Case Title: Christian v. Gansheimer

Citation: 2008-Ohio-2219

Docket Number: 

State: ohio

Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Date: 2008-05-14T00:00:00Z

Document:
[Cite as Christian v. Gansheimer, 118 Ohio St.3d 235, 2008-Ohio-2219.] 
 
 
CHRISTIAN, APPELLANT, v. GANSHEIMER, WARDEN, APPELLEE. 
[Cite as Christian v. Gansheimer, 118 Ohio St.3d 235, 2008-Ohio-2219.] 
Habeas corpus — Petition failed to state a viable claim — Successive petition 
barred by res judicata — Court of appeals’ dismissal of petition  affirmed. 
(No. 2008-0284 ─ Submitted May 6, 2008 ─ Decided May 14, 2008.) 
APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Allen County, No. 1-07-80. 
__________________ 
 
Per Curiam. 
{¶ 1} This is an appeal from a judgment dismissing a petition for a writ 
of habeas corpus.  Because the petition fails to state a viable claim and is barred 
by res judicata, we affirm. 
{¶ 2} Appellant, Alan J. Christian, was convicted of felonious assault on 
a peace officer with a firearm specification and was sentenced to prison.  On 
appeal, the Court of Appeals for Mahoning County affirmed.  State v. Christian, 
Mahoning App. No. 02 CA 170, 2005-Ohio-1440.  The court of appeals also 
denied Christian’s motion for judgment for failure to prosecute and want of 
jurisdiction, in which he claimed that the trial court had lacked jurisdiction over 
his case because the notary public who witnessed the criminal complaint 
“impersonated” the police chief’s oath and signature.  See State v. Christian, 
Mahoning App. No. 02 CA 170, 2005-Ohio-2381. 
{¶ 3} Christian subsequently filed a habeas corpus petition in this court 
in which he raised the same claim concerning the allegedly defective criminal 
complaint.  We dismissed the petition.  Christian v. Gansheimer, 114 Ohio St.3d 
1406, 2007-Ohio-2632, 867 N.E.2d 841. 
{¶ 4} Christian then filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the 
Court of Appeals for Ashtabula County raising the same claim.  After the case 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
2 
was transferred to the Court of Appeals for Allen County on a motion for change 
of venue, the court of appeals dismissed the petition. 
{¶ 5} We affirm the judgment of the court of appeals.  An extraordinary 
writ is not available to challenge the validity or sufficiency of a charging 
instrument, and Christian had an adequate remedy at law by appeal to raise his 
claim.  State ex rel. Elko v. Suster, 110 Ohio St.3d 212, 2006-Ohio-4248, 852 
N.E.2d 731, ¶ 3.  Any defect concerning the criminal complaint is not cognizable 
in habeas corpus because Christian was convicted and sentenced upon a 
subsequent valid charging instrument.  See State ex rel. Jackson v. Brigano 
(2000), 88 Ohio St.3d 180, 181, 724 N.E.2d 424; Sopko v. Maxwell (1965), 3 
Ohio St.2d 123, 124, 32 O.O.2d 99, 209 N.E.2d 201. 
{¶ 6} Moreover, res judicata bars Christian from raising the same issue 
he previously raised in an appeal and in his prior habeas corpus case.  Lynch v. 
Wilson, 114 Ohio St.3d 118, 2007-Ohio-3254, 868 N.E.2d 982, ¶ 6; Everett v. 
Eberlin, 114 Ohio St.3d 199, 2007-Ohio-3832, 870 N.E.2d 1190, ¶ 8 (res judicata 
bars successive habeas corpus petitions). 
{¶ 7} Therefore, the court of appeals correctly dismissed Christian’s 
petition, and we affirm the judgment. 
Judgment affirmed. 
 
MOYER, 
C.J., 
and 
PFEIFER, 
LUNDBERG 
STRATTON, 
O’CONNOR, 
O’DONNELL, LANZINGER, and CUPP, JJ., concur. 
__________________ 
Alan J. Christian, pro se. 
Marc Dann, Attorney General, and Diane Mallory, Assistant Attorney 
General, for appellee. 
______________________