State v. Quinn, 2017 Ohio 8207

In July 2005 Jeremy J. Quinn, Jr. was indicted for one count of kidnapping and six counts of rape; a jury convicted him on all counts in November 2005 and the trial court imposed a 70‑year aggregate sentence.
Quinn appealed; this court affirmed his convictions and sentence in 2008. He was resentenced on August 2, 2012 under State v. Foster, and the trial court again imposed the original 70‑year term; that resentencing was affirmed on appeal in 2014.
Quinn previously argued merger of allied offenses in the trial court and on his 2012/2014 appeals and lost; the court held res judicata barred reconsideration of merger at Foster resentencing.
On January 19, 2017 Quinn filed a pro se “Motion to Correct a Void Sentence” claiming the trial court failed to conduct a merger hearing at the August 2, 2012 resentencing, rendering his sentence void under R.C. 2941.25.
The trial court treated the filing as a petition for post‑conviction relief, denied it as barred by the law of the case/res judicata, and Quinn appealed; the Sixth District affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Quinn's claim that the trial court failed to conduct a merger hearing at the 2012 Foster resentencing renders his sentence void	Quinn: resentencing court erred by not conducting a merger (allied‑offense) hearing, making the sentence void and contrary to law	State: merger claim was previously litigated/appealed; res judicata and law of the case bar relitigation and Foster resentencing does not reopen merger	Denied. Court held the merger claim is barred by res judicata and the law of the case; Foster resentencing does not permit relitigation of merger claims

Foster, 109 Ohio St.3d 1 (2006) (Ohio Supreme Court decision altering sentencing procedures and prompting resentencing but not extending to reconsideration of allied‑offense merger claims)