In re L.G. 82 NE 3d 52 (Ohio Ct. App. 2018)
The Ohio Court of Appeals Second District affirmed the juvenile court’s suppression of L.G.’s statements, finding that L.G. was in custody when he was questioned by Dayton Public Schools’ Executive Director of Safety and Security, requiring Miranda warnings.
The court held in relevant part: “[T]he juvenile court reasonably concluded that, when viewing the totality of the circumstances, Bullens was acting in conjunction with law enforcement officers, such that Miranda warnings were required. The juvenile court explained, in part:
“While Mr. Bullens testified the City of Dayton Police did not direct his questioning of [L.G.] in any way, in light of the foregoing [facts], the Court finds a great deal of entanglement existed between the Officers and Sergeants of the Dayton Police Department responding to Longfellow Alternative School on October 27, 2015 and Mr. Bullens. The Court finds it significant that when Mr. Bullens arrived on scene, he and Sergeant Keller made the joint decision to have dogs check for any devices in the school building. Mr. Bullens and Sergeant Keller then made a joint decision to let children back in the school’s gymnasium. Later, Mr. Bullens offered a reward to students for information leading to the person responsible for making the bomb threat after he received permission from Detective Querubin at Miami Valley Crime Stoppers Association. Then, Mr. Bullens directed Mr. Ivy, the school’s Resource Officer, to retrieve [L.G.] from the gymnasium after receiving information implicating [L.G.] in the crime. Once made to sit alone and away from his peers in the school’s cafeteria, [L.G.] was questioned by Mr. Bullens about the incident in the close, physical presence of at least two (2) uniformed and armed Dayton Police Officers.”
Upon review of the totality of the circumstances, we agree that Bullens’s questioning of L.G. was part of the criminal investigation, not simply the school district’s investigation, into the bomb threat at Longfellow Alternative School. Bullens’s interactions with the police following the bomb threat, including his interview of L.G. in the presence of police officers, reasonably rendered him an agent of law enforcement for purposes of Miranda.”
