State v. Holmes, 2011 Ohio 5848

Holmes was convicted by jury of rape and kidnapping in 2008 and sentenced to ten years in prison.
Holmes directly appealed the conviction in Holmes I, challenging trial counsel’s failure to subpoena EMS technicians who would have offered a different version of events.
This court rejected that assignment, concluding counsel’s strategy allowed the inconsistencies to be shown via the EMS report rather than live testimony.
Holmes later filed a postconviction petition under R.C. 2953.21 claiming ineffective assistance of trial counsel for not retaining an expert to review the BCI report and the victim’s medical records.
The trial court dismissed the petition without an evidentiary hearing on res judicata grounds.
On appeal, Holmes contends the court misapplied res judicata because grounds for relief relied on evidence outside the trial record; the appellate court affirms dismissal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Was the postconviction petition barred by res judicata?	Holmes	Holmes	Yes; petition barred by res judicata
Did evidence outside the trial record establish grounds for relief?	Holmes	Holmes	No; no new grounds shown to avoid res judicata
Was the abuse-of-discretion standard properly applied?	Holmes	Holmes	Yes; trial court’s denial without hearing was not an abuse of discretion

State v. Perry, 10 Ohio St.2d 175 (1967) (final judgment bars defenses not raised at trial or on appeal unless exceptions apply)
State v. Lawson, 103 Ohio App.3d 307 (1995) (exception to res judicata for competent outside evidence not available earlier)
Betts v. State, Ohio App.3d 2010-Ohio-438 (2010) (postconviction relief may be denied for insufficient operative facts; res judicata applies)
State v. Abdussatar, 2009-Ohio-5232 (2009) (abuse of discretion standard for denying postconviction relief without hearing)
State v. Holmes, 2011-Ohio-5848 (2011) (direct appeal and postconviction claims—issues are bound by earlier proceedings)