State v. Jones, 2020 Ohio 7002

Defendant Richard A. Jones II pleaded guilty to multiple felonies (weapons while under disability, possession of cocaine, felonious assault on a peace officer, robbery, escape, burglary) and received aggregate indefinite plus determinate prison terms totaling 28.5 to 37 years.
Two appellate assignments: (1) challenge to the constitutionality of the Reagan Tokes Act (claimed separation of powers and due process violations); (2) ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to preserve that constitutional challenge at trial.
At sentencing defense counsel stated they wanted to "preserve the record" regarding Reagan Tokes issues, but made no actual constitutional challenge in the trial court.
The court applied the waiver rule from State v. Awan that constitutional challenges must be raised at the first opportunity in the trial court; Jones did not properly raise the challenge below.
The appellate court declined to exercise plain-error review and affirmed waiver; it also rejected the ineffective-assistance claim under Strickland because counsel’s conduct was not shown to be deficient or prejudicial given the then-prevailing case law.
The court noted that most courts either have upheld Reagan Tokes or held challenges not ripe, so counsel’s omission did not amount to ineffective assistance.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Constitutionality of Reagan Tokes Act (separation of powers, due process)	State: statute presumed constitutional; challenges must be raised at trial	Jones: Act vests discretionary"tail" authority in DRC, making executive the de facto judge/prosecutor and denying due process	Waived for failure to raise in trial court; appellate court declines plain-error review and does not reach merits
Ineffective assistance for failure to preserve constitutional challenge	State: counsel’s performance was reasonable given case law; defendant must show deficiency and prejudice under Strickland	Jones: trial counsel should have raised Reagan Tokes constitutionality to preserve appeal	Denied — defendant failed to show counsel was deficient or that there was a reasonable probability of a different outcome

State v. Awan, 22 Ohio St.3d 120 (1986) (constitutional challenges must be raised at first opportunity in trial court)
Klein v. Leis, 99 Ohio St.3d 537 (2003) (statutes are afforded a strong presumption of constitutionality)
In re M.D., 38 Ohio St.3d 149 (1988) (appellate courts may exercise discretion to review waived issues for plain error)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (two-part ineffective assistance test: deficient performance and prejudice)
State v. Hope, 137 N.E.3d 549 (2019) (discussing the Strickland standard in Ohio criminal appeals)
State v. Smith, 17 Ohio St.3d 98 (1985) (licensed attorney presumed competent)
State v. Bradley, 42 Ohio St.3d 136 (1989) (prejudice standard and review for ineffective assistance)