Opinion
NO. 2018-CA-000926-MR
07-20-2018
DONALD E. BUCKMAN APPELLANT v. RANDY WHITE, WARDEN APPELLEE
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: Donald E. Buckman, Pro Se Eddyville, Kentucky ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: Brenn O. Combs Justice and Public Safety Cabinet Frankfort, Kentucky
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED APPEAL FROM JEFFERSON CIRCUIT COURT
HONORABLE ANN BAILEY SMITH, JUDGE
ACTION NO. 18-CI-001422 OPINION AND ORDER
AFFIRMING
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BEFORE: CLAYTON, CHIEF JUDGE; TAYLOR AND THOMPSON, JUDGES. TAYLOR, JUDGE: Donald Eugene Buckman was convicted in Jefferson Circuit Court Case No. 84-CR-001669 of murder, first-degree assault, and being a first-degree persistent felony offender. By judgment entered on March 3, 1987, appellant was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment, to run consecutively. Buckman appealed. The Kentucky Supreme Court reversed his consecutive life sentences and ordered that the sentences run concurrently to one another. By order entered on February 8, 1988, the Jefferson Circuit Court entered an order correcting the judgment entered on March 3, 1987, and sentencing appellant to two terms of life imprisonment, to be served concurrently.
On March 9, 2018, appellant filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in Jefferson Circuit Court asserting that his judgment of conviction is void ab initio. Specifically, appellant argues the March 3, 1987, judgment was annulled by the Kentucky Supreme Court on direct appeal which required the trial court to amend its original sentence but the February 8, 1988, judgment fails to meet the mandated jurisdictional requirements of RCr 11.02(2), RCr 11.04, CR 54.01, and CR 54.02.
"[T]he 'primary purpose' of habeas corpus relief is to 'determine the legality of the restraint under which a person is held.'" Murrell v. Bottom, 523 S.W.3d 405, 407 (Ky. 2017), citing Walters v. Smith, 599 S.W.2d 164, 165 (Ky. 1980). The purpose of a habeas corpus proceeding is to determine whether the person detained is entitled to immediate release from detention. Hudson v. Commonwealth, 932 S.W.2d 371, 373 (Ky. 1996); Graham v. O'Dea, 876 S.W.2d 621, 622 (Ky. App. 1994). Habeas corpus relief should be granted only when there is an illegal detention that warrants immediate relief. Id.
Appellant is not entitled to a writ of habeas. While the February 8, 1988, judgment may be defective as to form, it is not invalid in the sense of being void. Hall v. Commonwealth, 503 S.W.2d 503 (Ky. 1972).
Accordingly, having considered the record on appeal, all applicable case law, and being otherwise sufficiently advised, this Court ORDERS that the Jefferson Circuit Court be, and it is hereby, AFFIRMED.
ALL CONCUR. ENTERED: July 20, 2018
/s/ Jeff S. Taylor
JUDGE, COURT OF APPEALS ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: Donald E. Buckman, Pro Se
Eddyville, Kentucky ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: Brenn O. Combs
Justice and Public Safety Cabinet
Frankfort, Kentucky