State v. Grier, 2023 Ohio 207

Devonte Grier was indicted on felonious assault, two rape counts, and corrupting another with drugs; he entered an Alford plea to felonious assault and corrupting another with drugs after the state amended the drug count and agreed to dismiss the rape counts.
At plea the state recited that Grier gave the victim Xanax, assaulted her (punching, banging her head, attempted strangulation), forced sex, and that the victim suffered bruising, petechiae, and pneumomediastinum requiring hospital evaluation; Grier did not object to the factual proffer.
After the plea but before sentencing Grier received the victim’s medical records and moved to withdraw his plea, claiming counsel withheld records and that pneumomediastinum has multiple causes, which he argued undermined the serious-physical-harm element of felonious assault.
Grier’s appointed counsel filed the withdrawal motion but opposed it at the hearing; the court held a hearing, denied the motion, and sentenced Grier to an indefinite non-life term under R.C. 2929.14(A)(2)(a) (minimum 5, maximum 7.5 years) on felonious assault and a concurrent 5-year term on the drug count.
The trial court’s December 6, 2021 judgment entry omitted the maximum portion of the indefinite sentence; the State cross-appealed requesting a nunc pro tunc correction.

Issue	Grier's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court abused its discretion by denying Grier's presentence motion to withdraw his guilty plea	Grier contends counsel withheld medical records until after the plea; the records show pneumomediastinum can have other causes, so he lacked notice of a defense to the serious-physical-harm element and had a reasonable basis to withdraw	The State argued the plea was knowingly entered, Grier knew the timing of injury, the medical records did not negate serious physical harm (bruising, petechiae), and withdrawal would prejudice prosecution	Court affirmed denial: applying Fish factors, the record did not show a reasonable and legitimate basis to withdraw; bruising and other injuries supported serious physical harm and Grier failed to identify a substantive defense that would have changed his decision to plead
Whether the judgment entry must be corrected nunc pro tunc to include the maximum term of the Reagan Tokes indefinite sentence	(Grier did not contest)	The State argued the written entry omitted the maximum portion of the indefinite term imposed on the record and must be corrected to reflect the sentence actually pronounced	Court reversed in part and remanded: trial court erred in omitting the maximum term in the journal; remand for a nunc pro tunc entry to reflect the indefinite term imposed on the record

North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25 (1970) (acceptance of a guilty plea while maintaining innocence under Alford)
State v. Xie, 62 Ohio St.3d 521 (1992) (presentence motion to withdraw a plea should be freely and liberally granted; court must hold a hearing and exercise discretion)
State v. Fish, 104 Ohio App.3d 236 (1995) (appellate factors commonly used by Ohio courts in evaluating presentence plea-withdrawal motions)
In re Ohio Criminal Sentencing Statutes Cases, 109 Ohio St.3d 313 (2006) (context on sentencing law cited regarding serious injuries and sentencing framework)