merits, or (b) the juvenile court found that the child
was not a delinquent child, an unruly child, or a juvenile traffic offender, R.C.
2151.356(B)(1)(d); or (2) discretionary sealing after adjudication that the child is a
delinquent child, an unruly child, or a juvenile traffic offender. R.C. 2151.356(C)(1).
{¶14} R.M. argues that the juvenile court possesses extrastatutory authority to
permit sealing of records in “unusual and exceptional” cases. R.M. suggests that this
extrastatutory authority to seal a case record derives from the Supreme Court’s
decision in Pepper Pike v. Doe, 66 Ohio St.2d 374, 421 N.E.2d 1303 (1981). In a
subsequent case, the court explained that the holding of Pepper Pike was limited to
“the unique facts of that case and the absence of legislative guidance.” State v. Radcliff,
142 Ohio St.3d 78, 2015-Ohio-235, 28 N.E.3d 69, ¶ 20. R.M. contends that the same
unique circumstances apply here.
{¶15} However, we previously considered a similar argument in In re A.J., 1st
Dist. Hamilton No. C-210111, 2021-Ohio-3917. In that case, we rejected the
proposition that the court could seal a juvenile record that resulted in a dismissal for
want of prosecution. Id. at ¶ 15. We noted that, although there is no provision for
sealing a case under these circumstances, there is no lack of legislative guidance on the
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topic, nor are the circumstances of the case unusual or exceptional. Id.
{¶16} R.M. further argues that, because the adult cases are eligible for sealing,
the juvenile court should have sealed the associated juvenile cases. R.M. suggests that
cases in our sister districts have held that, where a case has been refiled, the prior cases
arising from the same incident and charging the same infractions constitute “the same
case.” See State v. T.D., 6th Dist. Lucas No. L-20-1149, 2021-Ohio-513, ¶ 20;
Columbus v. Kuhel, 10th Dist. Franklin No. 17AP-774, 2018-Ohio-4124; State v. Kuhel,
10th Dist. Franklin No. 17AP-774, 2018-Ohio-4963.
{¶17} We read T.D. to hold that where the subsequent case was sealed, the
court should also have sealed the prior, related case. Under that logic, R.M. would need
to have the adult record sealed, which could then provide a stronger justification for
sealing the associated juvenile record.
{¶18} We agree that the facts of R.M.’s bound-over cases demonstrate a gap in
the current statutory framework for the sealing of the records of juvenile cases.
However, without legislative action, there is no statutory authority for the juvenile
court to seal the record of charges that were bound over and subsequently dismissed
in adult court. And our decision in In re A.J. precludes the juvenile court’s exercise of
extrastatutory authority to seal R.M.’s records at this time.
{¶19} On these facts, we cannot say that the juvenile court exercised its
judgment in an unwarranted way or committed legal error. The court did not abuse its
discretion in denying R.M.’s applications.
III. Conclusion
{¶20} For the foregoing reasons, we overrule R.M.’s sole assignment of error
and affirm the judgments of the juvenile court.
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Judgments affirmed.
ZAYAS and KINSLEY, JJ., concur.
Please note:
The court has recorded its entry on the date of the release of this opinion.
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