RONNIE LEE BOWLING V. TOM SIMPSON, WARDEN, KENTUCKY STATE PENITENTIARY
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IMPORTANT NOTICE
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED OPINION
THIS OPINION IS DESIGNATED "NOT TO BE PUBLISHED."
PURSUANT TO THE RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE
PROMULGATED BY THE SUPREME COURT, CR 76.28(4)(C),
THIS OPINION IS NOT TO BE PUBLISHED AND SHALL NOT BE
CITED OR USED AS BINDING PRECEDENT IN ANY OTHER
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UNPUBLISHED KENTUCKY APPELLATE DECISIONS,
RENDERED AFTER JANUARY 1, 2003, MAY BE CITED FOR
CONSIDERATION BY THE COURT IF THERE IS NO PUBLISHED
OPINION THAT WOULD ADEQUATELY ADDRESS THE ISSUE
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BY THE COURT SHALL BE SET OUT AS AN UNPUBLISHED
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RENDERED : OCTOBER 21, 2010
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
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2008-SC-000245-TG
(2007-CA-002492-MR)
RONNIE LEE BOWLING
APPELLANT
ON APPEAL FROM LYON CIRCUIT COURT
HONORABLE C.A. WOODALL, III, JUDGE
NO. 07-CI-00220
v
TOM SIMPSON, WARDEN
KENTUCKY STATE PENITENTIARY
APPELLEE
MEMORANDUM OPINION OF THE COURT
AFFIRMING
Appellant, Ronnie Lee Bowling, appeals the Lyon Circuit Court's Order
denying his petition for writ of habeas corpus . For the following reasons, we
affirm the Lyon Circuit Court.
The facts of this case, as stated by this Court in a previous opinion, are
as follows:
Early in the morning of January 20, 1989, and
while he was working alone, Ronald L. Smith received
six .38 caliber gunshot wounds-three to the back of
his head, two to his mid-back near the spine, and one
to the upper left side of his chest near the armpit.
Early in the morning of February 22, 1989, and while
he was working alone, Marvin Hensley received six .38
caliber gunshot wounds-three to the back of his head,
one behind his right ear, one to the upper back of the
neck, and one to his right hand . When questioned
about the incidents, the appellant denied owning a
handgun . However, his former wife, Ora Lee Issacs,
testified that he had purchased the handgun, and she
identified both the handgun and the holster seized
from appellant's trailer as owned by the appellant . The
police also found a box of .38 caliber shells when they
searched the appellant's home.
On March 17, 1989, the Laurel County grand
jury returned a six-count indictment against the
appellant. He was charged with murder by shooting
Ronald L. Smith with a pistol, first degree burglary by
unlawfully entering the Jones Chevron Station and
killing Ronald L. Smith, and first degree robbery by
shooting and killing Ronald L. Smith in the course of
committing a theft at the Jones Chevron Station,
committed on or about January 20, 1989 . Also, he was
charged with murder by shooting Marvin Hensley with
a pistol, first degree burglary by unlawfully entering
the Hensley Spur Station building and killing Marvin
Hensley, first degree robbery by shooting and killing
Marvin Hensley with a pistol while in the course of
committing a theft at the Hensley Spur Station,
committed on or about February 22, 1989 . The
appellant was tried in September and October 1992
and sentenced in December 1992 .
Bowling v. Commonwealth, 942 S.W .2d 293, 297 (Ky. 1997) .
Appellant was ultimately sentenced to death on two counts of murder .
He was also sentenced to four twenty-year terms of imprisonment on two
counts of first-degree robbery and two counts of first-degree burglary, to run
consecutively for a total of eighty years . Following the direct appeal, Appellant
challenged his convictions and sentence by way of an RCr 11 .42 motion filed in
the Laurel Circuit Court. This Court, on March 21, 2002, affirmed the circuit
court's denial of Appellant's motion . Bowling v. Commonwealth, 80 S .W.3d 405
(Ky. 2002) .
Appellant subsequently filed a motion for a new trial pursuant to RCr
10 .02 and CR 60 .02, which was denied by the trial court. This Court affirmed
the trial court's denial of that motion in Bowling v. Commonwealth, 168 S.W .3d
2 (Ky. 2004) . In 2005, Appellant filed another motion for a new trial, which
was again rejected by this Court in an unpublished opinion rendered on
September 18, 2008. Bowling v. Commonwealth, No. 2006-SC-000034-MR,
2008 WL 4291670 (Ky . Sept. 18, 2008) . During the pendency of that motion,
Appellant filed a pro se petition for habeas corpus relief pursuant to KRS
Chapter 419 in the Lyon Circuit Court. That court denied Appellant's request
for relief and this appeal followed.
"The sole purpose of a habeas corpus proceeding is to determine
whether the person detained is entitled to an immediate release from
detention." Hudson v. Commonwealth, 932 S.W.2d 371, 373 (Ky. 1996) (citing
Graham v. O'Dea, 876 S.W.2d 621 (Ky.App. 1994)) . Habeas corpus petitions
must remain "an extraordinary remedy only available under limited
circumstances." M.M. v. Williams, 113 S.W.3d 82, 84 (Ky. 2003) . If an error is
reviewable on direct appeal or by way of an RCr 11 .42 motion, habeas corpus
relief will not be granted . Lear v. Commonwealth, 884 S.W.2d 657, 660 (Ky.
1994) . See also Gray v. Wingo, 423 S .W.2d 517 (Ky. 1968) .
We agree with the Lyon Circuit Court that Appellant is not entitled to
habeas relief. ~ In his habeas petition, Appellant has raised forty-nine issues,
which he contends show he is "being held illegal [sic] on Kentucky deathrow
[sic] by Warden Tom Simpson in violation of local, state, federal, and
international laws." However, Appellant concedes that at least eleven issues
raised in the current petition were also raised in the 2008 appeal before this
Court. After reviewing the record, we believe Appellant's remaining claims have
either been previously raised or should have been raised by way of direct
appeal or in one of his three post-conviction challenges . Indeed, Appellant's
brief is replete with instances that, in effect, are claims regarding the
sufficiency of the evidence. On virtually every page, Appellant argues of
"additional exculpatory evidence" ; his wrongful conviction ; or that, if the case
were retried, no "reasonable jury today would find beyond a reasonable doubt
Mr. Bowling guilty." Appellant's current petition for habeas relief is little more
than an attempt to re-litigate past issues.
Appellant offers no compelling justification to this Court that the
underlying judgment by which he is being detained is void ab initio.
Commonwealth v. Marcum, 873 S .W.2d 207 (Ky. 1994) . Accordingly, we affirm
the decision of the Lyon Circuit Court.
Minton, C .J . ; Abramson, Cunningham, Noble, Schroder, JJ . ; and Special
Justices Nancy M. Collins and Frederick A. Higdon, sitting. All concur.
Scott and Venters, JJ., not sitting.
COUNSEL FOR APPELLANT:
Ronnie Lee Bowling #32861
Kentucky State Penitentiary
P. O. Box 5128,
Eddyville, KY 42038
COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE :
Jack Conway
Attorney General
William Robert Long, Jr.
Assistant Attorney General
Criminal Appellate Division
Office of the Attorney General
1024 Capital Center Drive
Frankfort, KY 40601-8204
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