State v. Hodges, 2012 Ohio 2462

Hodges pled guilty to one count of attempt to commit felonious assault, one count of having weapons while under disability, and two counts of attempt to commit improper discharge of a firearm; all arising from a September 24, 2010 gunfight that injured Demetrius Elliot.
Hodges was under a disability due to a prior 2007 drug-trafficking conviction, precluding firearm possession.
The sentencing court rejected defense merger argument under R.C. 2941.25 and imposed an aggregate 11-year term.
Appointed appellate counsel filed a no-error brief under Loc.R. 16.2 following Anders v. California, and Hodges did not file a pro se response.
The First District granted counsel’s withdrawal, appointed new counsel to raise the merger issue, and ordered briefing, with resubmission of the appeal for merits if argued.
The court noted it could not decide the merits without counsel for Hodges to argue potential merger under R.C. 2941.25 and the State’s responses.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Hodges’s convictions should merge under R.C. 2941.25	State argues no merger	Hodges argues merger should apply	Not decided; remanded for merits with new counsel to argue merger.

Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967) (no-merit brief procedure governs if appeal frivolous)
State v. Williams, 183 Ohio App.3d 757 (2009-Ohio-4389) (assumes full review to determine frivolousness under Anders)
In re Booker, 133 Ohio App.3d 387 (1999-Ohio-728) (procedure when issues are potentially meritorious)
Gilbert v. State, 2012-Ohio-1366 (1st Dist. No. C-110382) (requires appellate counsel to seek remand when issues meriting review exist)
Freels v. Hills, 843 F.2d 958 (6th Cir. 1988) (cites standards for no-error review and post- Anders procedures)