In an opinion issued April 28, 2016, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that R.C. 2933.81(B) violates the due process rights of juveniles. The law presumes that a juvenile suspect’s statements made while in police custody are voluntary, if they are electronically recorded. In State v. Barker, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-2 decision that this presumption is unconstitutional, and that the state bears the burden of establishing that a juvenile suspect’s electronically recorded statements were voluntary.
