State v. Crespo, 2021 Ohio 848

In July 2016 Crespo pleaded guilty in two Cuyahoga County cases to multiple cocaine‑trafficking counts (aggregate ~2,200+ grams), possession of criminal tools, and having weapons while under disability; sentences of six and nine years were imposed and ordered to be served concurrently; about $58,000 was forfeited.
Crespo later (March 2019) filed an untimely petition for postconviction relief alleging ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to pursue a suppression motion and for giving erroneous sentencing advice about consecutive terms; he also filed a separate Crim.R. 32.1 motion to withdraw his guilty plea premised mainly on counsel’s alleged sentencing misadvice.
The postconviction petition relied on affidavits from family members claiming police did not show a search warrant during the search and that counsel failed to investigate; Crespo admitted his family had told him about the warrant issue before he pleaded guilty.
The trial court denied the untimely postconviction petition without a hearing for lack of jurisdiction (no showing of unavoidable prevention) and denied the postsentence motion to withdraw the plea for lack of manifest injustice and undue delay.
On appeal, the Eighth District affirmed, holding the petition untimely and that Crespo failed to show counsel’s performance caused a constitutional defect in his plea or that a manifest injustice justified plea withdrawal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Jurisdiction over untimely postconviction petition	State: petition filed >365 days; Crespo failed to show he was unavoidably prevented from discovering facts, so court lacks jurisdiction	Crespo: family affidavits and delayed investigator searches justify untimeliness / unavoidable prevention	Affirmed: Crespo knew of the factual basis before plea; no unavoidable prevention; trial court lacked jurisdiction; petition denied without hearing
Ineffective assistance re: suppression (impact on voluntariness of plea)	State: claims based on matters outside the record waived by guilty plea; no operative facts showing reasonable probability he would have gone to trial	Crespo: counsel failed to investigate or pursue suppression; would have insisted on trial if suppression sought	Affirmed: claims waived or insufficient; no substantive operative facts to require a hearing; postconviction relief denied
Motion to withdraw plea based on alleged sentencing misadvice	State: undue delay, lack of credibility, and defendant failed to negate alternative statutory basis for consecutive sentences	Crespo: counsel misadvised him that consecutive sentences were possible and that affected his decision to plead guilty	Affirmed: two‑plus year delay undermines credibility; Crespo did not address R.C. 2929.14(C)(4)(b) alternative finding; no manifest injustice shown; motion denied

Tollett v. Henderson, 411 U.S. 258 (U.S. 1973) (guilty plea waives non‑jurisdictional claims outside the record)
Hill v. Lockhart, 474 U.S. 52 (U.S. 1985) (standard for ineffective assistance when plea entered)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (two‑prong ineffective‑assistance test)
State v. Obermiller, 147 Ohio St.3d 175 (Ohio 2016) (plea waives claims outside record)
State v. Ketterer, 111 Ohio St.3d 70 (Ohio 2006) (defendant must show he would have gone to trial but for counsel's errors)
State v. Apanovitch, 155 Ohio St.3d 358 (Ohio 2018) (standards for jurisdiction over untimely postconviction petitions)
State v. Calhoun, 86 Ohio St.3d 279 (Ohio 1999) (postconviction relief described as collateral civil attack)
State v. Straley, 159 Ohio St.3d 82 (Ohio 2019) (undue delay and res judicata in Crim.R. 32.1 motions)