State v. Foster, 2017 Ohio 5820

In 1982 Walter L. Foster was convicted by a jury of murder and attempted murder; convictions were affirmed on direct appeal.
Foster filed multiple postconviction applications seeking DNA testing of the knife and screwdriver used as alleged murder weapons and other evidence from the crime scene.
In 2008 the trial court (adopting a magistrate’s finding) denied DNA testing, concluding an exclusion would not have been outcome determinative given eyewitness identifications and victim identification; this court affirmed in Foster 2.
Foster filed a second application in 2011 seeking testing of the same items; the trial court denied it and Foster failed to timely appeal that denial.
In 2016 Foster filed a third application again seeking DNA testing of the knife and screwdriver; the trial court denied the application and Foster appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court abused its discretion by denying Foster's application for DNA testing under R.C. 2953.73 / 2953.74	The State: denial proper; the request concerns the same items previously denied and is barred by res judicata because prior ruling under same statutory standard found testing would not be outcome determinative	Foster: DNA testing of the knife and screwdriver likely would exclude him and would have been outcome determinative (strong probability no reasonable factfinder would convict)	Court affirmed: denial affirmed; res judicata bars the successive application because it involves the same items and the same statutory standard previously applied

(No officially reported state or federal opinions with reporter citations were cited in the opinion.)