[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it may be cited as 

Johnson v. Moore, Slip Opinion No. 2017-Ohio-2792.] 

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. 2017-OHIO-2792

JOHNSON, APPELLANT, v. MOORE, WARDEN, APPELLEE.

[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it 

may be cited as Johnson v. Moore, Slip Opinion No. 2017-Ohio-2792.] 

Habeas corpus—Failure to state a viable claim—Prisoner not entitled to immediate 

release—Court of appeals’ dismissal of petition affirmed. 

(No. 2016-0646—Submitted February 28, 2017—Decided May 16, 2017.) 

APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Warren County, 

No. CA2016-02-011. 

________________ 

 Per Curiam. 

{¶ 1} Appellant, Ronald G. Johnson, appeals the judgment of the Twelfth 

District Court of Appeals dismissing his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. We 

affirm. 

{¶ 2} Johnson was on parole from a 7- to 25-year sentence imposed in 1987 

in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas when he was arrested in 2005 

in Fayette County. He was subsequently convicted of offenses committed in 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO

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Fayette, Montgomery, Adams, Highland, and Madison Counties and was sentenced 

in the courts of common pleas of those counties. He received an aggregate prison 

term of 12 years as to all of the new offenses. 

{¶ 3} Seeking an order granting his immediate release, Johnson argues that 

the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (“DRC”) improperly calculated 

his total sentence by adding the 12-year term he received after his arrest while on 

parole to the 7- to 25-year sentence imposed in 1987. He contends that DRC’s 

action in running the 12-year aggregate term consecutively to the indefinite term 

violated his right to be free from double jeopardy. Johnson reasons that had the 

improper calculation not occurred, he would have been entitled to be released from 

prison no later than October 10, 2015. In a passing reference, Johnson also 

contends that DRC violated his rights to due process and equal protection by taking 

him into custody following his 2005 arrest without the “required on-site hearing.” 

{¶ 4} Johnson attached to his petition the sentencing entries from the 

Montgomery, Fayette, Adams, Highland, and Madison County Courts of Common 

Pleas. He also attached a letter dated October 24, 2007, from the Bureau of 

Sentence Computation (“BOSC”) explaining how his various sentences were 

applied to determine the date of the expiration of his maximum sentence. As of the 

date of BOSC’s letter, Johnson’s maximum-sentence release date was calculated to 

be August 27, 2024. 

{¶ 5} Appellee, Warden Ernie Moore, moved the court of appeals to dismiss 

Johnson’s petition on several different grounds. The court of appeals dismissed the 

petition on the basis of res judicata, noting that Johnson had filed “virtually the 

same habeas corpus petition” in the Warren County Court of Common Pleas in 

December 2015. 

{¶ 6} We agree with Johnson that the court of appeals erred by dismissing 

his habeas corpus petition on the basis of res judicata. Res judicata is not among 
January Term, 2017 

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the affirmative defenses that may be raised in a Civ.R. 12(B) motion to dismiss. 

Jefferson v. Bunting, 140 Ohio St.3d 62, 2014-Ohio-3074, 14 N.E.3d 1036, ¶ 9-10. 

{¶ 7} However, “we will not reverse a correct judgment merely because of 

an erroneous rationale.” State ex rel. Gilmore v. Mitchell, 86 Ohio St.3d 302, 303, 

714 N.E.2d 925 (1999). Johnson’s petition was properly dismissed because it fails 

to state a claim. “When a sentencing court imposes a definite term of imprisonment 

consecutively to an indefinite term, the Ohio Administrative Code requires the 

prisoner to serve the definite term first, followed by the indefinite term.” Jones v. 

Dept. of Rehab. & Corr., 10th Dist. Franklin No. 16AP-138, 2016-Ohio-5425, 

¶ 16; Ohio Adm.Code 5120-2-03.2(E). As the 2007 letter from BOSC indicates, 

Johnson’s maximum term will not expire until 2024. Until that time, any claim for 

immediate release is unripe. In addition, his other claims are not cognizable in 

habeas corpus. Jackson v. Johnson, 135 Ohio St.3d 364, 2013-Ohio-999, 986 

N.E.2d 989, ¶ 3 (due process); Elersic v. Wilson, 101 Ohio St.3d 417, 2004-Ohio1501, 805 N.E.2d 1127, ¶ 3 (double jeopardy); Thomas v. Huffman, 84 Ohio St.3d 

266, 267, 703 N.E.2d 315 (1998) (equal protection). 

{¶ 8} Therefore, we affirm the judgment of the Twelfth District Court of 

Appeals dismissing Johnson’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus. 

Judgment affirmed. 

O’CONNOR, C.J., and O’DONNELL, KENNEDY, FRENCH, O’NEILL, and

DEWINE, JJ., concur. 

FISCHER, J., not participating. 

_________________ 

Ronald G. Johnson, pro se. 

Michael DeWine, Attorney General, and M. Scott Criss, Assistant Attorney 

General, for appellee. 

_________________