COLERAIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A teenager accused of punching a Colerain High School teacher in January will next face a hearing to determine whether he will be charged as an adult or as a juvenile.
In body camera video from the moments police spoke with the teen, the student told officers he'd begun freaking out minutes after hitting a vape in the school's bathroom.
However, in court Monday, toxicology results showed the teen barely had any traceable drugs in his system — only a small amount of THC, said Hamilton County Prosecutor Melissa Powers.
"The results are he wouldn't have even been impaired," said Powers. "There was some level — a trace amount — of THC metabolite in his blood and his urine, but not enough that would even impair him to operate a motor vehicle. It was such, such a small amount."
If the teen's toxicology results had shown he was unwittingly dosed with something before his alleged attack on a teacher, it's possible it could have changed whether his case would be tried as an adult or juvenile case.
Bennett requested and was granted the ability to hire out an independent toxicology test using the same samples as the prosecution; the prosecution's test was completed through the Hamilton County Coroner's Office, Powers said. The judge granted Bennett's request, though no timeline on when the second test would be complete was discussed in court.
Bennett said after court he had no reason to doubt the test performed by the coroner's office, just that securing a second test was out of due diligence.
Still, Bennett said he doesn't agree with his client being prosecuted as an adult.
"The thing to realize and to keep track of is this: You still have a 15-year-old juvenile with absolutely no criminal record that should be treated accordingly," said Bennett. "So he should not be bound over as an adult as a result of this felonious assault."
The alleged assault originally took place on January 4 at around 2:15 p.m. Police said school resource officers were alerted that a teacher had been assaulted by a student in a classroom; Powers said that teacher was punched multiple times in the head causing injuries so severe her skull cap had to be removed "in order to prevent brain damage due to swelling."
That teacher and the teacher's family have declined requests for interview.
The teen has been charged with felonious assault and has been in the Hamilton County Juvenile Detention Center since the alleged attack happened.
The hearing to determine whether the teen will be tried as an adult or a juvenile was scheduled for April 19.
