Gusan v. Commissioner of Correction

Citations

• 231 Conn. App. 429

Syllabus

The petitioner, who previously had been convicted, on a plea of guilty, of possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, appealed, on the granting of certification, from the judgment of the habeas court denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. He claimed, inter alia, that the court erred in rejecting his claim that his right to the effective assistance of trial counsel was violated. Held: This court concluded that it was unnecessary for it to consider whether the habeas court was correct in its assessment of the performance of the petitioner's trial counsel because, even if his counsel were deficient in failing to file motions for discovery and to suppress, the petitioner failed to demonstrate, in accordance with Strickland v. Washington (466 U.S. 668) and Hill v. Lockhart (474 U.S. 52), that he was prejudiced as a result of those omissions, as he did not demonstrate a reasonable probability that a motion to suppress would have been granted. Argued September 18, 2024—officially released March 18, 2025