Case Title: Turner v. Ishee

Citation: 2003-Ohio-1671

Docket Number: 20021834

State: ohio

Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Date: 2003-04-16T00:00:00Z

Document:
[Cite as Turner v. Ishee, 98 Ohio St.3d 411, 2003-Ohio-1671.] 
 
 
TURNER, APPELLANT, v. ISHEE, WARDEN, APPELLEE. 
[Cite as Turner v. Ishee, 98 Ohio St.3d 411, 2003-Ohio-1671.] 
Habeas corpus to compel relator’s release from prison — Dismissal of petition 
affirmed. 
(No. 2002-1834 — Submitted March 12, 2003 — Decided April 16, 2003.) 
APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Mahoning County, No. 02-CA-78. 
__________________ 
 
Per Curiam. 
{¶1} 
Between May 1970 and March 1984, the Cuyahoga County Court 
of Common Pleas convicted appellant, Donald Turner, of various offenses, 
including aggravated burglary, aggravated assault, robbery, and theft, and 
sentenced him to prison. 
{¶2} 
In 1997, Turner filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the 
Noble County Court of Common Pleas.  The common pleas court dismissed the 
petition. 
{¶3} 
In April 2002, Turner filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in 
the Court of Appeals for Mahoning County.  Turner claimed that his convictions 
were void for various reasons, including that the indictments and informations 
upon which the convictions were based were invalid.  In May 2002, appellee, 
Warden Todd Ishee, filed a motion to dismiss. 
{¶4} 
In September 2002, the court of appeals granted Ishee’s motion 
and dismissed Turner’s petition. 
{¶5} 
We affirm the judgment of the court of appeals. 
{¶6} 
Turner was not entitled to a writ of habeas corpus because he was 
barred by res judicata from filing a successive habeas corpus petition when he 
could have raised the same claims in his previous habeas corpus petition.  State ex 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
2 
rel. Johnson v. Ohio Dept. of Rehab. & Corr. (2002), 95 Ohio St.3d 70, 71, 765 
N.E.2d 356; State ex rel. Childs v. Lazaroff (2001), 90 Ohio St.3d 519, 520-521, 
739 N.E.2d 802.  In fact, he expressly raised some of his claims in other 
proceedings.  See, e.g., State v. Turner (Mar. 24, 1994), Cuyahoga App. No. 
64992, 1994 WL 97701. 
{¶7} 
Moreover, habeas corpus is not available to test the validity or 
sufficiency of an indictment or other charging instrument.  State ex rel. Bragg v. 
Seidner (2001), 92 Ohio St.3d 87, 88, 748 N.E.2d 532; Orr v. Mack (1998), 83 
Ohio St.3d 429, 430, 700 N.E.2d 590.  The trial court in each instance had the 
requisite jurisdiction to try, convict, and sentence him on the charged offenses.  
Harris v. Bagley, 97 Ohio St.3d 98, 2002-Ohio-5369, 776 N.E.2d 490, ¶ 3. 
{¶8} 
Thus, we affirm the judgment of the court of appeals.1 
Judgment affirmed. 
 
MOYER, C.J., RESNICK, F.E. SWEENEY, PFEIFER, COOK, LUNDBERG 
STRATTON and O’CONNOR, JJ., concur. 
__________________ 
 
Donald Turner, pro se. 
 
Jim Petro, Attorney General, and Thelma Thomas Price, Assistant 
Attorney General, for respondent. 
__________________ 
                                                 
1  We deny appellant’s motion for an order to strike appellee’s brief from the record.