State v. Carnes, 75 N.E.3d 774

Anthony Carnes was indicted under R.C. 2923.13(A)(2) for having a weapon while under a disability based on a 1994 juvenile adjudication for an offense equivalent to felonious assault.
Carnes moved pretrial to dismiss the indictment, arguing the 1994 juvenile adjudication was uncounseled and his waiver of counsel then was invalid, so it could not be used to prove the disability element.
Carnes submitted the certified juvenile-court record; the trial court found the 1994 waiver valid, denied the motion, and Carnes was convicted and sentenced to 30 months.
The appellate court first held the pretrial motion could properly rely on evidence beyond the indictment because the challenge was collateral to the prior adjudication and capable of resolution without trying the general issue.
On the merits the court held that Bode and related authorities barring use of uncounseled prior adjudications apply narrowly to penalty enhancement and do not bar use of an uncounseled juvenile adjudication to establish a statutory firearm disability element.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether an uncounseled juvenile adjudication obtained without a valid waiver can be used to prove the "disability" element of a WUD charge under R.C. 2923.13(A)(2)	State: The mere fact of the prior adjudication creates the statutory disability; reliability of the prior proceeding is immaterial for the element.	Carnes: Bode and related precedent prohibit using uncounseled adjudications (without valid waiver) to prove elements of later offenses, not just for sentence enhancement.	The court held the prior uncounseled juvenile adjudication could be used to prove the disability element; Bode is limited to penalty enhancement contexts.

State v. Bode, 144 Ohio St.3d 155 (Ohio 2015) (juvenile adjudication with possibility of confinement that was uncounseled and lacked effective waiver cannot be used to enhance penalty)
Argersinger v. Hamlin, 407 U.S. 25 (U.S. 1972) (Sixth Amendment requires counsel where imprisonment is possible)
Scott v. Illinois, 440 U.S. 367 (U.S. 1979) (indigent defendant must be afforded counsel before imprisonment)
Nichols v. United States, 511 U.S. 738 (U.S. 1994) (limits on use of uncounseled convictions for enhancement; validity required for certain uses)
Lewis v. United States, 445 U.S. 55 (U.S. 1980) (prior uncounseled conviction may constitutionally support a statutory firearm disability)
State v. Brooke, 113 Ohio St.3d 199 (Ohio 2007) (limited collateral attack permitted when state uses prior conviction to enhance penalty)
State v. Brandon, 45 Ohio St.3d 85 (Ohio 1989) (uncounseled conviction without valid waiver cannot be used to enhance penalty)