Lopez v. Warden (Slip Opinion)
Lopez v. Warden (Slip Opinion)
Opinion
*192 {¶ 1} We affirm the judgment of the Twelfth District Court of Appeals dismissing the petition of appellant, Juan Ramone Lopez, for a writ of habeas corpus.
{¶ 2} In October 1998, Lopez was arrested on suspicion of murder. At that time, Lopez identified himself as "Eduardo Bonilla." He was subsequently indicted under the name "Eduardo Bonilla aka Juan Ramone Lopez" and convicted of seven charges-including complicity to commit aggravated murder, conspiracy to commit aggravated murder, complicity to commit murder, and complicity to commit kidnapping. The Greene County Common Pleas Court sentenced Lopez to an aggregate prison term of life with the possibility of parole after 30 years. The court of appeals affirmed Lopez's conviction and sentence.
*906
State v. Bonilla
, 2d Dist. Greene No. 99CA0118,
{¶ 3} In September 2017, Lopez filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Twelfth District Court of Appeals, arguing that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to convict him because the juvenile court had not conducted a bindover proceeding as required by R.C. 2152.12 and Juv.R. 30. Lopez claims that his name was not Eduardo Bonilla in 1998. Lopez insists that he adopted the identity of Eduardo Bonilla-who was an adult in 1998-only to purchase cigarettes and beer. According to Lopez, he was actually a juvenile on the date of *193 the crimes. Consequently, Lopez argues that the protections afforded to juveniles in R.C. 2152.12 and Juv.R. 30 applied to him. Appellee, the warden of the Madison Correctional Institution, filed a motion to dismiss asserting that Lopez failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted under Civ.R. 12(B)(6). Lopez opposed the motion.
{¶ 4} In November 2017, the court of appeals dismissed Lopez's petition, holding that he had an adequate remedy in the ordinary course of the law through which he could raise his bindover claim and that his habeas claim was barred by res judicata.
{¶ 5}
We affirm the court of appeals' judgment only as it pertains to dismissing Lopez's petition on res judicata grounds. When petitioners have appealed adverse judgments in successive habeas corpus cases, we have applied res judicata to bar those claims.
State ex rel. Childs v. Lazaroff
,
{¶ 6}
In 2009, Lopez raised this very claim in an original action for a writ of habeas corpus in this court.
Lopez v. Sheets
,
Judgment affirmed.
O'Connor, C.J., and O'Donnell, Kennedy, French, Fischer, DeWine, and DeGenaro, JJ., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- LOPEZ, Appellant, v. WARDEN, MADISON CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION, Appellee.
- Cited By
- 5 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Habeas Corpus—Successive habeas petition arguing issue already litigated barred by res judicata—Court of appeals' dismissal of petition affirmed.