State v. Brown, 2019 Ohio 2717

Terry A. Brown and a codefendant planned to rob and kill a victim; the victim was shot in the back of the head at Brown’s residence and dismembered; Brown was present when remains were discovered and made multiple inconsistent statements to police.
Brown was indicted on multiple counts including aggravated murder (with a firearm specification), murder, aggravated robbery, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, and complicity; several charges were later dismissed as part of plea bargaining.
On October 24, 2017 Brown pleaded guilty to aggravated murder with firearm specification, aggravated robbery, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence; the state dismissed murder and complicity counts.
Brown later filed successive motions to withdraw his guilty plea: a pre-sentence motion, a motion for reconsideration, and a post-sentence motion (the latter is the subject of this appeal).
Brown alleged ineffective assistance: counsel threatened/coerced him (including claims about the death penalty), failed to provide full discovery and spent inadequate time with him, and pointed to purported new evidence (texts, jail progress report, mental-health report) de hors the record.
The trial court denied the post-sentence motion; the appellate court affirmed, finding Brown failed to present new, admissible evidence outside the record and that the record showed he knowingly and voluntarily pleaded guilty.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Brown)	Held
Whether plea should be withdrawn post-sentence for ineffective assistance/coercion	State: Brown’s claims were previously addressed or could have been raised earlier; he hasn’t shown manifest injustice or new evidence	Brown: Counsel coerced him (threats re: life w/o parole/death penalty) and pressured him into pleading; counsel spent insufficient time and withheld discovery	Denied — no manifest injustice shown; claims were raised late and are barred by res judicata absent new evidence
Whether alleged death-penalty threat by counsel invalidates plea	State: No credible new evidence; record shows Brown understood he did not face death penalty	Brown: Counsel told him he faced the death penalty and thus coerced plea	Denied — plea colloquy and plea form show Brown knew maximum penalties and that death penalty was not possible; affidavits lacked timing/first-hand support
Whether text messages, jail report, and mental-health report qualify as evidence de hors the record to overcome res judicata	State: The materials existed before plea or pre-sentence motion and therefore are not new; they do not show incapacity or undermine plea	Brown: These documents cast doubt on investigation and show mental illness affecting voluntariness	Denied — evidence was available pre-plea (or ambiguous) and does not show Brown lacked capacity or innocence; res judicata bars post-sentence reliance

State v. Smith, 49 Ohio St.2d 261 (1977) (trial court resolves credibility and weight of assertions on Crim.R. 32.1 motions)
State v. Adams, 62 Ohio St.2d 151 (1980) (abuse-of-discretion standard explained for appellate review)