Houghtaling v. Commissioner of Correction

Citations

• 203 Conn. App. 246

Syllabus

The petitioner, who had been convicted, on a plea of nolo contendere, of various crimes related to his involvement in a marijuana grow operation, sought a writ of habeas corpus, claiming that his trial counsel, S, had provided ineffective assistance during the litigation of the petitioner's motion to suppress evidence in the underlying criminal proceeding. The petitioner, who was the owner of the property where the grow operation was conducted, and his brother-in-law, E, were arrested when they arrived at the property while a narcotics task force was present as part of a marijuana eradication operation. The petitioner leased the property to P, who was also arrested. The habeas court rendered judgment deny- ing the petition, from which the petitioner, on the granting of certifica- tion, appealed to this court. Held: 1. The habeas court properly concluded that the petitioner failed to prove that S rendered deficient performance in litigating the motion to suppress: a. The petitioner could not prevail on his claim that S rendered deficient performance when he failed to inform the petitioner of his right to testify at the suppression hearing; the court did not credit the petitioner's claim that S advised him not to testify at the hearing and found, to the contrary, that S's testimony that the petitioner had instructed him not to call the petitioner as a witness at the hearing was credible. b. The habeas court properly concluded that S's decision not to call P to testify at the hearing did not fall below an objective standard of reasonableness, as S was concerned that evidence connected to P's testimony, although it may have supported the petitioner's claim of standing, could have further implicated the petitioner in criminal activity and S credibly testified that the petitioner had insisted that P not be called as a witness. c. The petitioner's claim that S's asserted justifications for his approach to the suppression hearing were not reasonable was unavailing, as the h