Appeals Court Says Cuyahoga County Juvenile Judges Abused Discretion in Three Bindover Cases

Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court Credit: Sylvia Jarrus for The Marshall Project

Three times in the past year, 8th District Court of Appeals judges have ruled that Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court judges abused their discretion when deciding to transfer children accused of serious crimes to adult court.

The rulings involve a special type of juvenile court case called a discretionary bindover. Unlike mandatory bindovers, which require only evidence that a child likely committed a crime before their case is transferred to adult court, judges can deny the transfer of a discretionary bindover by determining that the child could be rehabilitated in the juvenile court system.

Since 2020, appellate judges have upheld at least eight discretionary bindover transfers, making three reversals in a year rare.

Each 2-1 ruling determined that juvenile court judges failed to weigh the time that remained for rehabilitation in a juvenile justice setting and blamed children for failed prior attempts at behavioral or mental health treatment.

In some cases, the appellate judges found overwhelmed mental health providers dropped the children as clients before treatment could begin, or parents would not commit to programs. And none of the children — each later convicted of aggravated robbery or attempted murder — had previously been sentenced to a youth prison, leaving that most intensive alternative available for juvenile judges to consider.

Forensic psychologist Daniel Hrinko, with 30 years of experience evaluating young people for prosecutors and defense attorneys, offered expert testimony in a seminal 2022 Ohio Supreme Court case that paved the way for the string of reversals in Cuyahoga County.

“I typically find that in most of the bindovers I do, there have probably been opportunities missed where the system, and I mean the whole system in the community, could have done more … to effect an opportunity for this kid to get their act together,” he told The Marshall Project – Cleveland.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to reverse the two most recent appellate decisions. The court declined to take up the first case, which was sent back to the juvenile court where the boy’s sentence was reduced from years in adult prison to months in a youth detention facility. Now 18, he was released in October.

The other two boys, both 17, remain incarcerated at an adult prison in Pickaway County.

This article was published in partnership with The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Sign up for their Cleveland newsletter and follow them on Instagram, TikTok, Reddit and Facebook.