Cook attempting to withdraw Alford plea in arson/attempted murder case
A 53-year-old man who was sentenced to prison for setting fire to his house while his adult stepdaughter was still inside wants to reopen his appeal.
In March 2023, Chad Cook was sentenced to eight years in prison after entering an Alford plea to attempted aggravated murder, two counts of aggravated arson and one count of attempted murder.
In an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit to the criminal act but does admit the evidence would likely persuade a judge or jury to find him guilty.
Cook set fire to his house in the 1000 block of Timbercliff Drive on April 21, 2022. His adult stepdaughter, who was trying to sleep, was not injured.
A neighbor's doorbell camera showed Cook at the scene. Previously, fire Marshal Jason Whaley said Cook was seen on the security camera going into the residence at 9:52 a.m. and leaving six minutes later.
Within seconds of Cook leaving, smoke was seen coming from the rear of his residence.
Cook initially told investigators he had gone to get his lunchbox. Co-workers for the Village of Lexington, where Cook was a member of the parks department, contradicted him, saying they saw him put his lunchbox in the refrigerator when he came back to work.
Cook initially tried to withdraw Alford plea at sentencing hearing
The matter of Cook's plea initially came up at his sentencing hearing. He had entered an Alford plea to the indictment but balked at the hearing when he refused to sign paperwork identifying him as both an arsonist and a violent offender.
Cook said he felt pressure to resolve the case and asked for a new attorney. Brent Robinson, Richland County Common Pleas Judge, denied the motion and went ahead with sentencing.
In April 2023, an attorney filed a timely appeal on Cook's behalf. The record was certified without any transcripts and was dismissed by the Fifth District Court of Appeals.
In August 2023, Cook then filed a pro se motion for delayed appeal, which the court of appeals also denied.
Westerville attorney William Cramer has since filed a motion on Cook's behalf with the court of appeals, citing ineffective assistance of appellate counsel.
Cramer noted he needs to show that counsel's performance was objectively unreasonable, and, but for counsel's errors, there was a reasonable probability of a different outcome.
"In this case, the attorney performed deficiently by failing to obtain a transcript and failing to file a brief," Cramer wrote. "As a result, this court was unable to consider the merits of any issues and had to dismiss the appeal.
"Without a transcript, it is difficult to know for sure what issues Cook may have been able to raise. However, Cook has noted issues with the competency of his trial counsel and indicates that he tried to fire counsel prior to sentencing. And any Alford plea is ripe with potential issues, including whether the court engaged in a proper colloquy to ensure that the plea was entered knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily."
Cramer noted an application for reopening an appeal should be filed within 90 days of the judgment being journaled unless there is a good cause for a late filing.
"There is good cause for the late filing because appellant Cook was initially acting pro se when he filed the improper delayed appeal, and the undersigned was not appointed in time to pursue an application to reopen this appeal," Cramer wrote.
According to an email from the Fifth District Court of Appeals, the appeal is open and is at the briefing stage, where each party will have the opportunity to present written arguments.
Cook is an inmate at Belmont Correctional Institution. His release date is Oct. 31, 2030.
mcaudill@gannett.com
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Mansfield man wants to withdraw Alford plea in 2022 arson case
