Case Title: Jefferson v. Bunting

Citation: 2016-Ohio-614

Docket Number: 2015-0175

State: ohio

Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Date: 2016-02-23T00:00:00Z

Document:
[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it may be cited as 
Jefferson v. Bunting, Slip Opinion No. 2016-Ohio-614.] 
 
 
 
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. 2016-OHIO-614 
JEFFERSON, APPELLANT, v. BUNTING, WARDEN, APPELLEE. 
[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it 
may be cited as Jefferson v. Bunting, Slip Opinion No. 2016-Ohio-614.] 
Habeas corpus—Claim barred by res judicata—Judgment dismissing petition for 
writ affirmed. 
(No. 2015-0175—Submitted November 17, 2015—Decided February 23, 2016.) 
APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Marion County, No. 9-13-26. 
_______________________ 
Per Curiam. 
{¶ 1} Appellant, Sell Jefferson, pro se, appeals from the judgment of the 
Third District Court of Appeals granting summary judgment to appellee, Jason 
Bunting, and dismissing Jefferson’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus.  For the 
reason set forth below, we affirm. 
{¶ 2} Jefferson is presently serving a life sentence at the Marion 
Correctional Institution on a 1975 Cuyahoga County conviction for aggravated 
murder.  Bunting is the warden of that institution.  On May 7, 2013, Jefferson filed 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
 
2
a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, arguing that he remained in prison solely 
under an order that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to issue.  He asked the court 
of appeals to order his immediate release. 
{¶ 3} The court of appeals granted Bunting’s motion to dismiss the case on 
grounds of res judicata.  Jefferson appealed.  Because the appellate court had relied 
on documents outside the pleadings, we remanded the case for the court to convert 
the motion to dismiss into a motion for summary judgment and to provide Jefferson 
with notice and an opportunity to respond.  Jefferson v. Bunting, 140 Ohio St.3d 
62, 2014-Ohio-3074, 14 N.E.3d 1036. 
{¶ 4} On remand, the court of appeals again dismissed the petition, granting 
summary judgment to Bunting.  Jefferson appealed. 
{¶ 5} When a petitioner has filed a previous habeas corpus action, the 
doctrine of res judicata prevents the petitioner from raising an issue in a successive 
habeas petition that the petitioner raised in the previous habeas action.  Hudlin v. 
Alexander, 63 Ohio St.3d 153, 586 N.E.2d 86 (1992).  The claim that Jefferson 
raises in this appeal was unsuccessfully raised in one of his prior petitions for 
habeas corpus.  See Jefferson v. Morris, 48 Ohio App.3d 81, 548 N.E.2d 296 (4th 
Dist.1988).  Therefore, the doctrine of res judicata bars his claim, and he is not 
entitled to habeas relief. 
{¶ 6} In light of the foregoing, we affirm the judgment of the court of 
appeals. 
Judgment affirmed. 
O’CONNOR, C.J., and PFEIFER, O’DONNELL, LANZINGER, KENNEDY, 
FRENCH, and O’NEILL, JJ., concur. 
_________________ 
Sell Jefferson, pro se. 
Michael DeWine, Attorney General, and Gregory T. Hartke, Assistant 
Attorney General, for appellee. 
January Term, 2016