State v. Davis, 2015 Ohio 5196

Background

On Oct. 11, 2014, officers found the victim with injuries after an argument with Davis over photos on his phone; the victim and Davis have children together.
Davis pushed the victim, punched her, and threatened their 9-year-old son; the door was knocked off its hinges during the incident.
A prior 2008 case convicted Davis of a domestic-violence offense (ultimately amended to a misdemeanor of menacing) involving the same victim, who lived with Davis for several years.
In 2014, Davis was indicted for domestic violence as a felony (fourth degree) under R.C. 2919.25(D) based on the prior conviction for domestic violence against a family/household member.
Davis pleaded guilty to the 2014 domestic-violence charge on Dec. 15, 2014; sentencing was postponed for a pre-sentence investigation.
On Jan. 5, 2015, the trial court denied Davis’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea and sentenced him to four years of community control; the January 6, 2015 sentencing entry affirmed the judgment.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court abused its discretion by denying the 32.1 motion to withdraw the guilty plea	Davis argues a fair basis existed to vacate the plea due to the predicate being non-domestic-violence.	State contends the court properly weighed Fish factors and Davis failed to show a valid basis to withdraw.	No abuse of discretion; motion denied.
Whether Davis received ineffective assistance for not verifying the predicate offense before change of plea	Davis claims counsel should have raised that the predicate offense was not a family/household member DV, affecting felony enhancement.	State argues the predicate was properly established and counsel’s conduct did not prejudice the plea.	No ineffective assistance; records support the enhancement and no prejudice shown.

Key Cases Cited

State v. Hamilton, 2008-Ohio-6328 (5th Dist. Muskingum 2008) (motion to withdraw plea requires hearing; abuse of discretion standard)
State v. Xie, 62 Ohio St.3d 521 (1992) (standard for withdrawing guilty plea prior to sentencing)
State v. Fish, 104 Ohio App.3d 236 (1st Dist. 1995) (non-exhaustive factors for withdrawal of guilty plea)
State v. Cvijetinovic, 2005-Ohio-380 (8th Dist. Cuyahoga 2005) (prejudice and knowing knowingly entering plea; ineffective assistance scope)
State v. Siler, 2011-Ohio-2326 (11th Dist. Ashtabula 2011) (ineffective assistance standard and prejudice showing)
State v. Dansby, 2010-Ohio-4538 (5th Dist. Tuscarawas 2010) (Strickland prejudice analysis in context of plea)
State v. Ybarra, 2014-Ohio-3485 (5th Dist. Licking 2014) (counsel's performance reviewed under Strickland)
State v. Emerson, 2015-Ohio-2121 (5th Dist. Richland 2015) (ineffective assistance in presentence motion context)
Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238 (1969) (requirements for valid guilty plea)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (two-prong test for ineffective assistance)
State v. Davison, 2008-Ohio-7037 (5th Dist. Stark 2008) (factors for withdrawal of plea and innocence considerations)
State v. Kramer, 2002-Ohio-4176 (7th Dist. Mahoning 2002) (arguments for withdrawal of plea and trial strategy)
State v. Siler, 2011-Ohio-2326 (11th Dist. Ashtabula 2011) (ineffective assistance and prejudice standards)
State v. Ybarra, 2014-Ohio-3485 (5th Dist. Licking 2014) (counsel performance in plea context)