Title: State ex rel. Massie v. Rogers

State: ohio

Issuer: Ohio Supreme Court

Document:

The State ex rel. Massie, Appellant, v. Rogers, Warden, Appellee. 
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[Cite as State ex rel. Massie v. Rogers (1997),    Ohio St.3d       .] 
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Habeas corpus not proper remedy for reviewing sentencing errors -- 
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Habeas corpus not available when petitioner has adequate remedy 
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at law by way of appeal. 
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(No. 96-2186 -- Submitted January 7, 1997 -- Decided February 19, 1997.) 
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Appeal from the Court of Appeals for Union County, No. 14-96-25. 
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In 1993, the Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas convicted appellant, 
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Barbara Lynn Massie, of sexual battery and sentenced her to an indeterminate term 
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of three-to-ten years in prison.  In 1996, Massie filed a petition for a writ of habeas 
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corpus in the Court of Appeals for Union County.  Massie claimed that she was 
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entitled to immediate release from prison because the trial court improperly 
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sentenced her.  The court of appeals granted the Civ.R. 12(B)(6) motion of 
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appellee, Shirley Rogers, Warden of the Ohio Reformatory for Women, and 
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dismissed Massie’s petition.   
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The cause is now before this court upon an appeal as of right. 
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____________________ 
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Barbara Lynn Massie, pro se. 
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Betty D. Montgomery, Attorney General, and Lillian B. Earl, Assistant 
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Attoreny General, for appellee. 
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____________________ 
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Per Curiam.  Massie contends that the judgment of the court of appeals 
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should be dismissed because the trial court lacked jurisdiction to enter an 
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indeterminate sentence on her conviction for sexual battery.  But sentencing errors 
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are not jurisdictional and are not cognizable in habeas corpus.  Majoros v. Collins 
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(1992), 64 Ohio St.3d 442, 443, 596 N.E.2d 1038, 1039. 
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In addition, although habeas corpus relief may be granted for 
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nonjurisdictional claims, the petitioner must have no adequate remedy at law.  
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State ex rel. Pirman v. Money (1993), 69 Ohio St.3d 591, 593, 635 N.E.2d 26, 29.  
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Appeal or postconviction relief are remedies at law to review claimed sentencing 
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errors.  Blackburn v. Jago (1988), 39 Ohio St.3d 139, 529 N.E.2d 929, 930.  Since 
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Massie possessed adequate legal remedies by an appeal or postconviction relief to 
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raise the alleged sentencing error, the court of appeals properly dismissed the 
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petition.  Thomas v. Collins (1996), 74 Ohio St.3d 413, 413-414, 659 N.E.2d 790, 
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790-791. 
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Based on the foregoing, we affirm the judgment of the court of appeals. 
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Judgment affirmed. 
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MOYER, C.J., DOUGLAS, RESNICK, F.E. SWEENEY, PFEIFER, COOK and 
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LUNDBERG STRATTON, JJ., concur. 
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