State v. Hill, 2019 Ohio 1647

Devonta Hill pled guilty (represented by retained counsel) to amended indictments in four Cuyahoga County cases and sentencing was set after plea acceptance.
One case (CR-17-619532) involved serious sexual and related charges (rape, kidnapping, sexual-motivation specification, firearm specifications, etc.).
Sentencing was continued multiple times to allow defense counsel to investigate potential witnesses who might support a motion to withdraw the plea.
On May 9 and May 14, 2018 Hill (pro se, though represented by retained counsel) orally sought to withdraw his guilty plea, claiming innocence and that witnesses had been coerced or unavailable earlier.
Defense counsel investigated and concluded a written presentence motion to withdraw would be meritless and did not join any pro se motion; the trial court proceeded to sentence Hill to an aggregate 13-year prison term.
Hill appealed, arguing the trial court abused its discretion by failing to hold a hearing on his presentence motion to withdraw and that he was effectively without counsel.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Hill)	Held
Whether the trial court abused its discretion by not holding a hearing on Hill’s presentence motion to withdraw his guilty plea	The plea was knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily entered; counsel reviewed potential grounds and found them meritless, so no hearing required	Hill argued he timely sought to withdraw his plea pre-sentencing, had witnesses and coercion issues, and sought a hearing	Affirmed: No hearing required because Hill’s oral pro se motion could not be entertained while he was represented by retained counsel and counsel did not join any motion.

State v. Xie, 62 Ohio St.3d 521, 584 N.E.2d 715 (Ohio 1992) (presentence motion to withdraw plea should be freely allowed, but court must hold a hearing only when there is a reasonable and legitimate basis and absent an abuse of discretion).