State v. Mills, 2023 Ohio 4716

Miguel Mills was charged with two felonies for shooting at a car and his trial was delayed multiple times, leading to his frustrations and behavioral outbursts.
Mills’s counsel requested a mental health and competency assessment, citing a “downward spiral” in Mills’s mental stability and inability to communicate coherently about his case.
Mills refused to go to the competency evaluation, and neither the court nor defense revisited the issue; the case proceeded to trial, resulting in conviction.
On appeal, Mills argued the trial court committed reversible error by failing to hold the mandatory competency hearing required once the issue was raised pre-trial.
The appellate court agreed error occurred but deemed it harmless, finding insufficient indications of incompetency in the record.
Mills appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court, challenging the "sufficient indicia of incompetency" harmless error standard and arguing for a more defendant-protective rule.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether failure to hold mandatory competency hearing is reversible or harmless error	Mills: Appellate courts must find reversible error where the record gives reasonable doubt as to competency	State: Uphold precedent; error is harmless absent sufficient indicia of incompetency	Error is harmless unless record shows sufficient indicia of incompetency
Adequacy of the existing “sufficient indicia” standard	Mills: Standard is vague; should be tied to “reasonable doubt”	State: Existing case law and standard are clear and sufficient	Court reaffirms traditional standard; declines to adopt new test
Waiver of right to hearing due to defendant’s noncooperation	Mills: Defendant cannot waive competency on a silent record	State: Failure to cooperate waives right to further competency proceedings	Not reached; case decided on harmless error grounds
Treatment of counsel’s representations of incompetency	Mills: Counsel’s statements show sufficient indicia of incompetency	State: Behavior showed frustration, not incompetence	Court finds counsel’s statements insufficient to trigger reversal

State v. Bock, 28 Ohio St.3d 108 (Ohio 1986) (establishes sufficient-indicia-of-incompetency standard; error is harmless unless record shows sufficient indicia)
State v. Berry, 72 Ohio St.3d 354 (Ohio 1995) (reaffirms Bock standard for competency hearings)
State v. Were, 94 Ohio St.3d 173 (Ohio 2002) (applies Bock; finds sufficient indicia of incompetency requires a full hearing)
State v. Johnson, 112 Ohio St.3d 210 (Ohio 2006) (competency determined by ability to consult with counsel and understand charges)