1999 OHIO 236 - Wilkerson v. Mitchell

[This opinion has been published in Ohio Official Reports at

87 Ohio St.3d 52

.]




          WILKERSON, APPELLANT, v. MITCHELL, WARDEN, APPELLEE.
                  [Cite as Wilkerson v. Mitchell,

1999-Ohio-236

.]
Habeas corpus to compel relator’s release from prison—Dismissal of petition
        affirmed, when.
  (No. 99-1033—Submitted September 15, 1999—Decided October 13, 1999.)
      APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Richland County, No. 99 CA 29.
                                  __________________
        {¶ 1} In 1978, a Cuyahoga County Grand Jury indicted appellant, Randolph
D. Wilkerson, on three counts of robbery and two counts of receiving stolen
property. The Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas convicted Wilkerson on
the charged offenses and sentenced him to prison. On appeal, the court of appeals
affirmed his convictions on two of the robbery counts.
        {¶ 2} In 1999, Wilkerson filed a petition in the Court of Appeals for
Richland County for a writ of habeas corpus to compel his prison warden, appellee
Betty Mitchell, to release him from prison. Wilkerson claimed that his robbery
convictions were void because of a defective indictment. More specifically,
Wilkerson alleged that one of his receiving stolen property charges was illegally
“enhanced” to a robbery offense without any indictment on that charge. The court
of appeals dismissed the petition.
        {¶ 3} This cause is now before the court upon an appeal as of right.
                                  __________________
        Randolph D. Wilkerson, pro se.
        Betty D. Montgomery, Attorney General, and Michele M. Schoeppe,
Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.
                                  __________________
                            SUPREME COURT OF OHIO




       Per Curiam.
       {¶ 4} We affirm the judgment of the court of appeals. Wilkerson’s claims
challenge the validity and sufficiency of his indictment and are not cognizable in
habeas corpus. See Shie v. Leonard (1998),

84 Ohio St.3d 160, 161

702 N.E.2d 419, 420

. Moreover, Wilkerson’s robbery convictions were based on an indictment
expressly charging him with those offenses.
                                                              Judgment affirmed.
       MOYER, C.J., DOUGLAS, RESNICK, F.E. SWEENEY, PFEIFER, COOK and
LUNDBERG STRATTON, JJ., concur.
                             __________________




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