State v. Dunlap

[Cite as State v. Dunlap, 2020-Ohio-4375.]
COURT OF APPEALS
LICKING COUNTY, OHIO
FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
STATE OF OHIO JUDGES:
Hon. W. Scott Gwin, P. J.
Plaintiff-Appellee Hon. John W. Wise, J.
Hon. Earle E. Wise, Jr., J.
-vs-
Case No. 2020 CA 00029
KYLE J. DUNLAP
Defendant-Appellant OPINION
CHARACTER OF PROCEEDING: Criminal Appeal from the Court of Common
Pleas, Case No. 2018 CR 00710
JUDGMENT: Affirmed
DATE OF JUDGMENT ENTRY: September 9, 2020
APPEARANCES:
For Plaintiff-Appellee For Defendant-Appellant
WILLIAM C. HAYES SAMUEL H. SHAMANSKY
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY DONALD L. REGENSBURGER
PAULA M. SAWYERS COLIN E. PETERS
ASSISTANT PROSECUTOR ASHTON C. GAITANOS
20 South Second Street, Fourth Floor 523 South Third Street
Newark, Ohio 43055 Columbus, Ohio 43215
Licking County, Case No. 2020 CA 00029 2
Wise, John, J.
{¶1} Appellant, Kyle J. Dunlap, appeals his conviction and sentence after a
negotiated guilty plea in the Licking County Court of Common Pleas. Appellee is the
State of Ohio. The relevant facts leading to this appeal are as follows.
STATEMENT OF THE FACTS AND CASE
{¶2} On October 4, 2018, Appellant was indicted with one count of Illegal
Assembly or Possession of Chemicals for the Manufacture of Drugs, in violation of R.C.
2925.041, a felony in the second degree, and two counts of Illegal Manufacture of
Drugs; Illegal Cultivation of Marihuana, in violation of R.C. 2925.04, both felonies of the
second degree.
{¶3} On April 18, 2019, the State of Ohio and the Appellant reached a
negotiated plea agreement. In exchange for the Appellant pleading guilty to all three
charges of the indictment, the State would defer at sentencing and not argue that the
applicable presumption in favor of a prison term should apply.
{¶4} On August 13, 2019, Appellant entered a plea of guilty to Counts One,
Two, and Three to the indictment. After accepting Appellant’s guilty plea, the trial court
proceeded to sentencing. Trial counsel for Appellant referenced Appellant’s efforts to
assist investigators by proffering information to the Central Ohio Drug Enforcement
Task Force (“CODE”) in hopes to mitigate the sentence.
{¶5} When asked for a recommendation, the prosecuting attorney stated he
didn’t “believe that there was any cooperation with the Central Ohio Drug Enforcement
Task Force. I don’t believe that the individual that he mentions being in the county jail
had anything to do with anything that was provided by this Defendant.”
Licking County, Case No. 2020 CA 00029 3
{¶6} The trial court then sentenced Appellant to an eight-year mandatory prison
term.
{¶7} Thereafter, Appellant filed Appellant’s Motion to Withdraw Plea. In an
Affidavit to support the motion, Appellant asserts that his trial counsel assured him it
was overwhelmingly likely that he would be placed on probation if he entered a plea of
guilty to the original indictment. Counsel predicted there was a 99% likelihood that
Appellant would be placed on probation and that any period of incarceration would not
exceed sixty days of local jail time. Affidavit further asserts trial counsel told Appellant
he had spoken to the judge the previous day, who had remarked that trial counsel must
have been pleased that the case was resolving in the manner he hoped it would.
