Fenner v. Commissioner of Correction

Citations

• 206 Conn. App. 488

Syllabus

The petitioner, who had been convicted in 2009 of the crimes of murder and risk of injury to a child, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus on October 6, 2017. Thereafter, pursuant to the applicable statute (§ 52- 470 (c) and (e)), the respondent Commissioner of Correction filed a request for an order to show cause why the untimely petition should be permitted to proceed. The habeas court held an evidentiary hearing, during which the petitioner testified that he was not aware of any deadlines for filing habeas petitions and that, in late 2016, he became concerned about the adequacy of the legal assistance furnished by his defense counsel due to his son's representation that counsel had not contacted him prior to the petitioner's 2009 guilty plea. The habeas court dismissed the habeas petition as untimely, concluding that the petitioner failed to rebut the presumption that the delay in filing the petition was without good cause. Thereafter, the habeas court denied the petition for certification to appeal, and the petitioner appealed to this court. Held that the petitioner could not prevail on his claim that the habeas court abused its discretion in denying his petition for certification to appeal because he established good cause for the untimely filing of his habeas petition, as neither of the petitioner's reasons was sufficient to satisfy his burden of demonstrating good cause for the delay: despite his testimony that he was unaware of the statutory deadlines for filing habeas petitions, the petitioner was presumed to know the law, and the habeas court did not find his claimed ignorance to be credible but, instead, found that he was aware that his habeas petition could have been filed in the eight years following his conviction; moreover, although the petitioner testified that, in late 2016, his son provided information as to the purported lack of communication between his son and defense counsel, he presented no explanation or evidence regarding his failure