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State ex Rel. Johnson v. Bettman

Supreme Court of Ohio
Dec 2, 1998
84 Ohio St. 3d 61 (Ohio 1998)

Opinion

No. 98-1379.

Submitted September 28, 1998.

Decided December 2, 1998.

APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Hamilton County, No. C-980457.

In May 1998, appellant, Michael L. Johnson, filed a complaint in the Court of Appeals for Hamilton County for a writ of mandamus to compel appellee, Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Gilbert Bettman, to either abrogate or redetermine Johnson's sentence because he had completed his minimum prison term. After Judge Bettman filed a motion to dismiss, the court of appeals granted the motion and dismissed Johnson's complaint.

This cause is now before the court upon an appeal as of right.

Michael L. Johnson, pro se.


Johnson asserts that the court of appeals erred in dismissing his complaint because former R.C. 5145.01 and 5145.02 required Judge Bettman to abrogate or redetermine his sentence following completion of his minimum term. For the following reasons, however, Johnson's assertions lack merit.

First, neither former R.C. 5145.01 nor 5145.02 imposed any duty on Judge Bettman to redetermine Johnson's sentence after he had allegedly completed his minimum prison term. See State ex rel Lanham v. Ohio Adult Parole Auth. (1997), 80 Ohio St.3d 425, 427, 687 N.E.2d 283, 284-285.

Second, Johnson did not allege his entitlement to the requested extraordinary relief with sufficient particularity to withstand dismissal. State ex rel. Fain v. Summit Cty. Adult probation Dept. (1995), 71 Ohio St.3d 658, 659, 646 N.E.2d 1113, 1114.

Finally, to the extent that Johnson claims that he is entitled to release from prison, habeas corpus, rather than mandamus, is the proper action. State ex rel. Sampson v. Parrott (1998), 82 Ohio St.3d 92, 694 N.E.2d 463.

Based on the foregoing, we affirm the judgment of the court of appeals.

Judgment affirmed.

MOYER, C.J., DOUGLAS RESNICK, F.E. SWEENEY, PFEIFER, COOK and LUNDBERG STRATTON, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

State ex Rel. Johnson v. Bettman

Supreme Court of Ohio
Dec 2, 1998
84 Ohio St. 3d 61 (Ohio 1998)
Case details for

State ex Rel. Johnson v. Bettman

Case Details

Full title:STATE EX REL. JOHNSON, APPELLANT, v. BETTMAN, JUDGE, APPELLEE

Court:Supreme Court of Ohio

Date published: Dec 2, 1998

Citations

84 Ohio St. 3d 61 (Ohio 1998)
701 N.E.2d 994

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