Judge rules against Liles' bid for new trial
Nov. 19—LIMA — A judge appointed by the chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court to hear arguments surrounding a motion for a new trial filed by a convicted Lima drug dealer has ruled that no such post-conviction relief will be granted.
Judge Mark O'Connor, retired judge of the Logan County Common Pleas Court, in a two-page decision said the attorney for Demond Liles failed to present evidence that constitutional error, ineffective counsel or corrupt practices by former Allen County Sheriff Sam Crish played a substantial role in Liles' conviction for trafficking in drugs.
"The court finds the state's motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction to be well taken. It is ordered that the defendant's post-conviction petition be, and hereby is dismissed," O'Connor wrote.
Attorney Dustin Blake, representing Liles, had sought a new trial for his client based on what he alleged to be newly-discovered evidence in the case. Liles is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for drug trafficking. His conviction in 2014 has been linked to the downfall of former Allen County Sheriff Sam Crish.
Liles never stood trial on the trafficking counts and other charges filed against him in 2013. He pleaded guilty to four counts of trafficking in cocaine in 2014 as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors. Fourteen additional counts were dismissed. Liles previously appealed his conviction and prison sentence, but that appeal was overruled.
The Allen County prosecutor's office, in its response to Liles' request for a new trial, argued the time limit for such relief had long expired, and further maintained the local court lacks jurisdiction to address the remedy sought by the defendant.
Existing case law, the state argued, states that "once a competent jurisdiction renders a final sentence is a criminal action, that court's jurisdiction to act in post-conviction proceedings is limited."
Blake also alleged in court documents that Liles' former attorney provided ineffective counsel and actually withheld information that may have contributed to Liles' decision to enter into a plea deal with prosecutors. The attorney claimed Liles would not have pleaded guilty to the charges against him had it not been for "prejudicial errors" on the part of Attorney Chris Bucio, Liles' previous lawyer.
That allegation was not addressed in O'Connor's ruling.
Liles played a role in the 2019 conviction of Crish, who was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges of extortion, soliciting a bribe and making false statements.
According to federal prosecutors, Liles loaned the former sheriff $20,000 with the understanding that Crish would repay that debt, along with $5,000 in interest. The loan was made in exchange for Crish looking the other way while Liles held financially lucrative parties at which alcohol was served and admission was charged, prosecutors alleged.
Liles was granted $20,000 in restitution by the federal court as part of Crish's sentence.
