State v. Kahn, 2017 Ohio 4067

Michael Kahn, with prior convictions for child sexual offenses and a 1991 guilty plea to rape, was subject to a sexual-predator classification hearing under Ohio’s pre-2008 Megan’s Law.
Kahn was evaluated in 2016 by Dr. Michael Aronoff, who reported Kahn was "actively psychotic" during interview and distracted by auditory hallucinations, making interview-derived information of questionable validity.
Dr. Aronoff nevertheless relied on historical records, prior diagnoses (including pedophilia and schizoaffective disorder), prior ABEL and STATIC-99 testing, and other institutional reports to opine that Kahn had significant sexual interest in young children and a moderate-to-high static risk of reoffending.
At the hearing defense counsel argued Kahn was incompetent and requested a competency hearing; the state asserted competency hearings under R.C. 2945.37 apply only in criminal actions and sexual-predator hearings are civil.
The trial court proceeded without a competency determination and, finding clear and convincing evidence, classified Kahn a sexual predator.
The court of appeals affirmed, rejecting the due-process/competency argument and holding the classification was supported by competent, credible evidence (Dr. Aronoff’s opinions, test scores, criminal history, victim ages, multiple victims, failure to complete treatment, and mental-health history).

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court was required to hold a competency hearing before a sexual-predator (Megan’s Law) civil classification hearing	State: R.C. 2945.37 applies only to criminal actions; sexual-predator hearings are civil so no statutory competency hearing required	Kahn: Due process requires competency hearing because incompetence prevents meaningful participation and the statutory rights to testify, present evidence, and confront witnesses	Court: No competency hearing required; Megan’s Law proceedings are civil/remedial, R.C. 2945.37 governs criminal actions only, and effective counsel protects defendant’s interests (first assignment overruled)
Whether classification as a sexual predator was against the manifest weight of the evidence	State: Dr. Aronoff’s evaluation, prior diagnoses, ABEL/STATIC-99 scores, criminal history, victim ages/multiple victims, lack of treatment, and history of sexual aggression support a sexual-predator finding by clear and convincing evidence	Kahn: Evidence is stale and insufficient to show likelihood of future sexual offenses; psychosis undermines the evaluation	Court: Affirmed classification — trial court’s factual findings are supported by competent, credible evidence including updated STATIC-99, historical assessments, clinical opinion, and offense history (second assignment overruled)

Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471 (U.S. 1972) (parole-revocation due-process balancing framework)
Gagnon v. Scarpelli, 411 U.S. 778 (U.S. 1973) (due process protections in revocation proceedings)
State v. Cook, 83 Ohio St.3d 404 (Ohio 1998) (Megan’s Law classification is civil/remedial, not punitive)
State v. Ferguson, 120 Ohio St.3d 7 (Ohio 2008) (sex-offender classification remedial; lesser due-process protections compared to criminal revocation)
State v. Hayden, 96 Ohio St.3d 211 (Ohio 2002) (convicted person automatically a sexually oriented offender; limited circumstances obviate hearing)
State v. Chambers, 151 Ohio App.3d 243 (Ohio Ct. App. 2002) (holding competency hearing required before sexual-classification hearing in that district)
State v. Wilson, 113 Ohio St.3d 382 (Ohio 2007) (deference to trial court factfinding in civil sexual-classification cases)
State v. Bodyke, 126 Ohio St.3d 266 (Ohio 2010) (Adam Walsh Act not retroactive; Megan’s Law governs pre-2008 offenses)