COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that county probate-juvenile courts do not have the same authority as a common pleas court to grant witness immunity in a criminal case, except where specifically granted by state law.
In a unanimous per curiam opinion, the Court noted that only juvenile courts in eight counties have the same powers as the general division.
The Ohio Supreme Court’s ruling came in response to a case involving Jessica Reynolds, who was charged in 2018 with a misdemeanor count of domestic violence and child endangering related to her juvenile son. Reynolds was convicted of both charges by Warren County Court Judge Gary Loxley, but the convictions were vacated by the Twelfth District Court of Appeals in 2020. The appeals court found that the trial court did not follow proper procedures for conducting a bench trial and that the county court did not have jurisdiction to hear the child-endangering charge, which must be heard by the probate-juvenile court.
After seeking to retry Reynolds for the domestic violence charge, the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office asked that Judge Loxley grant an application for immunity to L.C., Reynolds’s son, that requires him to testify but provides immunity for any criminal act about which the witness will testify. Judge Loxley denied the request, finding that the application for immunity must be filed in common pleas court.
The prosecutor then submitted an immunity request for L.C. and his stepbrother with Probate-Juvenile Judge Kirby. Immunity was needed because L.C. described the events leading to the charges differently to his mother’s lawyer than he had initially told law enforcement. In 2021, Judge Kirby granted immunity to both witnesses.
Reynolds sought a writ of mandamus or, alternatively, prohibition from the Ohio Supreme Court in 2022 to compel Judge Kirby to vacate his immunity grant, arguing he did not have the authority to provide immunity. She also requested a writ of mandamus to compel Warren County Prosecuting Attorney David Fornshell to petition the common pleas court general division for a grant of immunity for the two witnesses in her pending trial. Judge Kirby maintained he was authorized by R.C. 2945.44 to grant immunity.
The Supreme Court’s per curiam opinion noted that the common pleas court general division has jurisdiction over all types of cases except the most minor criminal offenses and minor civil cases. However, probate courts were established by the Ohio Constitution, while juvenile courts were created only by state law and possess only the jurisdiction granted by the General Assembly. The Court found that juvenile courts in only eight counties have the same powers as the general division.
The Court granted a writ of prohibition compelling Judge Kirby to vacate his orders granting immunity to the two minors, and it rejected Reynolds’s request to force Fornshell to apply for witness immunity.
