State v. Miller, 2018 Ohio 4648

On Nov. 24, 2016 Curtis M. Miller struck and severely injured a pedestrian after drinking at a restaurant in Lima, Ohio.
An Allen County grand jury indicted Miller on four counts: aggravated vehicular assault (felony), failure to stop after an accident (felony), and two OVI counts (misdemeanors).
The State filed a motion in limine to exclude: a crash reconstruction report, related testimony/evidence, and any evidence suggesting the victim’s conduct (including her intoxication) caused her injuries. The trial court granted the motion.
Under a negotiated plea on Jan. 11, 2018 Miller pleaded no contest to aggravated vehicular assault and one OVI count; the other counts were dismissed.
On Mar. 14, 2018 the court imposed concurrent sentences (30 months prison on the felony; 180 days jail on the misdemeanor). Miller appealed, raising (1) error in granting the motion in limine and (2) ineffective assistance of counsel for advising the plea.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court erred by granting the State's motion in limine and excluding evidence that the victim's conduct alone caused her injuries	The State argued the contested evidence was inadmissible / prejudicial and properly excluded pretrial	Miller argued the excluded evidence (crash reconstruction, victim's intoxication/conduct) showed the victim’s actions were the sole proximate cause and should have been admitted	Court did not decide the merits because Miller’s no-contest plea waived appellate review of the motion in limine ruling
Whether trial counsel was ineffective for failing to preserve the motion-in-limine issue and for advising the plea	The State argued counsel’s performance was not shown to be deficient and the record lacked evidence rebutting the presumption of reasonable strategy	Miller argued counsel misunderstood the interlocutory nature of the motion in limine and that, but for counsel’s error, he would have gone to trial	Court held Miller failed to show deficient performance or any record evidence to overcome the presumption of reasonable representation; ineffective-assistance claim rejected

State v. French, 72 Ohio St.3d 446 (Ohio 1995) (defines motion in limine and discusses its interlocutory, tentative nature)
State v. Grubb, 28 Ohio St.3d 199 (Ohio 1986) (ruling on a motion in limine is not a final ruling on evidence; proffer required to preserve error)
State v. Engle, 74 Ohio St.3d 525 (Ohio 1996) (entering a plea waives appellate review of motion-in-limine rulings)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (two-part standard for ineffective assistance: deficient performance and prejudice)
State v. Bradley, 42 Ohio St.3d 136 (Ohio 1989) (explains analysis and burden in ineffective-assistance claims)