State v. Smith

Citations

• 213 Conn. App. 848

Syllabus

The defendant, who had been previously convicted, following a jury trial, of various crimes, including felony murder and manslaughter in the first degree, appealed to this court from the judgment of the trial court denying his motion to correct an illegal sentence. The trial court had merged the defendant's convictions of felony murder and manslaughter and sentenced him on the felony murder conviction. The defendant claimed that his acquittal on charges of capital felony and murder barred, on double jeopardy grounds, his prosecution during the same trial pro- ceeding for felony murder and manslaughter and that the court had improperly sentenced him on his felony murder conviction rather than his manslaughter conviction. Held: 1. The defendant could not prevail on his claim that, because he had been acquitted of both capital felony and murder, his prosecution for felony murder and manslaughter was barred on double jeopardy grounds, as the motion to correct an illegal sentence failed to advance a colorable claim that invoked the jurisdiction of the trial court: rather than challeng- ing the sentence or the sentence proceeding, the claim challenged the proceeding leading up to the defendant's underlying convictions, over which the court did not have subject matter jurisdiction; accordingly, this court concluded that the claim was properly rejected by the trial court but that the form of the judgment was improper with respect to this portion of the defendant's motion, and the case was remanded with direction to render judgment dismissing that portion of the defen- dant's motion. 2. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in sentencing the defendant on his felony murder conviction rather than his manslaughter conviction; pursuant to our Supreme Court's decision in State v. Polanco (308 Conn. 242), and this court's decision in State v. Holmes (209 Conn. App. 197), the trial court had authority to impose a sentence on the greater felony murder charge rather than the l