State v. Atwood

I respectfully dissent.

The issue in this case was decided by this court in State v. Bosstic (1984), 16 Ohio App.3d 438, 16 OBR 509, 476 N.E.2d 722, and is stare decisis on the question. We held in paragraph two of the syllabus as follows:

“An indigent has the constitutional right to court-appointed counsel in a prosecution for violation of R.C. 3321.03, failure to send a child to school.”

The dissent in Bosstic, and the majority opinion here, present the same construction of R.C. 3321.38. Under this construction, prosecution is a two-step process. First, there is a conviction on the merits, and…