State v. Spears, Unpublished Decision (5-26-2000)
State v. Spears, Unpublished Decision (5-26-2000)
Opinion of the Court
Appellant sets forth the following assignments of error:
"I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DENYING APPELLANT'S MOTION TO WITHDRAW HIS PLEA, AS THE PLEA WAS ENTERED WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE OF THE CONSEQUENCE CREATED BY MEGAN'S LAW IT WAS NOT THE KNOWING AND VOLUNTARY WAIVER REQUIRED BY THE FIFTH AND FOURTEENTH AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION.
"II. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN APPLYING THE PROVISIONS OF OHIO REV. CODE SECTIONS 2950 ET SEQ. AS THE LEGISLATION IS AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL DENIAL OF THE INALIENABLE RIGHTS SECURED BY ARTICLE
I , SECTION1 , OF THE OHIO CONSTITUTION."
The facts that are relevant to the issues raised on appeal are as follows. On June 13, 1988, appellant entered a plea of guilty to one count of rape. Appellant's plea was accepted and he was sentenced to a term of imprisonment. On July 2, 1999, appellant filed a pro se motion to withdraw his guilty plea in which he argued that his plea was not entered knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently. Appellant asserted in his motion that, despite his protestations of innocence, his attorney advised him to plead guilty and made no attempt to investigate the case, that the state withheld exculpatory evidence in order to coerce a guilty plea, and that the trial court did not properly advise him of his right to be free from self-incrimination. On August 20, 1999, the trial court denied appellant's motion, finding after a review of the transcript of the plea proceeding that each of appellant's claims was refuted by his sworn statements during the hearing. The trial court found that it had scrupulously adhered to the requirements of Crim.R. 11 and that the plea was accepted by the court only after a determination that it was knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently made and that, accordingly, no manifest injustice would result from denial of the motion.
In his first assignment of error, appellant asserts that his guilty plea, which was entered before the effective date of R.C.
Crim.R. 32.1 governs the withdrawal of a guilty plea:
"A motion to withdraw a plea of guilty or no contest may be made only before sentence is imposed or imposition of sentence is suspended; but to correct manifest injustice the court after sentence may set aside the judgment of conviction and permit the defendant to withdraw his plea."
A defendant does not have an absolute right to withdraw a guilty plea. Once sentence has been imposed, a defendant may withdraw his plea only upon a showing that withdrawal is necessary to correct a manifest injustice. Crim.R. 32.1. A post-sentence withdrawal motion is allowable only in extraordinary cases. Statev. Smith (1977),
This court notes preliminarily that the issue of R.C. 2950 and its possible effects on a motion to withdraw a guilty plea entered before the statute became effective was not before the trial court because appellant did not raise this argument in his motion to withdraw his plea. Because the issue of R.C. 2950 and its effect on the validity of appellant's guilty plea, which appellant now raises on appeal, was not raised in the trial court, it is not now properly before us. See,e.g., Van Camp v. Riley (1984),
In his second assignment of error, appellant asserts that R.C.
The Supreme Court of Ohio recently addressed such challenges to the constitutionality of R.C.
Upon consideration of the foregoing, this court finds that the provisions of R.C.
On consideration whereof, this court finds that appellant was not prejudiced and the judgment of the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas is affirmed. Costs of this appeal are assessed to appellant.
JUDGMENT AFFIRMED. JAMES R. SHERCK, J., JUDGE, RICHARD W. KNEPPER, P.J., JUDGE, MARK L. PIETRYKOWSKI, J., JUDGE, CONCUR.
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