State v. Graves, 2011 Ohio 5997

Graves was in the back seat of a car stopped on I-80 in Lorain County for traffic violations; crack cocaine, powder cocaine, and marijuana were found in the trunk.
Williams drove and Ramsey sat in the front passenger seat; authorities questioned ownership and relationship details for the car.
Weather necessitated moving the vehicle off the highway; Graves claimed a valid license and was asked to drive to a nearby facility with a K-9 unit present.
Pat-downs occurred; marijuana roaches were found on Williams; no contraband was found on Graves or Ramsey in the passenger area.
Police recovered drugs from a backpack, a duffle bag, and a plastic grocery bag in the trunk, including 1160 grams of crack cocaine and other cocaine/marijuana; ownership of bags was unclear.
Graves was convicted in 2008 of multiple drug offenses and sentenced to 11 years; this Court had previously affirmed, and Graves later sought a reopened appeal alleging ineffective assistance of appellate counsel and issues with allied offenses.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise allied offenses	Graves faulty conviction rests on improper allied offenses handling	State conceded error on allied offenses and urged merger/remand	Yes; counsel ineffective and convictions invalid as to allied offenses
Whether separate sentences for possession and trafficking of the same drugs were improper	Graves was subjected to multiple allied offenses	State argued for merger of offenses	Yes; offenses should be merged; vacates prior sentence related to allied offenses
Whether the evidence proves Graves possessed or trafficked in drugs	Graves lacked evidence of possession/transport or access to trunk	State argued enough evidence to convict	No; insufficient evidence to sustain conviction for possession/trafficking; convictions reversed
Whether the State presented sufficient evidence despite reopening appeal	Not enough to support guilt beyond a reasonable doubt	Sufficiency review permitted on reopened appeal	Sufficient evidence not shown; convictions vacated on sufficiency grounds

State v. Hale, 119 Ohio St.3d 118 (Ohio 2008) (ineffective assistance standard under Strickland)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (establishes performance-prejudice standard for ineffective assistance)
State v. Underwood, 124 Ohio St.3d 365 (Ohio 2010) (plain error in allied offenses must be corrected; merger required)
State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (Ohio 1991) (de novo review for sufficiency of evidence)
State v. Hankerson, 70 Ohio St.2d 87 (Ohio 1982) (constructive possession requires dominion and control)
State v. Frazier, 73 Ohio St.3d 323 (Ohio 1995) (closing argument is not evidence)
State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (Ohio 1997) (sufficiency standard of review in criminal cases)