{¶8} The trial court denied Appellant’s Motion to Withdraw Plea, finding that the
Appellee’s statements at sentencing were made to correct the record, and there was no
breach of the parties’ plea agreement. The court also noted that the comments did not
affect the sentence imposed. The trial court found the Appellant failed to demonstrate
that a plea withdrawal was necessary to prevent manifest injustice, and that Appellant
failed to provide sufficient evidentiary support to justify conducting an evidentiary
hearing.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR
{¶9} On March 19, 2020, Appellant filed a notice of appeal. He herein raises
the following three Assignments of Error:
{¶10} “I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FINDING THAT THERE WAS NO
BREACH OF THE PLEA AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE PARTIES AND THAT
APPELLANT WAS NOT ENTITLED TO SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE OF THE
Licking County, Case No. 2020 CA 00029 4
PARTIES’ AGREEMENT OR WITHDRAWAL OF HIS GUILTY PLEA, IN VIOLATION
OF HIS RIGHTS GUARANTEED BY THE OHIO AND UNITED STATES
CONSTITUTIONS.
{¶11} “II. THE TRIAL COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION AND ERRED IN
DENYING APPELLANT’S MOTION TO WITHDRAW HIS GUILTY PLEA WHERE SAID
PLEA WAS ENTERED INVOLUNTARILY AND IN REASONABLE RELIANCE ON HIS
FORMER ATTORNEY’S ASSURANCES THAT A GUILTY PLEA WOULD RESULT IN
A SENTENCE MORE LENIENT THAT THE SENTENCE IMPOSED.
{¶12} “III. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DENYING APPELLANT’S REQUEST
FOR AN EVIDENTIARY HEARING ON HIS MOTION TO WITHDRAW HIS GUILTY
PLEA, IN VIOLATION OF HIS RIGHTS AS GUARANTEED BY THE OHIO AND
UNITED STATES CONSTITUTIONS.”
I.
{¶13} In Appellant’s First Assignment of Error, Appellant argues that Appellee’s
comments during sentencing breached his plea agreement with the State, and the trial
court must either grant the withdrawal of the plea or require specific performance of the
agreement and be resentenced by a different judge. We disagree.
{¶14} Plea agreements are subject to contract-law principles. State v. Felder, 5th
Dist. Muskingum No. CT2017-0037, 2018-Ohio-826, ¶16. They should be construed
strictly against the government. State v. Walsh, 5th Dist. Licking No. 14-CA-110, 2015-
Ohio-4135, ¶17. The prosecutor must fulfill any promise made in a plea agreement
which induced the defendant to plea. Id. To show the plea agreement was broken, the
defendant must show the prosecutor did not fulfill the promise. Id. A prosecutor’s failure
Licking County, Case No. 2020 CA 00029 5
to fulfill the terms of the plea agreement may “render a defendant’s plea involuntary and
undermine the constitutionality of a conviction based upon that plea.” Id.{¶15} An agreement for the prosecution to defer on sentencing does not
preclude the government’s participation at the sentencing hearing. State v. Shrider, 5th
Dist. Muskingum No. CT2017-0089, 2018-Ohio-3539, ¶21. Such agreement only
restricts the government’s attempts to influence the sentence by presenting the court
with conjecture, opinion, or disparaging information already in the court’s possession.
Id. The government’s disclosure of relevant factual information or efforts to correct
misstatements do not rise to the level of taking a position on the sentence and does not
violate the plea agreement. Id.{¶16} In State v. Shrider, the State agreed to make no recommendation as to
sentencing. Id. at ¶22. At the sentencing hearing, the State disclosed to the court that
the defendant failed a drug screen while on bond. Id. The State also referred the letters
from the victim’s family to the trial court. Id. The trial court in Shrider held this level of
participation by the government in the sentencing hearing is not tantamount to taking a
position at sentencing. Id. at ¶24.
{¶17} In this case, the State agreed to defer at sentencing and refrain from
arguing that the presumption in favor of a prison term should apply. At the sentencing
hearing, the trial court asked if the prosecution wished to make a sentencing
recommendation. Appellee stated he had “one correction of record.” T. 26. Appellee
continued stating, “I don’t believe that there was any cooperation with the Central Ohio
Drug Enforcement Task Force. I don’t believe that the individual that he mentions being
in the county jail had anything to do with anything that was provided by the Defendant.”
