State v. Holden

Citations

• 2021 Ohio 2749

Syllabus

MOTION TO WITHDRAW PLEA – HYBRID REPRESENTATION: The trial court erred in denying defendant's request for a continuance for the presence of retained counsel where the record reflects that counsel filed a notice of appearance in the matter prior to the hearing on defendant's pro se post-conviction motion to withdraw his pleas. While defendant did not have a Sixth Amendment right to appointed counsel in post-conviction proceedings, defendant did have the right to have privately-retained counsel present. A trial court cannot entertain a pro se motion while defendant is represented by counsel where counsel does not join in with the motion, nor is defendant is entitled to simultaneous pro se representation and representation by counsel, which constitutes hybrid representation in violation of statute. Therefore, the trial court should have investigated whether newly-retained counsel joined defendant in defendant's pro se motion.