State v. Dews, 2016 Ohio 4975

Defendant Steve S. Dews pled guilty to two counts of drug trafficking (cocaine, heroin) and one count of aggravated drug trafficking (oxycodone) in exchange for dismissal of four other counts and the State’s promise to remain silent at sentencing.
The trial court imposed concurrent sentences totaling eight years and orally waived a fine at sentencing, but the judgment entry erroneously included the fine; the trial court later corrected that technical discrepancy on remand.
The trial court did not advise Dews at sentencing, nor did its judgment entry, of the appellate rights required by Crim.R. 32(B)(2) (right to appeal, right to appointed counsel for appeal, and appeal procedure/timelines).
Dews nevertheless filed a timely notice of appeal and was appointed appellate counsel, who initially filed an Anders brief; the appellate court found the fine discrepancy and remanded for correction and appointed new counsel.
On appeal the sole issue argued was whether the trial court’s failure to advise Dews of appellate rights required resentencing or whether the error was harmless because Dews obtained timely appointed counsel and pursued an appeal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court’s failure to inform Dews of appellate rights under Crim.R. 32(B)(2) requires resentencing	State: Error is harmless because Dews timely filed an appeal and was appointed counsel, so he suffered no prejudice	Dews: Court must remand for resentencing so the trial court can properly advise him of appellate rights	Court held the error was harmless; no resentencing required because Dews received appointed counsel and filed a timely appeal

Fulton, 99 Ohio St.3d 475 (2003) (Ohio Supreme Court decision cited regarding appellate procedure and recognizing contexts where failure to advise may be harmless when defendant receives counsel and files timely appeal)