State v. Johnson, 2016 Ohio 8494

Defendant Johnson was indicted on felonious assault (second-degree felony) and domestic violence (misdemeanor).
Johnson pled not guilty with various defenses but entered an Alford plea to felonious assault; domestic violence charge dismissed.
A sentencing hearing was scheduled for September 16, 2015; Johnson moved to withdraw his plea at the start of the hearing.
The trial court denied the withdrawal motion and sentenced Johnson to six years in prison with three years’ postrelease control.
Johnson appealed challenging the withdrawal ruling and the resulting sentence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Was there a full hearing on the presentence motion to withdraw the plea?	State argues no full hearing was required.	Johnson contends the bench conference did not constitute a full hearing.	No abuse of discretion; court conducted a sufficient hearing under balancing factors.
Is the six-year sentence clearly and convincingly contrary to law or unsupported by the record?	State argues sentence within statutory range and properly justified.	Johnson argues improper sentencing based on atmosphere and insufficient consideration of mitigating factors.	Sentence not clearly and convincingly contrary to law; record supports the sentence.

State v. Xie, 62 Ohio St.3d 521 (1992) (governs presentence withdrawal analysis)
State v. Zimmerman, 2010-Ohio-4087 (10th Dist. 2010) (multifactor test for denial of presentence withdrawal)
Blakemore v. Blakemore, 5 Ohio St.3d 217 (1983) (abuse of discretion standard)
State v. Fish, 104 Ohio App.3d 236 (1st Dist. 1995) (nine-factor framework for withdrawal analysis)
State v. Jones, 2010-Ohio-903 (10th Dist. 2010) (nine-factor test applied)