Case Title: State ex rel. Austin v. Knab

Citation: 2010-Ohio-4982

Docket Number: 20101096

State: ohio

Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Date: 2010-10-19T00:00:00Z

Document:
[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it may be cited as 
State ex rel. Austin v. Knab, Slip Opinion No. 2010-Ohio-4982.] 
 
 
 
 
NOTICE 
This slip opinion is subject to formal revision before it is published in 
an advance sheet of the Ohio Official Reports.  Readers are requested 
to promptly notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of Ohio, 
65 South Front Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215, of any typographical or 
other formal errors in the opinion, in order that corrections may be 
made before the opinion is published. 
 
SLIP OPINION NO. 2010-OHIO-4982 
THE STATE EX REL. AUSTIN, APPELLANT, v. KNAB, WARDEN, APPELLEE. 
[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it 
may be cited as State ex rel. Austin v. Knab,  
Slip Opinion No. 2010-Ohio-4982.] 
Habeas corpus — Petition fatally defective — Failure to comply with verification 
requirement of R.C. 2725.04 — Court of appeals’ dismissal of petition 
affirmed. 
(No. 2010-1096 — Submitted October 13, 2010 — Decided October 19, 2010.) 
APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Ross County, No. 10CA3143. 
__________________ 
 
Per Curiam. 
{¶ 1} We affirm the judgment of the court of appeals dismissing the 
petition of appellant, Raymond Dean Austin, for a writ of habeas corpus to 
compel his release from prison.  Austin’s petition was fatally defective and 
subject to dismissal because he failed to comply with the verification requirement 
of R.C. 2725.04.  Hughley v. Saunders, 123 Ohio St.3d 90, 2009-Ohio-4089, 914 
N.E.2d 370, ¶ 1.  Although Austin’s petition contains several notarizations, there 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
2 
 
is no notarized statement in which he expressly swears to the truth of the 
allegations of the eight “grounds” listed in his petition.  Id.; Chari v. Vore (2001), 
91 Ohio St.3d 323, 327-328, 744 N.E.2d 763.  Moreover, even if his petition were 
not fatally defective, he failed to state any meritorious claims that would warrant 
issuance of the requested extraordinary relief in habeas corpus.  See, e.g., Turner 
v. Brunsman, 123 Ohio St.3d 445, 2009-Ohio-5588, 917 N.E.2d 269, ¶ 1 (claim of 
nonjurisdictional sentencing errors is not cognizable in habeas corpus); State ex 
rel. White v. Ohio Adult Parole Auth., 98 Ohio St.3d 290, 2003-Ohio-773, 783 
N.E.2d 900, ¶ 3 (no inherent or constitutional right to be released before  
expiration of prison sentence). 
 
Judgment affirmed. 
 
BROWN, 
C.J., 
and 
PFEIFER, 
LUNDBERG 
STRATTON, 
O’CONNOR, 
O’DONNELL, LANZINGER, and CUPP, JJ., concur. 
__________________ 
 
Raymond Dean Austin, pro se. 
 
Richard Cordray, Attorney General, and William H. Lamb, Assistant 
Attorney General, for appellee. 
______________________