Perez v. Commissioner of Correction

Citations

• 194 Conn. App. 239

Syllabus

The petitioner, who previously had been convicted on a guilty plea of two counts of murder and one count of assault in the first degree, sought a writ of habeas corpus, claiming, inter alia, ineffective assistance of trial counsel. During the trial of the present case, the petitioner and A, the petitioner's grandmother, both testified that they met with the petitioner's trial counsel, who threatened the petitioner that A and the petitioner's cousin would go to prison if he did not plead guilty. The habeas court rendered judgment denying the amended habeas petition and, thereafter, 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 petitioner's claims essentially challenged the determination of the credibility of witnesses by the habeas court, which is the sole arbiter of witness credibility and expressly found that the testimony of the petitioner and A, alleging that the petitioner had been coerced into pleading guilty, was not credible, that was the only evidence offered to support the petitioner's claims that his plea had been coerced and that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance, and the credibility of trial testimony is not debatable among jurists of reason. Argued September 13—officially released November 5, 2019