State v. Mills, 2019 Ohio 2205

In 2016 Mills was indicted on three firearm-related counts after a traffic stop; he moved to suppress evidence but the motion was denied after a hearing.
Mills pled guilty in writing to having weapons while under disability and improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle; the counts were merged and he was sentenced to 18 months. One count was dismissed.
Mills did not appeal the conviction but, in July 2018, filed a post‑sentence motion to withdraw his guilty plea alleging ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to advise him about appealing the suppression ruling or about using a no‑contest plea to preserve that appeal right.
He submitted an affidavit and transcripts; the State opposed, and the trial court denied the motion without an evidentiary hearing.
This Court granted Mills a delayed appeal; Mills proceeded pro se and raised three assignments of error challenging the voluntariness of the plea, counsel’s effectiveness, and the denial of a hearing.
The appellate court affirmed, concluding Mills failed to satisfy the second Strickland prong or otherwise demonstrate a manifest injustice warranting withdrawal of the plea or an evidentiary hearing.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Mills’ guilty plea was knowing, intelligent, and voluntary	Counsel failed to inform him that pleading guilty waived appeal of suppression; he would have preserved appeal and not pleaded guilty	Plea transcript and filings show no manifest injustice; Mills did not prove plea was involuntary	Court held plea was voluntary; no abuse of discretion in denying withdrawal
Whether counsel was ineffective for not advising about appealing suppression or using no‑contest plea to preserve appeal	Counsel performed deficiently by not explaining appellate options and no‑contest plea; this prejudiced Mills	Mills failed to prove prejudice under Strickland’s second prong (no reasonable probability he would not have pled)	Court held Mills did not meet Strickland’s prejudice requirement; ineffective assistance claim fails
Whether the trial court erred in denying an evidentiary hearing on the motion to withdraw plea	An evidentiary hearing was needed to resolve Mills’ affidavit and claims	Hearing not required because Mills’ submitted materials did not demonstrate a manifest injustice	Court held no hearing required and trial court did not abuse discretion

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (two‑part ineffective assistance test: deficient performance and prejudice)
State v. Gegia, 157 Ohio App.3d 112 (Ohio Ct. App.) (application of Strickland to guilty pleas; prejudice must show plea was not knowing and voluntary)