Title: Cornell v. Schotten

State: ohio

Issuer: Ohio Supreme Court

Document:

OPINIONS OF THE SUPREME COURT OF OHIO                               
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Thomas J. Moyer.                                                                 
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Cornell, Appellant, v. Schotten, Warden, Appellee.                               
[Cite as Cornell v. Schotten (1994),         Ohio St.3d     .]                   
Writ of habeas corpus seeking relief from confinement --                         
     Petition dismissed for failure to attach copies of                          
     commitment papers or cause of detention as required by                      
     R.C. 2725.04(D) -- Habeas corpus not a substitute for                       
     appeal or post-conviction relief.                                           
     (No. 93-2308 -- Submitted March 29, 1994 -- Decided June                    
22, 1994.)                                                                       
     Appeal from the Court of Appeals for Trumbull County, No.                   
93-T-940.                                                                        
     Appellant, James E. Cornell, filed a petition for a writ                    
of habeas corpus in the Court of Appeals for Trumbull County,                    
alleging that he was accused of a crime and deprived of his                      
liberty without due process of law.  That court dismissed the                    
petition due to appellant's failure to attach copies of his                      
commitment papers or cause of detention, as required by R.C.                     
2725.04(D).                                                                      
     The cause is before the court upon an appeal as of right.                   
                                                                                 
     James E. Cornell, pro se.                                                   
     Lee Fisher, Attorney General, and John J. Gideon,                           
Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.                                        
                                                                                 
     Per Curiam.  Appellant first contends that his duty to                      
submit commitment papers was negated when respondent, J.L.                       
Schotten, Warden of the Trumbull Correctional Institution,                       
supplied a copy of the commitment order with a motion to                         
dismiss the complaint.  Appellant further contends that his                      
memorandum in opposition to the motion to dismiss cured his                      
failure to comply with R.C. 2725.04(D).  However, R.C.                           
2725.04(D) explicitly requires that a copy of the cause of                       
detention be attached to a petition for habeas corpus.  We held                  
in Bloss v. Rogers (1992), 65 Ohio St.3d 145, 602 N.E.2d 602,                    
that failure to attach a copy of the cause of detention to a                     
petition for habeas corpus results in the petition being                         
fatally defective.  See, also, State ex rel. Parker v. Ohio                      
Parole Bd. (1993), 68 Ohio St.3d 23, 623 N.E.2d 37.                              
     Moreover, the other issues that appellant seeks to raise                    
in this appeal are not jurisdictional in nature as required by                   
R.C. 2725.05.  Appellant seeks release from detention on                         
several grounds, including insufficient evidence, improper                       
witness testimony, allegations that only eleven members of the                   
sentencing jury were polled concerning his guilty verdict, and                   
ineffective assistance of counsel.  Appellant has or had an                      
adequate remedy at law for each of these allegations.  We have                   
long held that habeas corpus will not be substituted for appeal                  
or post-conviction relief.  In re Piazza (1966), 7 Ohio St.2d                    
102, 36 O.O.2d 84, 218 N.E.2d 459, and Bellman v. Jago (1988),                   
38 Ohio St.3d 55, 526 N.E.2d 308.                                                
     The judgment of the court of appeals is affirmed.                           
                                    Judgment affirmed.                           
     Moyer, C.J., A.W. Sweeney, Douglas, Wright,  Resnick, F.E.                  
Sweeney and Pfeifer, JJ., concur.