Title: State ex rel. Johnson v. Foley

State: ohio

Issuer: Ohio Supreme Court

Document:

[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it may be cited as State 
ex rel. Johnson v. Foley, Slip Opinion No. 2022-Ohio-3634.] 
 
 
 
 
 
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. 2022-OHIO-3634 
THE STATE EX REL. JOHNSON, APPELLANT, v. FOLEY, WARDEN, APPELLEE. 
[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it 
may be cited as State ex rel. Johnson v. Foley, Slip Opinion No.  
2022-Ohio-3634.] 
Habeas Corpus—Appellant’s habeas claim became moot when he was released 
from prison—Court of appeals’ dismissal of petition affirmed. 
(No. 2022-0196—Submitted August 2, 2022—Decided October 18, 2022.) 
APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Lorain County, No. 21CA011789, 
2022-Ohio-36. 
________________ 
 
Per Curiam. 
{¶ 1} We affirm the Ninth District Court of Appeals’ dismissal of appellant 
Marvin F. Johnson Sr.’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus because he is no longer 
incarcerated and his habeas claim is thus moot. 
{¶ 2} In 2016, Johnson was sentenced to six years in prison for several drug-
related offenses to which he had pleaded no contest.  His sentence was affirmed on 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
 
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appeal, State v. Johnson, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 105560, 2018-Ohio-169, and has 
withstood additional legal challenges, see State v. Johnson, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 
107126, 2019-Ohio-632, appeal not accepted, 156 Ohio St.3d 1445, 2019-Ohio-
2498, 125 N.E.3d 928; Johnson v. Eppinger, N.D.Ohio No. 1:19-cv-984, 2021 WL 
861509 (Mar. 8, 2021). 
{¶ 3} In 2021, Johnson filed in the Ninth District a petition for a writ of 
habeas corpus against appellee, Keith Foley, warden of the Lorain Correctional 
Institution in which Johnson was incarcerated, arguing that sentencing errors 
entitled him to immediate release.  The warden filed a motion to dismiss under 
Civ.R. 12(B)(6) for failure to state a valid claim for relief, and the court of appeals 
granted the motion. 
{¶ 4} Johnson appealed to this court.  Two weeks after Johnson filed his 
appeal, he was released from prison and placed under postrelease-control 
supervision.  See Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, Offender 
Details, https://appgateway.drc.ohio.gov/OffenderSearch/Search/Details/A694191 
(accessed Sept. 9, 2022) [https://perma.cc/2KPX-TNVU].  Johnson’s release from 
incarceration means that his habeas claim is moot.  See State ex rel. Hawkins v. 
Haas, 141 Ohio St.3d 98, 2014-Ohio-5196, 21 N.E.3d 1060, ¶ 4 (finding former 
inmate’s habeas claim moot “because he is no longer in custody”); see also Larsen 
v. State, 92 Ohio St.3d 69, 748 N.E.2d 72 (2001) (“If a habeas corpus petitioner 
seeking release is subsequently released, the petitioner’s habeas corpus claim is 
normally rendered moot”). 
{¶ 5} Because Johnson’s petition is moot, we affirm its dismissal by the 
court of appeals. 
Judgment affirmed. 
O’CONNOR, C.J., and KENNEDY, FISCHER, DEWINE, DONNELLY, STEWART, 
and BRUNNER, JJ., concur. 
_________________ 
 
 
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Marvin F. Johnson Sr., pro se. 
Dave Yost, Attorney General, and Maura O’Neill Jaite, Assistant Attorney 
General, for appellee. 
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