CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio — The Ohio Fourth District Court of Appeals has vacated the guilty pleas of Marty Ray Dotson Jr., who had previously admitted to murder and voluntary manslaughter charges in connection with the October 2023 deaths of two men at a mobile home park in Orient.
The decision, issued in Case No. 24CA24, found that the Pickaway County Court of Common Pleas failed to properly inform Dotson of the mandatory post-release control associated with his voluntary manslaughter conviction — a procedural error that rendered his plea invalid.
Dotson had pleaded guilty to one count of murder, an unclassified felony, and one count of voluntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony, as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors. In exchange, seven other charges — including additional counts of murder, felonious assault, kidnapping, and abuse of a corpse — were dismissed. He was sentenced to 15 years to life for murder and 11 to 16½ years for voluntary manslaughter, to be served consecutively.
However, the appellate court determined that the trial court’s failure to inform Dotson about post-release control — a mandatory supervision period of up to five years following imprisonment — violated Ohio Criminal Rule 11(C)(2)(a), which requires defendants to be told of the maximum penalties before entering a guilty plea.
The State conceded that this notification had not been provided, and the appellate panel ruled that the error invalidated Dotson’s plea to voluntary manslaughter.
Dotson also argued that because his guilty pleas were part of a single negotiated agreement, the invalidation of one plea required the entire agreement to be vacated. The court agreed, citing established legal precedent that interdependent plea agreements cannot stand if one component is flawed.
As a result, both of Dotson’s guilty pleas — to murder and voluntary manslaughter — were vacated. The case has been remanded to the Pickaway County Court of Common Pleas for further proceedings, effectively resetting it to the pre-plea stage.
The ruling highlights the importance of courts fully advising defendants of all consequences before accepting a plea, ensuring that such decisions are made knowingly and voluntarily.
The original case stemmed from an incident on October 20, 2023, when Pickaway County deputies responded to the Whispering Pines Mobile Home Park in Orient after neighbors reported seeing two unresponsive individuals inside a residence. Deputies discovered Craig T. Dewitt, 58, and Cory A. Moore, 22, deceased in a back bedroom. Both men had suffered multiple stab wounds, including having their throats slashed, after what was reported as a party that over several days was mixed with drugs and alcohol.
The court’s decision means that Dotson’s guilty pleas to both murder and voluntary manslaughter have been vacated, and the case has been remanded to the Pickaway County Court of Common Pleas for further proceedings.
The ruling effectively resets the case to its pre-plea stage, allowing both parties to renegotiate or proceed to trial.
