Background

• Pullen-Morrow pleaded guilty to one count of Complicity to Commit Robbery, a felony of the third degree, in January 2011 and received community control sanctions for up to five years.
• In June 2011 the court modified sanctions to require completion of the MonDay Program and any aftercare.
• In September 2011 she received a Notice of CCS Revocation Hearing alleging an unsuccessful discharge from the MonDay Program on September 13, 2011.
• At the revocation hearing, a discharge summary from MonDay, stating the client was clinically unsuccessfully discharged, was admitted as an exhibit and Toops testified about it.
• The trial court found she violated the sanctions and was no longer amenable to community control, revoking it and sentencing her to eighteen months in prison.
• On appeal, Pullen-Morrow contends defense counsel was ineffective for not objecting to the hearsay testimony and to the discharge summary’s admission; the court majority affirms the judgment.

Issues

Key Cases Cited

• Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (ineffective-assistance standard; strong presumption of reasonableness)
• State v. Bradley, 42 Ohio St.3d 136 (Ohio 1989) (prejudice prong and performance standard in Ohio)
• State v. Cooperrider, 4 Ohio St.3d quot 226 (Ohio 1983) (plain-error review in criminal trials)
• State v. Long, 53 Ohio St.2d 91 (Ohio 1978) (plain error standard refinement)
• State v. Miller, 42 Ohio St.2d 102 (Ohio 1975) (probation/record-testimony hearsay rule)
• Columbus v. Lacy, 46 Ohio App.3d 161 (Ohio App.3d 1988) (hearsay evidence in probation context)
• State v. Alderman, 70 Ohio App.3d 147 (Ohio App.3d 1990) (hearsay considerations in revocation context)
• State v. Gray, 2009-Ohio-4821 (Ohio App.3d 2009) (ineffective assistance for failure to object to hearsay)
• State v. Houston, 2d Dist. Champ. No. 06-CA-11, 2007-Ohio-868 (Ohio 2007) (hearsay in revocation context; relevance to preservation)