State v. Bush, 2020 Ohio 772

In June 2018 officers found a four‑year‑old girl shoeless and darting across a two‑lane road; she could not state her address but led officers to her home about 100 yards away.
Amanda Bush told officers she had sent the child to play in the front yard with her ten‑year‑old son; the child had been outside for about five minutes before officers returned her.
Officers issued Bush a citation for child endangerment under R.C. 2919.22(A); body‑cam footage of the encounter was admitted at trial.
The trial court reviewed the video and referenced, in sentencing, an offhand comment on the video from an unidentified bystander (“it’s happened like twice”), who did not testify at trial.
The trial court convicted Bush and imposed suspended jail time, a fine, and probation; Bush appealed, challenging sufficiency and weight of the evidence.
The First District reversed, holding the state failed to prove Bush acted recklessly and discharged her.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the state proved Bush acted recklessly (mens rea for R.C. 2919.22(A))	Officers saw the child unsupervised, darting into the street, and no older sibling was observed during their interaction, supporting a finding of recklessness	Bush sent the child to the front yard with an older sibling, the absence was brief (~5 minutes), precautions and boundaries existed, so conduct was at most negligent	Reversed: evidence insufficient to prove recklessness beyond a reasonable doubt
Admissibility/weight of an unidentified bystander's video comment relied on by the trial court	The comment supports prior instances of the child wandering and notice to Bush	The speaker did not testify; the remark is hearsay and does not show Bush knew of prior incidents	Court noted the comment was unreliable and the state offered no proof Bush knew of prior wandering; conviction still overturned on sufficiency grounds

State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (Ohio 1991) (Ohio standard for sufficiency review of criminal convictions)
State v. McGee, 79 Ohio St.3d 193 (Ohio 1997) (recklessness is the required mental state for R.C. 2919.22(A))
State v. Hartley, 194 Ohio App.3d 486 (1st Dist. 2011) (reiterating recklessness requirement for child endangerment)
State v. McLeod, 165 Ohio App.3d 434 (2d Dist. 2006) (brief periods of unsupervised absence may be insufficient to prove recklessness)
State v. Schaffer, 127 Ohio App.3d 501 (11th Dist. 1998) (holding loss of sight of a two‑year‑old for several minutes supported recklessness)
State v. Martin, 134 Ohio App.3d 41 (1st Dist. 1999) (cautioning against equating parental mistakes or negligence with criminal recklessness)
State v. Allen, 140 Ohio App.3d 322 (1st Dist. 2000) (short absences — e.g., two minutes — are not criminal)