State v. Washington

Syllabus

Convicted, following an unconditional plea of guilty, of assault in the sec- ond degree and criminal possession of a firearm, the defendant appealed. He claimed that the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion to withdraw his guilty plea filed pursuant to the rules of practice (§§ 39-26 and 39-27). Held: The trial court did not abuse its discretion in rejecting the defendant's argu- ment that he was entitled to withdraw his guilty plea pursuant to Practice Book § 39-27 (4) on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel, specifically, that defense counsel allegedly failed to investigate all exculpatory evidence prior to advising the defendant to plead guilty, as the defendant failed to make any showing, apart from bare assertions, that, as a result of his counsel's ineffective assistance, he was prejudiced and that he would have insisted on going to trial if he had obtained complete discovery from the state. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in rejecting the defendant's argu- ment that he was entitled to withdraw his guilty plea pursuant to Practice Book § 39-27 (2) because the prosecution allegedly suppressed certain material in violation of Brady v. Maryland (373 U.S. 83) after a request by the defense, as the defendant's Brady claim amounted to nothing more than conclusory assertions, and, accordingly, the defendant failed to satisfy his burden of proving that his guilty plea was made involuntarily pursuant to § 39-27 (2). Argued February 19—officially released May 19, 2026