Supreme Court declines to hear rape appeal

May 2—The Ohio Supreme Court declined to hear Douglas Jeffrey Haines' appeal in his rape case in a ruling Tuesday.

According to a brief filed by Haines, he pleaded guilty to three counts of rape, first-degree felonies, and was sentenced to 28 to 33 years in prison. He was accused of raping a minor between Oct. 24, 2018 and Oct. 23, 2019, according to the brief.

Haines raised three proposed areas for review by the Ohio Supreme Court.

The first was that the trial court abused its discretion by denying Haines' motion to withdraw his guilty plea. The brief claims Haines was given the proposed plea paperwork the day of his scheduled hearing, and had little time to review and consider it.

The brief further states Haines relied on flawed advice from his attorney, and was compelled to waive his right to a jury trial. Because of that, Haines argues he should have been allowed to withdraw his plea without a hearing.

A response filed by prosecutors states Haines attempted to withdraw his plea after he was sentenced, and failed to submit any evidence to demonstrate a manifest injustice.

The second proposed grounds for appeal mirrors the first, with this one claiming his attorney's failures amounted to a violation of his constitutional rights.

The brief filed by prosecutors states a plea deadline hearing was moved in order for Haines' attorney to negotiate a better deal.

The final proposition was that Haines was not advised of his limited rights to appeal, violating his constitutional rights.

The prosecution's brief states that, at sentencing, Haines said he had no questions about his right to appeal, and quoted him as saying he understood limited appellate rights.

The opinion claims there was no explanation of the fact that a stipulated sentence limited Haines' rights to appeal, and that means his plea was not made knowingly.

Haines filed his appeal with the Ohio Supreme Court in November. He will be eligible for parole in September 2050.