State v. Roberts, 2011 Ohio 2534

Roberts pled guilty in 2006 to multiple drug-related counts in CR-480193 and CR-483914, receiving a six-year sentence with other counts dismissed.
Roberts moved to withdraw his plea in 2006; trial court denied without explanation.
Roberts filed a postconviction petition in 2007 alleging ineffective assistance and related Fourth Amendment and suppression issues; petition denied and affirmed as barred by res judicata in a prior appellate decision.
Roberts sought delayed appeals unsuccessfully; habeas relief in federal court granted leave to pursue delayed direct appeal, which this court granted and then reviewed on direct appeal.
On direct appeal, this court previously held Roberts’s pleas were knowingly and voluntarily entered and that Fourth Amendment, discovery, and prosecutorial misconduct claims lacked merit; the current petition re-asserts essentially the same claims.
The trial court denied Roberts’s second postconviction petition as untimely and barred by res judicata; this court affirms the denial.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether res judicata barred the petition	Roberts: delayed appeal issues should preclude res judicata	State: prior direct appeal resolved issues; res judicata applies	Res judicata applied; petition barred
Whether the petition was timely under RC 2953.23	Roberts: untimeliness excused due to discovery issues	State: discovery was Roberts’s choice, not unavoidably prevented	Petition untimely; no exception applied
Whether an evidentiary hearing was required	Roberts: an evidentiary hearing was warranted	State: court may dismiss without hearing if untimely	No hearing required; petition dismissed without one

State v. Perry, 10 Ohio St.2d 175 (Ohio 1967) (establishes res judicata scope in postconviction proceedings)
State v. Short, 8th Dist. No. 83492, 2004-Ohio-2695 (Ohio 2004) (limits on second/postconviction petitions)