State v. Pound, 2012 Ohio 3392

Pound was convicted in 1997 after a jury trial of aggravated murder and related offenses, with concurrent and merged firearm sentences.
The appellate court previously affirmed Pound’s conviction in 1998; Pound later filed multiple postconviction relief petitions challenging Wooliver’s testimony as perjury.
The trial court denied Pound’s petitions (2008, 2009, 2011) and again denied in 2010 when addressing the 2009 petition.
Pound argued that newly surfaced affidavits show perjury by Wooliver and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel.
The court held postconviction relief is a narrow, statutory remedy, barred by res judicata for issues that could have been raised at trial or on direct appeal.
The court affirmed the trial court’s denial of Pound’s petitions, concluding the asserted errors were either barred by res judicata or not properly raised on direct appeal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether postconviction relief based on perjured testimony is barred by res judicata	Pound contends perjured testimony vitiates verdict	Res judicata bars new non-constitutional claims not raised earlier	Claim barred by res judicata; could have been raised on direct appeal.
Whether the court should have held a hearing given substantial showing of error	Petitions warranted hearings due to potential constitutional errors	Petitions were properly denied without a hearing under res judicata and timeliness	No due process violation; hearings were not mandated given procedural bar.
Whether sentencing merger challenges are reviewable post- Johnson under res judicata	Merger issues affect validity of sentence and should be reviewable	Merger challenges are barred if not raised on direct appeal; remain voidable not void	Merger challenges barred by res judicata; not reviewable on collateral petition.

State v. Dudley, 2010-Ohio-4152 (2d Dist. Montgomery 2010) (postconviction remedy is narrow; res judicata applies to challenges that could have been raised)
State v. Steffen, 70 Ohio St.3d 399 (1996) (limitations on postconviction relief; standard for collateral review)
State v. Szefcyk, 77 Ohio St.3d 93 (1996) (res judicata and procedural default in postconviction)
State v. Parson, 2012-Ohio-730 (2d Dist. Montgomery) ( merger and timing; Johnson rule not retroactive to final judgments)
State v. Martin, Montgomery No. 21697 (2007) (merger challenges barred if not raised on direct appeal)
State v. Poole, 2011-Ohio-716 (8th Dist. Cuyahoga) (allied offenses and merger issues addressed on direct appeal)
State v. Goldsmith, 2011-Ohio-840 (8th Dist. Cuyahoga) (failure to raise merger issue on direct appeal; res judicata applies)
Ali v. State, 2004-Ohio-6592 (Ohio Supreme Court) (new judicial rulings cannot be retroactively applied to final judgments)