Webber v. Kelly, 2008-T-0025 (6-20-2008)
Webber v. Kelly, 2008-T-0025 (6-20-2008)
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 2} Petitioner's present incarceration in respondent's institution is based upon a 1999 criminal conviction in the Medina County Court of Common Pleas. Following a jury trial, petitioner was found guilty of felonious assault of a police officer, assault of a police officer, and failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer. The trial court then sentenced him to one term of ten years on the first offense and two terms of one and one-half years on the remaining offenses. In addition, the trial court ordered that all three terms be served consecutively, for an aggregate term of thirteen years.
{¶ 3} Petitioner immediately appealed his conviction to the Ninth District Court of Appeals. In August 2000, the appellate court rendered an opinion which affirmed the conviction in all respects. Under the fourth assignment of his appeal, petitioner argued that the jury verdicts on all three offenses had been against the manifest weight of the evidence. As to the "felonious assault" offense, a majority of the three-judge panel held that petitioner's argument was well taken. Nevertheless, because the third judge of the panel had dissented on that point, the majority still upheld the conviction for felonious assault under Section
{¶ 4} After serving approximately seven years of his term, petitioner initiated the instant case in habeas corpus. As the sole basis for his single claim, petitioner asserted that, by predicating its decision to uphold his felonious assault conviction upon Section 3(B)(3) of Article IV, the Ninth District Court of Appeals had violated his basic right to due process of law. Specifically, he maintained that, since a majority of the appellate *Page 3 court concluded that the conviction was not supported by the evidence, the jury verdict should have been reversed and his case remanded for a new jury trial. In light of this, his petition ultimately argued that his continuing detainment in the state prison is illegal.
{¶ 5} Although not expressly stated in the habeas corpus petition, it is apparent that petitioner is seeking a determination that the "manifest weight" requirement of the Ohio Constitution is not enforceable against him because it somehow conflicts with the more basic right to due process. Upon applying the basic principles governing an action in habeas corpus, this court holds that the merits of the foregoing issue are not properly before this court in the context of the instant proceeding.
{¶ 6} First, we would again indicate that, as part of the allegations in his claim, petitioner expressly asserted that a criminal defendant is entitled to a new trial when his conviction is reversed on the grounds of manifest weight of the evidence. Our review of pertinent case law readily shows that petitioner's assertion is legally correct. InState v. Thompkins (1997),
{¶ 7} Under Ohio law, it is also well established that a writ of habeas corpus will only lie when the defendant is entitled to be released immediately from the jail or state prison. See Jordan v.State, 11th Dist. No. 2006-T-0103,
{¶ 8} Second, the prior precedent of this court further provides that, unless the prisoner has already served his maximum sentence, a writ of habeas corpus generally will lie only if it can be demonstrated that the trial court in the underlying criminal case lacked the requisite jurisdiction to enter the conviction and impose sentence. State ex rel.Vinson v. Gansheimer, 11th Dist. No. 2007-A-0042,
{¶ 9} Finally, petitioner's own allegations support the conclusion that he had an adequate legal remedy through a direct appeal to the Supreme Court of Ohio. As part of his response to the motion to dismiss, petitioner stated that, for a variety of reasons, he was unable to file a timely appeal of the appellate decision. However, in construing the "adequate remedy" element of a habeas corpus claim, the courts of this state have held that an alternative legal remedy will be deemed "adequate" even if it is not currently available to the prisoner. See, e.g., Newell v. Anderson, 9th Dist. No. 05CA008812, *Page 5
{¶ 10} As a general proposition, a habeas corpus claim can be dismissed under Civ. R. 12(B)(6) if its allegations are not legally sufficient to satisfy the required elements. Lopez v. Gansheimer, 11th Dist. No. 2006-A-0014,
{¶ 11} Pursuant to the foregoing legal analysis, respondent's motion to dismiss is granted. It is the order of this court that petitioner's entire habeas corpus claim is hereby dismissed.
DIANE V. GRENDELL, P.J., COLLEEN MARY O'TOOLE, J., TIMOTHY P. CANNON, J., concur. *Page 1
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