State v. Hendrix, 2018 Ohio 3754

D’Jango Hendrix was convicted by a jury in 2015 of four counts of attempted murder and one count of possessing weapons while under a disability and sentenced to a total of 53 years.
Hendrix’s direct appeals failed; he then filed a postconviction petition under R.C. 2953.21 asserting ineffective assistance of trial counsel.
Hendrix’s theory: counsel failed to obtain/present a forensics expert whose testimony would have supported a self-defense claim and undermined the State’s theory that he was the aggressor. He submitted evidence outside the trial record to support this.
The Hamilton County Common Pleas Court dismissed the petition without an evidentiary hearing, concluding Hendrix had not shown substantive grounds for relief (though the court initially characterized the claim as not barred by res judicata).
On appeal, the First District affirmed, explaining Hendrix bore the initial burden to submit outside evidence demonstrating both deficient performance and prejudice under Strickland, and that the appellate record lacked necessary trial exhibits/transcripts to permit reversal or require a hearing.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the postconviction ineffective-assistance claim was barred by res judicata	Hendrix: claim is based on new, outside-the-record evidence so not barred	State: trial issues already litigated on direct appeal (court initially referenced res judicata)	Court: claim was not barred by res judicata because it relied on evidence outside the record
Whether Hendrix produced sufficient outside evidence to require an evidentiary hearing	Hendrix: submitted affidavits/evidence showing counsel should have used a forensics expert and that omission was prejudicial	State: Hendrix failed to meet the initial burden to show deficiency and prejudice	Court: Hendrix failed to carry the initial burden; no hearing required
Whether the court abused discretion in assessing credibility of Hendrix’s outside evidence	Hendrix: trial court improperly discounted credibility of his evidence	State: trial court properly evaluated petition plus the files and records	Court: appellate review limited by incomplete record; court did not err in denying relief
Whether appellate record defects (missing defense exhibits/transcript) required reversal	Hendrix: missing exhibits prejudiced his appeal	State: appellant is responsible to ensure a complete record; absent it, appellate court must presume regularity	Court: missing trial exhibits/transcript justified affirming under Knapp and App.R. rules

State v. Perry, 10 Ohio St.2d 175 (1967) (res judicata bars claims previously litigated unless they rely on evidence outside the trial record)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (two-prong test for ineffective assistance: deficiency and prejudice)
State v. Bradley, 42 Ohio St.3d 136 (1989) (Ohio application of Strickland)
Knapp v. Edwards Laboratories, 61 Ohio St.2d 197 (1980) (appellant’s duty to provide necessary transcript; if not, presumption of regularity applies)
Warder, Bushnell & Glessner Co. v. Jacobs, 58 Ohio St. (1898) (appellate review is limited to the record on appeal)
State v. Pankey, 68 Ohio St.2d 58 (1981) (petitioner’s burden in postconviction relief to submit evidentiary material showing substantive grounds)
State v. Jackson, 64 Ohio St.2d 107 (1980) (same principle regarding postconviction threshold burden)
State v. Powell, 90 Ohio App.3d 260 (1st Dist.) (1993) (prejudice requires showing the result was unreliable due to counsel’s errors)
Rose Chevrolet, Inc. v. Adams, 36 Ohio St.3d 17 (1988) (appellant responsible for ensuring record contains necessary material for appeal)