State v. Carnes, 2020 Ohio 3566

May 2014 indictment charged Carnes with multiple sexual offenses against two minors (ages 11 and 13); in October 2014 he pleaded guilty to 5 counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, 5 counts of compelling prostitution, and 11 counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material; remaining rape counts were nolled.
November 13, 2014: trial court merged counts and imposed an aggregate 33-year prison term, a $10,000 fine, and Tier II sex-offender classification; the sentence was affirmed on direct appeal.
Carnes filed successive post-sentence motions to withdraw his guilty plea in 2017 challenging indictment defects; those motions were denied and one denial was affirmed on appeal.
On January 9, 2020 Carnes filed a motion to vacate his guilty plea, asserting the trial court and defense counsel failed to provide reasonable accommodations for his alleged hearing impairment under R.C. 2311.14, so his plea was not knowingly and intelligently made.
The trial court denied the motion on January 14, 2020; Carnes appealed, raising (1) denial of reasonable accommodations and (2) ineffective assistance for counsel’s failure to request accommodations.
The appellate court affirmed, holding the claims were barred by res judicata and, alternatively, that Carnes failed to show a manifest injustice warranting withdrawal of his plea.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Carnes)	Held
Whether the plea must be vacated because the court failed to provide reasonable accommodations for Carnes' alleged hearing impairment under R.C. 2311.14	Claims are barred by res judicata because they were or could have been raised earlier; alternatively the record does not show a manifest injustice	Court and counsel failed to provide or request accommodations; plea was thus not knowing/intelligent and violated due process	Barred by res judicata; alternatively no manifest injustice shown; motion denied
Whether defense counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to request reasonable accommodations for the hearing impairment	Ineffective-assistance claim is barred by res judicata if it could have been raised on direct appeal from the record	Counsel’s failure to seek accommodations deprived Carnes of effective assistance and a fair plea	Barred by res judicata; alternatively meritless because record does not support withdrawal of plea

State v. Caraballo, 17 Ohio St.3d 66 (1985) (explains post-sentence guilty-plea withdrawal standard: manifest injustice burden on defendant)
State v. Smith, 49 Ohio St.2d 261 (1977) (same principle limiting post-sentence plea withdrawal)
State v. Peterseim, 68 Ohio App.2d 211 (1980) (discusses trial-court discretion and credibility in Crim.R. 32.1 motions)
State v. Ketterer, 126 Ohio St.3d 448 (2010) (res judicata bars claims in post-sentence plea-withdrawal motions that were or could have been raised on direct appeal)
State v. Perry, 10 Ohio St.2d 175 (1967) (establishes Ohio res judicata doctrine for criminal convictions)
State v. Lentz, 70 Ohio St.3d 527 (1994) (ineffective-assistance claims that can be decided from the record may be barred by res judicata)
State v. Cole, 2 Ohio St.3d 112 (1982) (addresses ineffective-assistance standards and appellate review)