State v. Cornwell, 2019 Ohio 4643

Gene L. Cornwell was indicted under R.C. 2919.21(B) for failing to provide court-ordered child support (26 weeks within the charged period).
Cornwell pleaded guilty on August 16, 2018; before sentencing he moved to withdraw the plea, arguing Pittman barred prosecution because the child was allegedly emancipated before the indictment and claiming the indictment used the past tense "was" instead of "is."
No evidentiary proof of emancipation was introduced at the January 3, 2019 hearing; the trial court denied the motion and sentenced Cornwell to one year in jail (with work release discretion) and five years community control, plus restitution and costs.
Cornwell appealed, arguing (1) the trial court abused its discretion by denying plea-withdrawal and (2) the sentence was contrary to law.
The appellate court upheld denial of the plea-withdrawal (finding Pittman inapplicable where a support order existed during the charged period), certified a conflict to the Ohio Supreme Court about the scope of Pittman, but reversed the sentence and remanded for resentencing because a one-year local jail term exceeded the statutory maximum for county-based incarceration.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Cornwell)	Held
Whether trial court abused discretion denying motion to withdraw guilty plea	Pittman is distinguishable; prosecution permissible because failure to pay occurred while a valid support order existed and past-tense "was" is grammatical	Pittman bars prosecution because the child was emancipated before the indictment; indictment wording ("was" vs "is") was defective	No abuse of discretion; plea withdrawal denied. Court adopted rule that Pittman doesn't bar prosecution when nonpayment occurred during a valid support order; certified conflict to Ohio Supreme Court
Whether sentence was contrary to law	N/A (State conceded error on sentence)	One-year local incarceration exceeded statutory limits for non-mandatory prison terms	Reversed and remanded for resentencing: local incarceration limited to six months under R.C. 2929.16(A)(1)

State v. Pittman, 79 N.E.3d 531 (Ohio 2016) (held criminal liability for nonpayment can end on emancipation in the context of arrearage-only charges)
State v. Xie, 584 N.E.2d 715 (Ohio 1992) (motion to withdraw plea before sentencing requires a hearing and is within trial court discretion)
State v. Carabello, 477 N.E.2d 627 (Ohio 1985) (abuse-of-discretion standard for denial of plea-withdrawal motions)
State v. Smith, 361 N.E.2d 1324 (Ohio 1977) (movant's good faith, credibility, and weight of assertions are for trial court to resolve)
State v. Fish, 661 N.E.2d 788 (Ohio App. 1995) (lists non-exhaustive factors to consider in plea-withdrawal requests)