COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that judges in the majority of juvenile courts across the state lack the authority to promise witnesses that they won’t be charged with a crime if they testify to doing something illegal.
The unanimous decision barred a Southwest Ohio juvenile court judge from granting immunity from prosecution to a child who was forced to testify against his mother in a domestic violence case. The boy wanted immunity because he had told two different stories of what happened to police and his mother’s defense attorney, according to the opinion.
