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

Christian v. Davis, Slip Opinion No. 2023-Ohio-1445.]

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. 2023-OHIO-1445

CHRISTIAN, APPELLANT, v. DAVIS, WARDEN,

1 APPELLEE.

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

may be cited as Christian v. Davis, Slip Opinion No. 2023-Ohio-1445.]

Habeas corpus—Inmate failed to state a cognizable habeas claim—Court of 

appeals’ dismissal of petition affirmed.

(No. 2022-1205—Submitted February 7, 2023—Decided May 4, 2023.)

APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Trumbull County,

No. 2022-T-0051, 2022-Ohio-3201.

________________

Per Curiam.

{¶ 1} Appellant, Wayne Christian, appeals the judgment of the Eleventh 

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

appellee, Anthony Davis, warden of the Trumbull Correctional Institution. We 

affirm.

1. Christian filed his petition against the former warden, Charmaine Bracy. Pursuant to S.Ct.Prac.R. 

4.06(B), Anthony Davis, the current warden, is automatically substituted as a party to this action.
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO

2

Background

{¶ 2} Christian is serving an aggregate 40-year prison sentence for nine 

convictions for felonious assault in violation of R.C. 2903.11(B)(3), which

prohibits a person with knowledge of the person’s HIV status from engaging in 

sexual conduct with a minor who is not the offender’s spouse. His convictions and 

sentence were affirmed on direct appeal. State v. Christian, 7th Dist. Jefferson No. 

07 JE 9, 2007-Ohio-7205.

{¶ 3} In 2022, Christian filed a petition in the Eleventh District seeking a 

writ of habeas corpus, arguing that R.C. 2903.11(B)(3) violates the Equal 

Protection Clauses of the Ohio and United States Constitutions. He further alleged 

that his classification as a sexual predator should be vacated because “he was 

convicted of no sex crime.” The court of appeals granted the warden’s motion to 

dismiss under Civ.R. 12(B)(6) for failure to state a valid claim for habeas relief. 

Christian timely appealed to this court as of right.

Analysis

{¶ 4} We review de novo a decision granting a motion to dismiss under

Civ.R. 12(B)(6). State ex rel. Slaughter v. Foley, 166 Ohio St.3d 222, 2021-Ohio4049, 184 N.E.3d 87, ¶ 8. Here, dismissal under Civ.R. 12(B)(6) for failure to state 

a claim upon which relief can be granted is appropriate if, after all factual 

allegations are presumed true and all reasonable inferences are made in Christian’s

favor, it appears beyond doubt that he could prove no set of facts entitling him to a 

writ of habeas corpus and immediate release from prison. See McDougald v. 

Bowerman, 161 Ohio St.3d 268, 2020-Ohio-3942, 162 N.E.3d 762, ¶ 8. A writ of 

habeas corpus “is not available when the petitioner has an adequate remedy in the 

ordinary course of law, unless a trial court’s judgment is void for lack of 

jurisdiction.” State ex rel. Davis v. Turner, 164 Ohio St.3d 395, 2021-Ohio-1771, 

172 N.E.3d 1026, ¶ 8.
January Term, 2023

3

{¶ 5} Christian alleges that his imprisonment constitutes cruel and unusual 

punishment and violates his right to due process because R.C. 2903.11(B)(3) is 

unconstitutional. Habeas corpus will not lie for nonjurisdictional claims, such as 

Christian’s equal-protection and due-process claims, that can be raised on direct 

appeal. See Stevens v. Hill, 168 Ohio St.3d 427, 2022-Ohio-2479, 199 N.E.3d 529, 

¶ 8 (the inmate’s “due-process and equal-protection claims are not cognizable in 

habeas corpus, because * * * they are nonjurisdictional claims for which he had an 

adequate remedy by way of appeal or postconviction relief”).

{¶ 6} In passing, Christian reframes his claims in jurisdictional terms, 

arguing that because R.C. 2903.11(B)(3) is unconstitutional, the trial court lacked 

jurisdiction to sentence him. But challenging the trial court’s exercise of 

jurisdiction is not the same as challenging the jurisdiction of a trial court to hear the 

case.

{¶ 7} R.C. 2931.03 allocates to common pleas courts subject-matter 

jurisdiction over all felony cases. As a result, here, the trial court had subject-matter 

jurisdiction over the case and personal jurisdiction over Christian. State v. Harper, 

160 Ohio St.3d 480, 2020-Ohio-2913, 159 N.E.3d 248, ¶ 26.

Conclusion

{¶ 8} For these reasons, we affirm the court of appeals’ judgment 

dismissing Christian’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

Judgment affirmed.

KENNEDY, C.J., and FISCHER, DEWINE, DONNELLY, STEWART, BRUNNER, 

and DETERS, JJ., concur.

_________________

Wayne Christian, pro se.

Dave Yost, Attorney General, and Lisa K. Browning, Assistant Attorney 

General, for appellee.

_________________