State v. Robinson

Summary

The Sixth District Court of Appeals of Ohio reversed judgments convicting Corey Robinson after guilty pleas to improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle and carrying concealed weapons. The court held that the trial court should have considered Robinson’s as-applied constitutional challenges to the age-based firearms restrictions in Ohio Revised Code Section 2923.111. The court remanded the matters for the trial court to determine the merits of those challenges and declined to decide the constitutional issue in the first instance.

Holdings

1. The trial court erred by declining to rule on the merits of Robinson's as-applied constitutional challenges because the challenges were properly before the court for determination under Crim.R. 12.
2. The appellate court should not decide Robinson's constitutional arguments in the first instance because the trial court had not ruled on them; the constitutional assignment of error was therefore moot.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the trial court erred by denying Robinson's motions to dismiss without deciding the merits of his as-applied constitutional challenges.
2. Whether the appellate court should decide in the first instance whether the age provision of R.C. 2923.111 is unconstitutional as applied to Robinson under the Second Amendment.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded