State v. Cooper, 2011 Ohio 6890

Cooper was indicted on six counts including kidnapping, abduction, aggravated burglary, burglary, and grand theft in Athens County.
Competency evaluations determined Cooper was competent to stand trial.
A plea negotiation produced a deal: Cooper would plead no contest to four counts, two would be dismissed, and recommended sentence was six years with credit.
At the May 16, 2011 plea, Cooper stated he did not understand the proceedings, but ultimately pleaded no contest to four counts.
The court explained rights waived by the plea and accepted the pleas for four counts, scheduling sentencing for May 20, 2011.
During sentencing, Cooper moved to withdraw the pleas; the court denied the motion and imposed the plea-compliant sentence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court abused its discretion denying a pre-sentence Crim.R. 32.1 withdrawal	Cooper asserts a change of heart and lack of fair hearing warrant withdrawal	State argues no abuse; no serious basis to withdraw before sentencing	No abuse; denial sustained
Whether Cooper entered his pleas voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently	Cooper claims he was bullied and did not understand proceedings	Record shows voluntary, knowing, and intelligent acceptance under Crim.R. 11	Plea entered voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently

State v. Xie, 62 Ohio St.3d 521 (Ohio 1992) (Crim.R. 32.1 and plea withdrawal standards)
State v. Veney, 120 Ohio St.3d 176 (Ohio 2008) (Crim.R. 11 and knowing, voluntary, and intelligent plea standard)
State v. Ballard, 66 Ohio St.2d 473 (Ohio 1981) (required advising rights in a plea to be valid)
State v. Mulhollen, 119 Ohio App.3d 560 (Ohio App. 1997) (substantial compliance suffices for Crim.R. 11; strict compliance required for certain rights)
State v. Vinson, 2009-Ohio-3240 (Ohio App. 2009) (substantial compliance standard for Crim.R. 11 in pleas)