State v. Ferguson, 2016 Ohio 8537

In 2012 Ferguson was indicted on multiple drug counts; in Jan. 2014 he pleaded guilty to three felony trafficking counts and faced up to 21 years.
In Feb. 2014 the trial court sentenced Ferguson to 8 years. After sentence he claimed trial counsel told him he would receive only a 4-year term. Counsel disputed that.
The court replaced trial counsel, appointed new counsel from the public defender, and scheduled a status conference; at that conference Ferguson signed a written waiver knowingly and voluntarily foregoing any Crim.R. 32.1 post‑sentence motion to withdraw his pleas.
Nearly two years later (Jan. 14, 2016) Ferguson filed a motion to withdraw his guilty pleas, claiming ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to move to dismiss on speedy‑trial grounds.
The trial court denied the motion based on the prior express waiver and the lack of sufficient grounds to show a manifest injustice; Ferguson appealed and the appellate court affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court properly denied post‑sentence Crim.R. 32.1 motion to withdraw guilty pleas	State: waiver and long unexplained delay defeat motion; defendant failed to show manifest injustice	Ferguson: counsel was ineffective for not moving to dismiss for statutory speedy‑trial violation; that failure caused manifest injustice	Affirmed: waiver + nearly two‑year delay and no plausible speedy‑trial claim mean no manifest injustice; denial not an abuse of discretion
Whether ineffective assistance of counsel (failure to move to dismiss for speedy trial) supports withdrawal	State: defendant must show deficient performance and prejudice; motion to dismiss lacked reasonable probability of success	Ferguson: counsel should have moved to dismiss because speedy‑trial time ran before later arraignment	Held: motion would not have succeeded because earlier municipal complaint was dismissed (pausing the speedy‑trial clock); therefore ineffective‑assistance claim fails

State v. Smith, 49 Ohio St.2d 261 (Ohio 1977) (defendant bears burden to show manifest injustice to withdraw plea)
State v. Xie, 62 Ohio St.3d 521 (Ohio 1992) (standard for withdrawing plea and ineffective‑assistance framework applied to pleas)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (two‑prong test for ineffective assistance of counsel)
State v. Jackson, 107 Ohio St.3d 53 (Ohio 2005) (objective standard for counsel's performance and strong presumption of reasonable assistance)
State v. Hale, 119 Ohio St.3d 118 (Ohio 2008) (prejudice requirement for ineffective assistance)
Brecksville v. Cook, 75 Ohio St.3d 53 (Ohio 1996) (Ohio speedy‑trial statutes enforce constitutional right)
State v. Broughton, 62 Ohio St.3d 253 (Ohio 1991) (dismissal of municipal complaint halts speedy‑trial clock)
State v. Bush, 96 Ohio St.3d 235 (Ohio 2002) (undue delay in filing Crim.R. 32.1 motion adversely affects movant's credibility)