Baltas v. Commissioner of Correction

Citations

• 210 Conn. App. 167

Syllabus

The petitioner, who previously had been convicted of the crimes of murder and assault in the first degree in connection with his stabbing of three persons, sought a writ of habeas corpus, claiming, inter alia, that his trial counsel had provided ineffective assistance. Following a trial, the habeas court rendered judgment denying the habeas petition, conclud- ing, inter alia, that trial counsel's performance was not deficient and that the petitioner failed to establish prejudice. Thereafter, the habeas court denied the petition for certification to appeal, and the petitioner appealed to this court. Held that the habeas court did not abuse its discretion in denying the petition for certification to appeal, the peti- tioner having failed to demonstrate that the resolution of his claims involved issues that were debatable among jurists of reason, that a court could resolve the issues in a different manner, or that the questions raised were adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed further: there was no merit to the petitioner's claim that his right to autonomy was violated when his trial counsel inappropriately conceded his guilt during closing arguments by arguing that the petitioner should not be found guilty because there was evidence that he was not the only poten- tial assailant at the crime scene and the state failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the petitioner, and not the other potential assail- ant, was responsible for the stabbings, as the record supported the habeas court's conclusion that, in making that argument, trial counsel did not concede the petitioner's guilt, and, therefore, contrary to the petitioner's contention, McCoy v. Louisiana (138 S. Ct. 1500) was not applicable and the petitioner's right to autonomy was not implicated; moreover, the petitioner's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, which was premised on the petitioner's assertion that his trial counsel conceded his guilt during closing arguments, was unavailing, this cou