Case Title: Day v. Wilson

Citation: 2008-Ohio-82

Docket Number: 20071344

State: ohio

Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Date: 2008-01-17T00:00:00Z

Document:
[Cite as Day v. Wilson, 116 Ohio St.3d 566, 2008-Ohio-82.] 
 
 
DAY, APPELLANT, v. WILSON, WARDEN, APPELLEE. 
[Cite as Day v. Wilson, 116 Ohio St.3d 566, 2008-Ohio-82.] 
Habeas corpus—Adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law—Requirements 
of R.C. 2725.04(D) not met—Dismissal of petition affirmed. 
(No. 2007-1344 ─ Submitted January 9, 2008 ─ Decided January 17, 2008.) 
APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Richland County, No. 07CA30. 
__________________ 
 
Per Curiam. 
{¶ 1} This is an appeal from a judgment dismissing a petition for a writ 
of habeas corpus.  Because the petitioner did not comply with the commitment-
paper requirement of R.C. 2725.04(D) and had an adequate remedy in the 
ordinary course of law to raise his claim of an improper bindover, we affirm. 
{¶ 2} In 1994, the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas convicted 
appellant, Claude E. Day Jr., of aggravated murder, felonious assault, and a 
firearm specification and sentenced him to prison. 
{¶ 3} In April 2007, Day filed a petition in the Court of Appeals for 
Richland County for a writ of habeas corpus to compel appellee, Richland 
Correctional Institution Warden Julius Wilson, to immediately release him from 
prison.  Day claimed that his convictions and sentence were void because he had 
never been given the physical examination required by the then applicable 
versions of Juv.R. 30 and former R.C. 2151.26 before he was bound over from the 
juvenile court to the common pleas court.  Day did not attach to his petition a 
copy of the bindover entry that he challenged.  The warden filed a motion to 
dismiss.  The court of appeals granted the motion and dismissed the petition. 
{¶ 4} The court of appeals properly dismissed Day’s petition.  The 
petition was fatally defective and subject to dismissal because he failed to attach 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
2 
copies of all of his pertinent commitment papers.  Tisdale v. Eberlin, 114 Ohio 
St.3d 201, 2007-Ohio-3833, 870 N.E.2d 1191, ¶ 6.  Day did not attach to his 
petition the juvenile court bindover entry that he is contesting.  State ex rel. 
Gilmore v. Mitchell (1999), 86 Ohio St.3d 302, 303, 714 N.E.2d 925.  The mere 
fact that the warden attached this entry to his dismissal motion did not cure the 
defect.  Cornell v. Schotten (1994), 69 Ohio St.3d 466, 466-467, 633 N.E.2d 
1111.  Although the court of appeals did not base its judgment on Day’s failure to 
comply with R.C. 2725.04(D), we will not reverse a correct judgment.  State ex 
rel. Johnson v. Ohio Parole Bd. (1997), 80 Ohio St.3d 140, 141, 684 N.E.2d 
1227. 
{¶ 5} Moreover, if Day had attached the pertinent juvenile court entries 
to his petition, those entries, which were attached to the warden’s dismissal 
motion, rebutted Day’s claim that he had not received the required physical 
examination.  Under these circumstances, Day had an adequate remedy in the 
ordinary course of law by appeal to raise his claim of an improper bindover 
because the sentencing court did not patently and unambiguously lack 
jurisdiction.  Smith v. Bradshaw, 109 Ohio St.3d 50, 2006-Ohio-1829, 845 N.E.2d 
516, ¶ 10-12; Gaskins v. Shiplevy (1996), 76 Ohio St.3d 380, 382-383, 667 
N.E.2d 1194. 
{¶ 6} Therefore, we affirm the judgment of the court of appeals. 
Judgment affirmed. 
 
MOYER, 
C.J., 
and 
PFEIFER, 
LUNDBERG 
STRATTON, 
O’CONNOR, 
O’DONNELL, LANZINGER, and CUPP, JJ., concur. 
__________________ 
 
Claude E. Day Jr., pro se. 
 
Marc Dann, Attorney General, and Thelma Thomas Price, Assistant 
Attorney General, for appellee. 
______________________