Licking County, Case No. 2020 CA 00029 6
T. 26-27. We find Appellee was correcting the record regarding the State’s
understanding of the level of cooperation Appellant provided to CODE as is permissible
under Shrider.
{¶18} Appellant’s First Assignment of Error is overruled.
II.
{¶19} In Appellant’s Second Assignment of Error, Appellant argues the trial court
abused its discretion in denying Appellant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea. Appellant
contends the plea was entered involuntarily as Appellant reasonably relied on his former
attorney’s assurances that a guilty plea would result in a sentence more lenient than the
sentence imposed. We disagree.
{¶20} Crim.R. 32.1 states:
A motion to withdraw a plea of guilty or no contest may be made
only before sentence is imposed; but to correct manifest injustice the court
after sentence may set aside the judgment of conviction and permit the
defendant to withdraw his or her plea.
{¶21} This Court’s review of the trial court’s ruling on a post-sentence motion to
withdraw plea is “limited to a determination of whether the trial court abused its
discretion. State v. Wallace, 5th Dist. Perry No.18-CA00015, 2020-Ohio-565, ¶20. As an
appellate court may not substitute its judgment for that of the trial court, a post-sentence
withdrawal motion should only be granted in extraordinary cases. Id. Appellant has the
burden of establishing a manifest injustice warranting the withdrawal of a guilty plea. Id.{¶22} A manifest injustice may occur if counsel provides erroneous advice of
counsel regarding the sentence to be imposed. State v. Radel, 5th Dist. Stark No. 2009-
Licking County, Case No. 2020 CA 00029 7
CA-00021, 2009-Ohio-3543, ¶13. Manifest injustice under Crim.R. 32.1 does not
automatically result from trial counsel’s erroneous advice or incorrect speculation
regarding the sentence to be imposed. Id. “[A] defendant’s mistaken belief or impression
regarding the consequences of his plea is not sufficient to establish that such plea was
not knowingly and voluntarily made.” Id. However, a guilty plea entered into because of
a “counsel’s representation, as opposed to counsel’s likely prediction, that such a plea
would result in a lesser sentence than the sentence actually received” the trial court
must permit post-sentence withdrawal of a guilty plea to prevent manifest injustice.
State v. Blatnik, 17 Ohio App.3d 201, 203, 478 N.E.2d 1016, 1020 (6th Dist. 1984).
{¶23} In Blatnik, the record indicated the defendant pled guilty and was then
sentenced. Id. at 204. The defendant does not assert any plea arrangement had been
made concerning the length of his sentence. Id. The defendant also does not assert his
counsel represented to him a sentence the state had promised. Id. The defendant only
asserts counsel speculated, incorrectly, on the length of the sentence. Id. The Sixth
District Court of Appeals found “[a]ccording to the overwhelming weight of authority, this
bare assertion does not, in and of itself, constitute manifest injustice.” Id.
{¶24} In this case, Appellant asserts trial counsel predicted a 99% likelihood he
would be placed on probation and that any period of incarceration would not exceed
sixty days of jail time. Appellant contends these assurances by trial counsel led
Appellant to believe an arrangement had been made with respect to his sentence.
However, nothing in the record shows that trial counsel told Appellant an agreement
regarding sentencing had been reached, nor did trial counsel say with a certainty that a
Licking County, Case No. 2020 CA 00029 8
specific sentence would occur. Trial counsel merely predicted, albeit inaccurately, what
he thought the sentence might be.
{¶25} Appellant also asserts his trial counsel informed him the day before
sentencing he conversed with the sentencing judge who commented about counsel
being pleased that the case was concluding in the manner that he hoped it would.
However, no representation from the trial counsel to Appellant that an agreement to the
length of sentencing had been made, only inaccurate speculation by the trial counsel
that due to the trial court’s comments the sentencing would be more lenient than that
imposed.
{¶26} Therefore, according to the overwhelming weight of authority, the bare
assertion of the attorney’s prediction of the sentence does not, in and of itself, constitute
manifest injustice.
