In re Kirby
{¶ 2} Kirby has maintained that he is innocent of any wrongdoing. He complains on appeal that he had attempted to admit to less serious charges, pursuant to an agreement with the prosecuting attorney, but that the juvenile court magistrate refused to accept his admission to lesser charges because he failed to admit to any facts that would form the basis for a finding of delinquency.
{¶ 3} Kirby argues that the magistrate should have accepted his proposed admission in accordance with North Carolina v. Alford (1970),
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{¶ 4} The record before us reflects that in June 2000, 11-year-old Gary Kirby accompanied his parents to visit his half-sister, Heather, who needed a babysitter for her grandmother and her five-year-old son. While there, Kirby watched television on a bed in Heather’s bedroom together with her son and her nine-year-old niece. When the girl began to fall off the bed, Kirby caught her, touching her breast. She left the room to tell Kirby’s mother what he had done to her. At that time, Kirby allegedly performed fellatio on Heather’s five-year-old son and had the boy perform fellatio on him.
{¶ 5} Upon investigation of these matters, Patrolman J. Slyder signed a delinquency complaint in juvenile court alleging that Kirby had committed two counts of rape, in violation of
{¶ 6} Kirby denied these allegations and has maintained throughout these proceedings that he did not do any of the things of which he is accused.
{¶ 8} The magistrate then asked Kirby for his version of what had occurred. Kirby stated that he and the others simply watched a movie and played outside. Because Kirby made no admission of culpability, the magistrate concluded that no factual basis existed for his admission. Defense counsel argued that Kirby should be allowed to enter an Alford plea to reduced charges, explaining that, after considering the seriousness of the charges and the risk of an adverse outcome, his client and his client’s mother agreed to the negotiated resolution.
{¶ 9} The magistrate explained that Kirby need not admit the facts as alleged in the case, but that he must admit to some facts that constituted an offense. The magistrate therefore treated Kirby’s refusal to admit the allegations as a denial, rejected the proposed resolution, and conducted an adjudicatory hearing on the merits of the charges, pursuant to
{¶ 10} At the conclusion of the evidence, the magistrate dismissed the gross sexual imposition charge but adjudicated Kirby delinquent on the two charges of rape. The trial court overruled Kirby’s objections and adopted the magistrate’s decision.
{¶ 11} On appeal, the appellate court noted that
{¶ 12} We accepted jurisdiction to consider whether a juvenile in Ohio has a constitutional right to enter an Alford plea.
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{¶ 13} In Alford, the court did not determine that adult offenders have a constitutional right to enter a guilty plea and simultaneously maintain innocence; rather, the opinion merely states that courts may, in certain circumstances, accept guilty pleas of defendants who maintain their innocence.
{¶ 14} The facts there show that Alford had been charged with the crime of first-degree murder, a capital offense in North Carolina. “Faced with strong evidence of guilt and no substantial evidentiary support for the claim of inno
{¶ 15} In federal habeas corpus proceedings, Alford argued that he was coerced into pleading guilty to avoid the death penalty. The Fourth Circuit granted the writ. The United States Supreme Court vacated that judgment and remanded the cause, holding that a criminal defendant may enter a guilty plea while maintaining his innocence provided that the plea is entered voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently and that some factual basis exists to support the allegations in the indictment. The court concluded that Alford, faced with such a strong case against him, voluntarily and intelligently agreed to plead to a lesser charge and avoid the possibility of the death penalty.
{¶ 16} The court never stated that every defendant has a constitutional right to enter a guilty plea while maintaining his innocence. The court explained:
{¶ 17} “Our holding does not mean that a trial judge must accept every constitutionally valid guilty plea merely because a defendant wishes so to plead. A criminal defendant does not have an absolute right under the Constitution to have his guilty plea accepted by the court, [citation omitted], although the States may by statute or otherwise confer such a right.” (Emphasis added.) Id. at 38,
{¶ 18} The court continued, “Likewise, the States may bar their courts from accepting guilty pleas from any defendants who assert their innocence.” (Emphasis added.) Id.
{¶ 19} Having concluded that no absolute constitutional right to enter an Alford plea exists and that states may bar courts from accepting Alford pleas, we consider here whether juveniles in Ohio may enter such a plea.
{¶ 20} Kirby maintains that juvenile offenders in this state should be permitted to enter Alford pleas because adult offenders in Ohio are permitted to do so and because the criminal procedure in adult court is analogous to the procedure for adjudicatory hearings in juvenile court.
{¶ 21} Procedural and systemic differences, however, exist between the juvenile courts and the adult criminal courts in Ohio. See, e.g., In re Agler (1969),
{¶ 22} Next, we recognize that the procedures for the acceptance of a guilty plea in an adult criminal court are found in
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{¶ 25} Further, when the juvenile court is deciding whether to accept the admission, it “may hear testimony, review documents, or make further inquiry, as it considers appropriate, or it may proceed directly to the action required by division (F) of this rule.”
{¶ 26} While
{¶ 27} Thus,
{¶ 28} We therefore affirm the judgment of the court of appeals.
Judgment affirmed.