Judge SHOCKED—Her DUI Left Teen in Street—Case Collapses

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:05]This is case number 25 CR43262, the state of Ohio versus Janet Ray Kenfeld. Kenfield, I'm sorry. Miss Kenfield is before the court with council, Mr. Rubenstein, Mr. Goldman.

[00:00:17]Uh, Miss Nicholson's here on behalf of the state of Ohio. Uh we are here uh the court had previously uh had a hearing where there was a stipulation with regard to the competency report although I don't see where there's ever been a finding. We didn't put anything down yet.

[00:00:33]>> We didn't put anything down because of the kind of pending issues. Okay. We can put that entry down today.

[00:00:38]>> All right. So today the today the court intends to find the defendant incompetent to stand trial and not restorable. Correct.

[00:00:46]>> That's correct your honor.

[00:00:47]>> All right. Then we had the issue with regard to the court's continuing jurisdiction over the defendant during uh during the statutoily required time.

[00:00:55]Uh Miss Nicholson, there was a memo filed on behalf of the defendant with regard to dismissal of the charge of the case against Miss Kenfield. Um your honor, the state um understands um with what the defense has filed that statutoily the offense of aggravated vehicular assault is um not one that the court can retain jurisdiction over um based on its elements um and what is required.

[00:01:22]>> Okay. Uh anything else else then on uh does I take it that I see the the alleged victims are in the courtroom.

[00:01:30]>> Yes.

[00:01:30]>> They want to make a statement.

[00:01:32]>> Yes, your honor. Um the victim's mother, Mindy, would like to address the court.

[00:01:36]She does understand um that the case will be dismissed. Um but as there will not be a time for her to make a real victim impact statement, I would ask the court to let her do that at this point.

[00:01:48]>> All right. The court will allow it.

[00:01:49]Ma'am, you can step forward to the podium, please.

[00:02:00]>> Hi, I'm Mindy Balani. Jake's mom. Am I allowed to read my statement now?

[00:02:06]>> Yes, ma'am.

[00:02:07]>> Okay.

[00:02:09]The night before Thanksgiving, my son Jakei was leaving work at Dorothy Lane Market, looking forward to spending the holiday with his family. Jake is a careful, responsible young man who always follows the rules. He waited for the crosswalk signal, doing everything right, completely unaware that his life was about to change because of a choice someone else made. When Janet Kenfield chose to drink or to drive after drinking, she struck Jake and left him lying helpless in the cold, dark street, unable to move or call for help. I was awakened by calls and messages telling me that my sweet boy, who ironically doesn't even drink alcohol, was in the emergency room. When I arrived, I learned he needed emergency surgery to repair a severely broken hip. The amount of pain he was in was overwhelming to witness. So many lives were affected by this incident far beyond just Jake's. I had to take a significant amount of time off work to care for him, which meant my co-workers had to rearrange their schedules and take on additional responsibilities.

[00:03:23]Jake's brother and sister spent much of their free time helping him with basic tasks he could no longer do on his own.

[00:03:30]Our entire network of family and friends was shaken by what happened. Many of them were emotionally traumatized, worried constantly about Jake's recovery and our family's well-being. People went out of their way to visit, bring meals, and offer support, trying to ease the burden in any way they could. Their kindness meant a great deal, but it also underscored how deeply this incident disrupted all of our lives. This experience not only saddened me, but made me angry. I want justice for my son, who never deserved to be in this situation. Learning that the person responsible for Jake's injuries is not accepting responsibility and not able to be held fully accountable has been incredibly painful for our family. It's added a layer of frustration and disbelief on top of the trauma we were already navigating.

[00:04:25]Ultimately, we know that Mrs. Kenfield caused this to happen to my Jake.

[00:04:30]Regardless of the concessions being made on her behalf, I want her to know that Jake is a kind-hearted, hard-working, wise beyond his years 24year-old young man that she impacted physically, mentally, and spiritually. I don't know if I'd be able to say this if Jay Kennet survived this incident, but I forgave you a long time ago. I've made unwise decisions in my life, but by God's grace, I didn't cause this much affliction to anyone. I thank God too many times to count for sparing my son.

[00:05:10]I thank God too many times to count for not sparing his son, Jesus. As a very young boy, Jake made the decision to trust Jesus as his savior. He never expected his life to be easy or perfect, but he never anticipated the pain either. The beauty of a relationship with Christ is no matter what life brings us, there's a higher purpose. And there can be peace in the purpose, no matter how painful. If Jake and our family went through this misery just to tell you, you and your family, Janet, that Jesus forgives you, he sees you, and he wants you to know him. We found our purpose.

[00:05:58]>> Mr. Nicholson, is there anything else?

[00:06:00]>> Uh, no, your honor.

[00:06:02]>> Mr. Rubenstein, is there anything on behalf of the defendant?

[00:06:05]>> Judge will submit on the written motions. Thank you.

[00:06:08]>> All right. At this time I do I I I ma'am I do feel your pain. Uh it is somewhat frustrating. Uh but I would suggest perhaps that uh if you uh wanted to make a change that you reach out to your uh state rep or senator, state senator to make a change in the in the way the word statute is worded. Um I guess I was somewhat surprised to learn that this is not considered an offense of violence.

[00:06:35]Uh I guess from your perspective it is clearly an offense of violence the way your son was was injured but uh it is not. So the court does not have any choice at this time but to grant the defendant's request and dismiss uh the uh indictment. I would I would uh encourage Jake uh as as you know Jake all things work for good for those who love God who have called according to his purpose. So, he has a plan for you. Okay, >> that's all. Thank you all.

[00:07:09]>> And we'll order the return of the vehicle.

[00:07:11]>> Yes, that'll be granted as well. Thank you.

[00:07:13]>> Thank you, judge.