State v. Literal, 2012 Ohio 6298

In 2007 a jury convicted Literal of robbery, aggravated robbery, possession of drugs, and trafficking in drugs; trafficking conviction was later vacated on direct appeal.
The court affirmed the other convictions and sentences in 2009, with trafficking reversed.
Literal filed several postconviction motions, the latest being a February 21, 2012 Petition to Vacate Judgment asserting allied-offense merger of aggravated robbery and possession of drugs.
The trial court denied the petition as untimely on March 9, 2012, and Literal appealed.
The sole issue argued was that aggravated robbery and possession of drugs are allied offenses of similar import that should have merged, potentially voiding the sentence.
The appellate court ultimately affirmed, holding the issue barred by res judicata and noting even a meritorious allied-offense claim would render the sentence voidable, not void.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the sentence was void due to allied-offense merger.	Literal argues aggravated robbery and possession of drugs are allied offenses requiring merger.	Literal's merger claim is res judicata-barred or untimely; even if meritorious, sentence would be voidable only.	Claim barred by res judicata; affirmed denial of petition.

State v. Fischer, 128 Ohio St.3d 92 (2010-Ohio-6238) (distinguishes void vs voidable sentences; void if noncompliant with statute)
State v. Johnson, 128 Ohio St.3d 153 (2010-Ohio-6314) (allied-offense merger not retroactively applicable to final convictions)
State v. Payne, 114 Ohio St.3d 502 (2007-Ohio-4642) (res judicata bars challenges not raised on direct appeal)
Miller, 2012-Ohio-1922 (2012-Ohio-1922) (allied-offense claim barred by res judicata)
State v. Layne, 2012-Ohio-1627 (2012-Ohio-1627) (discusses retroactivity considerations in applying new rulings)