{¶27} Appellant’s Second Assignment of Error is overruled.
III.
{¶28} In the Appellant’s Third Assignment of Error, Appellant argues the trial
court erred in denying Appellant’s request for an evidentiary hearing on his motion to
withdraw his guilty plea. We disagree.
{¶29} As noted above, Crim.R. 32.1 states:
A motion to withdraw a plea of guilty or no contest may be made
only before sentence is imposed; but to correct manifest injustice the
court after sentence may set aside the judgment of conviction and permit
the defendant to withdraw his or her plea.
Licking County, Case No. 2020 CA 00029 9
{¶30} Though Crim.R. 32.1 does not expressly require an evidentiary hearing, a
hearing is only required if the facts alleged in the motion are accepted as true by the
trial court, and those facts would require that the plea be withdrawn. State v. Smith, 1st
Dist. Hamilton No. C-180081, 2019-Ohio-3642, ¶34. The decision to hold a hearing is
discretionary and may be reversed only if the court abused its discretion. Id. In Smith,
the defendant, as well as his attorney, submitted affidavits demonstrating that, because
of defendant’s counsel’s drug addiction, he was incapable of functioning as counsel
under the Sixth Amendment. Id. at ¶42.
{¶31} The defendant must support the allegations made in their motion to
withdraw a guilty plea with affidavits and/or the record. State v. Hutchinson, 5th Dist. No.
16-CA-108, 2018-Ohio-200, 104 N.E.3d 91, ¶43. The defendant is “not entitled to a
hearing where he or she failed to provide evidentiary-quality materials raising sufficient
operative facts which would entitle the defendant to the requested relief.” Id. The
defendant must present evidence which meets a minimum level of cogency to support
his or her motion. Id.{¶32} In Hutchinson, on October 18, 2016, the defendant pleaded guilty to:
felonious assault of a police officer and the second accompanying firearm specification;
improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle; violation of a protection order; forgery;
and possession of criminal tools. Id. at ¶19. Appellant entered an Alford plea to Count II,
which was amended to attempted felonious assault and the accompanying firearm
specification. Id.
Licking County, Case No. 2020 CA 00029 10
{¶33} Between October 31, 2016, and November 15, 2016, the defendant filed a
series of motions to withdraw his guilty plea, arguing he blacked out and had no
memory of telling his trial counsel he agreed to the plea agreement. Id. at ¶20-21.
{¶34} Appellee responded to these motion on November 3, 2016, and
November 17, 2016. Id. at ¶21-22.
{¶35} On November 29, 2016, the trial court entered a “Decision and Order
Denying Defendant’s Motions to Withdraw Guilty Pleas.” Id. at ¶24.
{¶36} This Court held a petitioner’s self-serving affidavit does not meet the
minimum level of cogency. Id. at ¶43. “[A] trial court may assess the credibility of a
movant’s assertions.” Id. at 44.
{¶37} In this case, Appellant submitted a self-serving affidavit, as well as a
recorded telephone conversation allegedly between Appellant’s trial counsel and “John,”
an acquaintance of the Appellant, with no accompanying authentication.
{¶38} Ohio Evid.R. 901 states:
(A) General Provision: The requirement of authentication as a
condition precedent to admissibility is satisfied by evidence sufficient to
support a finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims.
{¶39} The recording of the telephone conversation was not accompanied by any
authentication, making it inadmissible under Ohio Evid.R. 901 and not “evidentiary-
quality material.” As such, the only remaining affidavit is Appellant’s self-serving
affidavit, which does not meet the minimum level of cogency to support Appellant’s
claims of manifest injustice.
Licking County, Case No. 2020 CA 00029 11
{¶40} Appellant’s Third Assignment of Error is overruled.
{¶41} For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the Court of Common Pleas of
Licking County, Ohio, is hereby affirmed.
By: Wise, John, J.
Gwin, P. J., and
Wise, Earle, J., concur.
JWW/b 0903