State v. Taylor, 2014 Ohio 3574

Appellant Wil W. Taylor was indicted on two counts of felonious assault with firearm and drive-by specifications; a jury convicted him and he was sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment.
This court affirmed the conviction on direct appeal, noting the case turned on witness credibility—principally testimony of victim/witness Christion Chavis.
Taylor filed a petition for post-conviction relief (R.C. 2953.21) alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel for (1) advising him to reject a plea offer, (2) misrepresenting the strength of the State's evidence, and (3) misstating the possible maximum sentence.
He submitted three affidavits (his, his girlfriend’s, and his mother’s) supporting those claims; the trial court denied the petition without an evidentiary hearing.
The trial judge who conducted the trial also reviewed and rejected the post-conviction petition, finding the affidavits not credible and that counsel’s advice fell within reasonable professional judgment.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Taylor)	Held
Did the trial court abuse its discretion by denying the PCR petition without a hearing?	Denial proper; petition lacks substantive grounds and affidavits are not credible.	Trial court erred by denying a hearing despite affidavits showing ineffective assistance.	No abuse; denial affirmed.
Was counsel ineffective for advising Taylor to reject the plea?	Counsel’s advice was reasonable given weaknesses/strengths of State’s case; tactical decision within professional judgment.	Counsel misled Taylor about evidence strength and caused him to reject an 18-month plea.	No ineffective assistance; counsel’s advice reasonable.
Did affidavits submitted establish entitlement to a hearing (credibility and operative facts)?	Affidavits were self-serving, contradictory, contained hearsay, and contradicted the trial record.	Affidavits showed operative facts warranting a hearing.	Affidavits lacked credibility and did not supply sufficient operative facts; hearing not required.

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (establishes two-prong ineffective assistance test)
Calhoun v. State, 86 Ohio St.3d 279 (standards for evaluating affidavits and need for PCR hearing)
Kapper v. State, 5 Ohio St.3d 36 (self-serving affidavit insufficient to rebut record)
Blakemore v. Blakemore, 5 Ohio St.3d 217 (abuse of discretion standard)
Vaughn v. Maxwell, 2 Ohio St.2d 299 (presumption of attorney competence)
State v. Smith, 17 Ohio St.3d 98 (burden on party alleging ineffective assistance)
State v. Nero, 56 Ohio St.3d 106 (prejudice standard in plea context)
State v. Sallie, 81 Ohio St.3d 673 (wide range of reasonable professional assistance)
State v. Conway, 109 Ohio St.3d 412 (same)