State v. Boulware, 2024 Ohio 1388

Marcellas L. Boulware was indicted for murder, felonious assault, and felony murder following the shooting death of Cailus Parks, Jr. in Springfield, Ohio.
Through a plea agreement, Boulware pled guilty to an amended charge of first-degree voluntary manslaughter; remaining charges and specifications were dismissed.
The trial court accepted the plea and later sentenced Boulware to an indefinite term of 11 to 16.5 years under the Reagan Tokes Law.
On direct appeal, Boulware’s sentence was affirmed in part and remanded for the trial court to properly deliver Reagan Tokes Law notifications required by statute at sentencing.
Before resentencing, Boulware filed a post-sentence motion to withdraw his guilty plea, arguing he was not fully informed at the time of the plea due to lack of notifications.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Did the trial court err by denying Boulware's motion to withdraw his guilty plea due to lack of Reagan Tokes notifications at the plea hearing?	The plea was not entered knowingly and voluntarily because the court did not provide required Reagan Tokes notifications at the time of plea.	The notifications are required at sentencing, not during the plea hearing; plea withdrawal is barred by res judicata.	No error; barred by res judicata and otherwise lacked merit.

State v. Smith, 49 Ohio St.2d 261 (standard for post-sentence withdrawal of guilty plea—manifest injustice)
State v. Xie, 62 Ohio St.3d 521 (appellate review standard for plea withdrawal—abuse of discretion)
State v. Clark, 119 Ohio St.3d 239 (court must advise defendant to ensure plea is knowing, intelligent, and voluntary)
State v. Nero, 56 Ohio St.3d 106 (substantial compliance with Crim.R. 11 is sufficient absent prejudice to the defendant)