State v. Perez, 2020 Ohio 100

Defendant Jezeel Acosta Perez struck his 11‑year‑old stepdaughter J.G. after discovering younger children had opened his Lego sets; J.G. sustained bruising and sought medical care.
Son V.S. and daughter J.G. testified Perez hit J.G. on the butt and then her back with a closed fist; mother Jesica intervened and the family fled the home.
Perez admitted he disciplined J.G. and later apologized, but also acknowledged he had gone "too far." Perez testified about parental discipline practices (timeouts, ear‑pulling, spanking as last resort).
Perez was indicted on multiple counts of domestic violence and child endangering; the jury acquitted on several counts but convicted Perez of one domestic violence count and one child endangering count relating to J.G.
On appeal Perez argued (1) ineffective assistance of counsel because defense counsel failed to assert the affirmative defense of parental discipline and request a jury instruction, and (2) plain error because the trial court did not instruct the jury on parental discipline.
The Eighth District affirmed, holding counsel’s failure was reasonable trial strategy and the evidence was insufficient to support a parental‑discipline instruction.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether counsel was ineffective for not asserting parental‑discipline defense or requesting related jury instruction	State: counsel’s choices were reasonable and not prejudicial; evidence supported convictions	Perez: counsel should have requested parental‑discipline instruction and asserted that affirmative defense	Court: Overruled — counsel’s conduct fell within reasonable strategy; no prejudice shown
Whether trial court committed plain error by failing to instruct on parental discipline	State: no plain error because evidence insufficient to warrant the instruction	Perez: failure to give instruction deprived him of affirmative‑defense consideration	Court: Overruled — no plain error; record lacked sufficient evidence for instruction

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (two‑prong test for ineffective assistance of counsel)
State v. Bradley, 42 Ohio St.3d 136 (1989) (Ohio application of Strickland standard)
State v. Suchomski, 58 Ohio St.3d 74 (1991) (parental discipline not prohibited unless it causes physical harm)
State v. Palmer, 80 Ohio St.3d 543 (1997) (no error in failing to instruct when evidence insufficient)
State v. Fulmer, 117 Ohio St.3d 319 (2008) (trial court discretion to decide if evidence warrants instruction)
State v. Melchior, 56 Ohio St.2d 15 (1978) (trial court need not instruct on affirmative defense absent sufficient evidence)
State v. Long, 53 Ohio St.2d 91 (1978) (plain‑error standard in criminal cases)