On February 4, 2020, by a vote of 4-3, the Supreme Court of Ohio dismissed as improvidently accepted State v. Barnes,. 2020-Ohio-310. Chief Justice O’Connor and Justices Fischer, Donnelly, and Stewart voted for dismissal. Justices Kennedy and DeWine dissented and would reverse the judgment of the court of appeals. Justice French dissented. The case was argued on January 8, 2020.
The issue in the case was whether a trial court’s denial of an appointed attorney’s motion to withdraw due to a conflict of interest is a final appealable order under R.C. 2505.02(B)(4) and, if so, whether the motion was properly denied in this case. The trial court denied the public defender’s motion to withdraw in the case. In a split decision, the Eighth District Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the trial court’s judgment. The appellate court majority found that the trial court’s denial of the public defender’s motion to withdraw was a final appealable order under R.C. 2505.02(B)(4) because Barnes would not be afforded a meaningful review of the decision after final judgment. The dissenting judge found that the trial court’s denial of the motion to withdraw was not a final appealable order under R.C. 2505.02(B)(4) because a post-judgment appeal would afford Barnes a meaningful and effective remedy, and because at this point any conflicts are only potential. The decision from the Supreme Court of Ohio orders that the opinion of the court of appeals may not be cited as authority except by the parties inter se.
Read an analysis of the oral argument here.