Sanchez v. Commissioner of Correction

Citations

• 203 Conn. App. 752

Syllabus

The petitioner, who had been convicted of the crimes of murder and conspir- acy to commit murder, filed a second petition for a writ of habeas corpus, claiming, inter alia, that his prior habeas counsel, V, had provided ineffective assistance, his due process rights had been violated at his criminal trial, and he was actually innocent. Specifically, the petitioner claimed that the state had withheld evidence of a plea agreement between the state and a cooperating witness, and that V rendered ineffec- tive assistance because he, inter alia, failed to investigate and present the testimony of another witness, P. The habeas court rendered judgment denying the petitioner's ineffective assistance of habeas counsel claim and dismissing his due process and actual innocence claims, from which the petitioner, on the granting of certification, appealed to this court. Held: 1. The judgment of the habeas court dismissing the petitioner's due process claim was affirmed on the alternative ground that the claim was barred by the doctrine of res judicata; the petitioner's claim that the state failed to reveal the existence of a plea agreement between the state and a cooperating witness was fully litigated and adjudicated on the merits during both the petitioner's direct appeal and his first habeas trial, and he failed to make a showing that any new factual allegations were unavailable to him when he filed his direct appeal or first habeas petition. 2. The habeas court properly dismissed the petitioner's actual innocence claim because it was barred by the doctrine of res judicata; the legal ground and relief sought in the petitioner's actual innocence claim were identical to those in his first habeas petition and the petitioner failed to demonstrate that the claim was based on evidence not reasonably available at the time of the first petition. 3. The habeas court properly denied the petitioner's ineffective assistance of habeas counsel claim because the petitioner failed to establis