State v. Strowder, 2018 Ohio 1292

Background

Appellant Dashawn Strowder, age 17 at the time, was mandatorily bound over from juvenile court and indicted on multiple counts arising from an April 21, 2013 armed abduction, sexual assaults, robbery, and related offenses; trial occurred in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.
The victim testified she was carjacked at gunpoint, driven to a secluded area, and repeatedly sexually assaulted by two armed assailants before the perpetrators fled in her vehicle.
DNA from oral swabs and underwear contained a mixed profile identifying Strowder and codefendant Isaiah Campbell; statistical rarities were presented (e.g., one in a trillion).
Strowder was acquitted on one rape count but convicted on remaining counts (rape, kidnapping, robbery, felonious assault, etc.); sexually violent predator specifications were found based on additional conduct.
The trial court imposed merged convictions and consecutive sentences totaling 50 years to life, ordered consecutive to an existing nine-year sentence from another matter.
On appeal Strowder raised challenges to mandatory juvenile bindover (due process and equal protection), jury instruction to an attorney-juror, sufficiency/manifest weight of felonious assault conviction, and Eighth Amendment/cruel-and-unusual claim to his aggregate juvenile sentence.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Validity of mandatory juvenile bindover (due process)	State: statutes (R.C. 2152.10/2152.12) valid; bindover procedures constitutional	Strowder: mandatory transfer denied due process—no juvenile hearing; foreclosed mitigation based on youth	Affirmed: Ohio Supreme Court precedent upholds mandatory bindover (Aalim) — no due process violation
Mandatory bindover (equal protection)	State: classification by age and statute passes constitutional review per precedent	Strowder: statutes lack strict scrutiny protection for juveniles and lack rational basis for disparate treatment	Affirmed: bindover statutes satisfy equal protection (Aalim)
Jury instruction addressing an attorney juror	State: instruction protects deliberations from extraneous legal advice	Strowder: instruction singled out attorney-juror and impeded full participation	Affirmed: instruction proper; aimed to prevent extraneous legal influence
Sufficiency / manifest weight of felonious assault evidence	State: testimony and DNA plus gunpoint conduct support felonious assault intent	Strowder: victim’s inconsistent IDs and credibility undermine conviction	Affirmed: DNA and victim testimony sufficient; jury did not lose its way on credibility
Eighth Amendment challenge to aggregate juvenile sentence (life-term/term-of-years)	State: sentencing lawful as imposed	Strowder: 50-year term for juvenile nonhomicide crimes is cruel and unusual; lacks meaningful opportunity for release	Sentence reversed and remanded for resentencing to establish meaningful parole-eligibility opportunity (Moore/Graham principles apply)

Key Cases Cited

State v. Aalim, 150 Ohio St.3d 489 (2017) (upholding mandatory juvenile bindover statutes under due process and equal protection)
State v. Moore, 149 Ohio St.3d 557 (2016) (Graham principles prohibit term-of-years sentences that effectively bar meaningful opportunity for release for juvenile nonhomicide offenders)
Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48 (2010) (life without parole for juvenile nonhomicide offenders violates Eighth Amendment)
State v. Brooks, 44 Ohio St.3d 185 (1989) (pointing a deadly weapon may support felonious assault when other facts strongly corroborate intent to cause harm)
State v. Green, 58 Ohio St.3d 239 (1991) (similar holding: aiming a weapon at a person can be strongly corroborative of intent)
State v. Wilson, 113 Ohio St.3d 382 (2007) (explaining manifest-weight standard and distinction from sufficiency)
State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (1997) (defining manifest-weight-of-the-evidence review)
State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (1991) (setting the sufficiency standard under Jackson/Jenks)