Court Opinion

ID: 9942371
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-20 21:10:55.76728+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:47:59.796077
License: Public Domain

[Cite as Higginbottom v. Hunsinger-Stuff, 2024-Ohio-631.]

                 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO
                          ELEVENTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
                               PORTAGE COUNTY

EL MALIK QAWI ASADULLAH BEY                           CASE NO. 2023-P-0079
(ex rel. RONALD LEWIS
HIGGINBOTTOM, II, ens legis.),
                                                      Original Action for Writ
                 Petitioner,                          of Habeas Corpus

        - vs -

ANGELA HUNSINGER-STUFF, et al.,

                 Respondents.

                                         PER CURIAM
                                          OPINION

                                    Decided: February 20, 2024
                                   Judgment: Petition dismissed

Ronald Lewis Higginbottom II, pro se, PID# A623-020, Allen-Oakwood Correctional
Institution, 2338 North West Street, P.O. Box 4501, Lima, OH 45802 (Petitioner).

Dave Yost, Ohio Attorney General, and Lisa K. Browning, Assistant Attorney General,
Criminal Justice Section, State Office Tower, 30 East Broad Street, 23rd Floor,
Columbus, Ohio 43215 (For Respondents).

PER CURIAM.

        {¶1}     Petitioner, Ronald Lewis Higginbottom II a.k.a. El Malik Qawi Asadullah

Bey, has filed an original action seeking a writ of habeas corpus. Petitioner contends that

he is unlawfully imprisoned in the Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution in Lima, Ohio.

Respondents filed a motion to dismiss the petition pursuant to Civ.R. 12(B)(6). For the

following reasons, we dismiss the petition.
       {¶2}   Petitioner is currently imprisoned as a result of his conviction for two counts

of Attempted Murder, Aggravated Burglary, Tampering With Evidence, and three firearm

specifications in State v. Higginbottom, Portage County Court of Common Pleas Case

No. 2011 CR 0428. On February 23, 2012, Petitioner was sentenced to an aggregate

prison term of 25 years. His expected release date is in 2036. His conviction was affirmed

by a panel of this Court on December 10, 2012. State v. Higginbottom, 11th Dist. Portage

No. 2012-P-0028, 2012-Ohio-5834.

       {¶3}   On October 10, 2023, Petitioner filed the underlying petition for writ of

habeas corpus against the Warden of Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution, the Ohio

Attorney General, the Portage County Prosecutor, and a judge of the Portage County

Court of Common Pleas. Petitioner seeks immediate release from prison. Respondents

filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to Civ.R. 12(B)(6) which alleges, among other things,

that this Court lacks jurisdiction.

       {¶4}   R.C. 2725.03 provides:

              If a person restrained of his liberty is an inmate of a state
              benevolent or correctional institution, the location of which is
              fixed by statute and at the time is in the custody of the officers
              of the institution, no court or judge other than the courts or
              judges of the county in which the institution is located has
              jurisdiction to issue or determine a writ of habeas corpus for
              his production or discharge. Any writ issued by a court or
              judge of another county to an officer or person in charge at
              the state institution to compel the production or discharge of
              an inmate thereof is void.

(Emphasis added).

       {¶5}   Petitioner admits in paragraph 3 of his petition that he is incarcerated in

Lima, Ohio at the Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution located in Allen County which is

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Case No. 2023-P-0079
not a county within this Court’s jurisdiction. We therefore lack jurisdiction to entertain the

petition. Lucci v. Turner, 11th Dist. Lake No. 2020-L-085, 2020-Ohio-4697, ¶ 4 citing

Rockwell v. Geauga Cty. Court of Common Pleas, 11th Dist. Geauga No. 2005-G-2661,

2005-Ohio-5762. See also, Brown v. Hall, 123 Ohio St.3d 381, 2009-Ohio-5592, 916

N.E.2d 807, ¶ 1.

       {¶6}   As we lack jurisdiction in this case, this action must be dismissed. Thus,

respondents’ motion to dismiss is granted and the petition for writ of habeas corpus is

dismissed. All other pending motions are overruled as moot.

   EUGENE A. LUCCI, P.J., JOHN J. EKLUND, J., ROBERT J. PATTON, J., concur.

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Case No. 2023-P-0079