State v. Barnard
2019 Ohio 2283
| Ohio Ct. App. | 2019Background
- Shawn G. Barnard pled guilty on September 26, 2016 to multiple drug and related felonies in four consolidated Ashtabula County cases and received a stipulated aggregate sentence of 15 years on October 6, 2016.
- Barnard’s convictions and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal in 2018.
- In June 2018 Barnard filed a petition for postconviction relief under R.C. 2953.21, alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel for failing to seek disqualification of Prosecutor Nicholas Iarocci.
- Barnard claimed Iarocci previously represented him in 1999 and learned confidential information that motivated prosecutorial misconduct; he asserted this evidence was dehors the record.
- The trial court dismissed the petition as barred by res judicata because Barnard knew of Iarocci’s prior representation and did not raise the issue at trial or on direct appeal.
- Barnard appealed; the appellate court affirmed, holding the guilty pleas waived pre-plea constitutional claims and that the ineffective-assistance complaint did not invalidate the voluntariness of the pleas.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether res judicata bars Barnard’s postconviction petition | State: res judicata applies because issue could have been raised at trial or on direct appeal | Barnard: evidence of conflict was dehors the record so could not be raised on direct appeal; petition timely | Held: res judicata bars the claim; Barnard knew of conflict when pleading guilty and waived pre-plea claims |
| Whether Barnard presented dehors-the-record evidence requiring an evidentiary hearing | Barnard: affidavits and allegations about prior attorney-client disclosures justify a hearing | State: record shows Barnard knew and accepted counsel’s performance; no substantive grounds for relief | Held: dehors-the-record claim immaterial because plea was knowing and voluntary; no hearing required |
| Whether ineffective assistance of counsel claim survives a voluntary guilty plea | Barnard: counsel was ineffective for not seeking prosecutor disqualification | State: guilty plea waives independent pre-plea constitutional claims except attacks on plea voluntariness | Held: plea waived pre-plea ineffective-assistance claims absent showing counsel’s advice rendered plea unknowing |
| Whether the petition established that the pleas were involuntary or unintelligent | Barnard: counsel’s failure to remove prosecutor showed counsel’s incompetence affecting plea | State: plea colloquy and record show plea was knowing, voluntary, and intelligent | Held: record establishes voluntariness; Barnard did not show gross error in counsel’s advice to invalidate plea |
Key Cases Cited
- State v. Steffen, 70 Ohio St.3d 399 (1994) (postconviction relief is narrow; res judicata bars claims raised or that could have been raised earlier)
- State v. Perry, 10 Ohio St.2d 175 (1967) (res judicata bars defendants from later litigating defenses or due-process claims that were or could have been raised at trial)
- State v. Obermiller, 147 Ohio St.3d 175 (2016) (guilty plea waives independent claims of pre-plea constitutional deprivation, including ineffective assistance)
- State v. Spates, 64 Ohio St.3d 269 (1992) (guilty plea breaks the chain of events pre-plea; challenges survive only to the extent they attack voluntariness of plea)
- McMann v. Richardson, 397 U.S. 759 (1970) (standard for evaluating counsel’s advice to plead guilty; defendant must show gross error to invalidate plea)
- State v. Cole, 2 Ohio St.3d 112 (1982) (evidence dehors the record of ineffective assistance can, in some cases, prevent dismissal on res judicata grounds)