State ex rel. Fuller v. Eppinger (Slip Opinion), 2018 Ohio 2629

Michael Fuller was convicted in 1990 and 1992 of multiple felonies and received concurrent and then aggregate indefinite sentences, culminating in a 1992 aggregate sentence with a 25-year minimum and 75-year maximum.
At the time, former R.C. 2929.41(E) capped aggregate minimum terms for consecutive nonmurder felonies at 15 years; State v. White held that the statute was self-executing.
On direct appeal from his 1992 convictions, the Eighth District agreed the 25-year minimum exceeded the statutory cap but concluded, citing White, that the excess was not reversible because the statute operated automatically to cap the minimum at 15 years.
In 2016 Fuller filed a habeas corpus petition seeking immediate release on the ground his aggregate minimum exceeded the statutory limit; the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s Bureau of Sentence Computation had a 2015 letter showing it had capped his aggregate minimum at 15 years.
The court of appeals dismissed Fuller’s habeas petition for failure to state a claim because habeas relief generally lies only when an inmate’s maximum sentence has expired and Fuller had not completed his aggregate maximum.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Fuller is entitled to habeas relief because his aggregate minimum exceeded former R.C. 2929.41(E)	Fuller: his aggregate minimum (25 years) violates the statutory 15-year cap and entitles him to immediate release	Eppinger: the statute is self-executing and the Bureau had already capped his aggregate minimum at 15 years; habeas is inappropriate while maximum not served	Court: Habeas unavailable because Fuller hasn’t completed his maximum; petition dismissed
Whether a minimum sentence imposed in excess of the statutory cap is reversible error or corrected by operation of law	Fuller: excess minimum renders custody unlawful	Eppinger: under State v. White the statutory cap operates automatically so no reversible error	Court: Agrees that White governs; the statutory cap operates by operation of law and does not entitle Fuller to habeas while serving maximum

State v. White, 18 Ohio St.3d 340 (Ohio 1985) (statutory cap on consecutive minimum terms is self-executing)
Heddleston v. Mack, 84 Ohio St.3d 213 (Ohio 1998) (habeas corpus generally available only after expiration of maximum sentence)
State ex rel. Lockhart v. Sheldon, 146 Ohio St.3d 468 (Ohio 2016) (inmate not entitled to habeas relief merely upon completion of minimum term)