State v. Mammone, 2012 Ohio 3546

Appellant James Mammone III was indicted in Stark County on three counts of aggravated murder with death penalty specifications and related charges stemming from the killings of his former mother-in-law and two children.
A jury convicted Mammone of all counts on January 11, 2010, and the jury recommended the death penalty after the mitigation phase; the trial court sentenced him to three consecutive death sentences on January 22, 2010.
Mammone filed a petition for postconviction relief on May 27, 2011, with an amended petition filed September 2, 2011, which the trial court denied on December 14, 2011.
Mammone appealed the postconviction-denial, challenging the court’s handling of issues including ineffective assistance of counsel, discovery, and funding for expert witnesses.
The appellate court affirmed the trial court’s denial, concluding the petition did not warrant an evidentiary hearing and that discovery and funding requests were improper in postconviction proceedings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the postconviction petition warranted an evidentiary hearing	Mammone contends the petition showed sufficient operative facts for relief	The court properly dismissed without a hearing	Denied
Whether Mammone was entitled to discovery in postconviction relief	Discovery should be allowed to develop evidence	No civil discovery is required in postconviction proceedings	Denied
Whether Mammone was entitled to funds to hire experts	Funds and expert consultation were necessary for due process	R.C. 2953.21 does not provide for funding or appointment of experts	Denied

State v. Perry, 10 Ohio St.2d 175 (1967) (bar on certain postconviction claims when ripe on direct appeal)
State v. Jenkins, 15 Ohio St.3d 164 (1984) (capital-punishment framework does not violate Eighth/Fourteenth Amendments)
Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976) (discretionary stages in capital cases do not, per se, violate the Constitution)