State ex rel. Walker v. State, 142 Ohio St. 3d 365

Walker was convicted in 1983 of aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, two counts each of aggravated robbery and felonious assault, and sentenced to 64 to 105 years and/or life in prison; direct appeal affirmed.
In 1999, Walker moved to have his sentence corrected under R.C. 2941.25(A) and the Double Jeopardy Clause; the trial court denied, and he did not appeal.
In 2013, Walker filed a mandamus action seeking a de novo resentencing hearing under Johnson, arguing it required allied-offense merger analysis.
The State moved to dismiss, arguing Johnson is not retroactive and mandamus is not the proper vehicle for sentencing-merger claims; the court of appeals dismissed for lack of retroactivity and lack of cognizable mandamus relief.
Walker appealed; this court held Johnson does not apply retroactively to final convictions, and that Walker had adequate ordinary remedies, so mandamus relief was unavailable; the court also denied the stay on court costs as moot.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Johnson retroactively applies	Walker contends Johnson governs his case on resentencing.	State argues Johnson not retroactive to final convictions.	Johnson not retroactive.
Whether Walker had an adequate remedy at law aside from mandamus	Walker maintains mandamus is needed due to Johnson-based relief.	State asserts adequate direct-appeal/postconviction avenues existed and were exhausted.	Adequate remedies existed; mandamus not appropriate.

State v. Johnson, 128 Ohio St.3d 153 (2010-Ohio-6314) (overruled by Ketterer on retroactivity for final judgments)
State v. Ketterer, 140 Ohio St.3d 400 (2014-Ohio-3973) (Johnson not retroactive to final convictions)
State v. Rance, 85 Ohio St.3d 632 (1999) (original form of allied-offense analysis under merger doctrine)
Ali v. State, 104 Ohio St.3d 328 (2004-Ohio-6592) (standard for retroactivity analysis and finality)
Underwood v. State, 124 Ohio St.3d 365 (2010-Ohio-1) (right to appeal sentence despite merger issues; distinguishable)
State v. Bork, 2013-Ohio-3947 (6th Dist. Lucas) (addressed Johnson retroactivity and final convictions)
State v. Thompkins, 2013-Ohio-3599 (10th Dist. Franklin) (related discussions on merger/sentencing issues)
Smith v. Voorhies, 119 Ohio St.3d 345 (2008-Ohio-4479) (extrajudicial considerations in extraordinary-writ context)
State ex rel. Agosto v. Gallagher, 2011-Ohio-4514 (8th Dist. Cuyahoga) (mandamus relief limits in sentencing-context)