Velasco v. Commissioner of Correction

Citations

• 214 Conn. App. 831

Syllabus

The petitioner, who had been convicted of the crimes of felony murder and conspiracy to commit robbery in the first degree, sought a writ of habeas corpus, claiming, inter alia, that his prior trial, habeas, and appellate counsel had provided ineffective assistance. The respondent Commis- sioner of Correction filed a motion to dismiss the habeas petition, arguing that the petitioner had released the state from all the claims set forth therein pursuant to a settlement agreement that the petitioner had entered into with the state after he filed the habeas petition. The settle- ment agreement related to an action filed by the petitioner in federal court against employees of the Department of Correction, in which he alleged that the conditions of confinement during his incarceration violated his constitutional rights. The settlement agreement contained a general release provision that released the state from all actions arising out of any matter that had occurred as of the date of the settlement agreement. The habeas court determined that the release encompassed the habeas petition and granted the respondent's motion to dismiss. Thereafter, the habeas court granted the petition for certification to appeal, and the petitioner appealed to this court, claiming that the settlement agreement was unenforceable because the terms of the release provision in the agreement were unconscionable. Held that the habeas court did not err when it dismissed the habeas petition: our Supreme Court in Nelson v. Commissioner of Correction (326 Conn. 772) rejected the argument that habeas rights should never be subject to waiver, stating that constitutional and appellate rights could be waived as long as the waiver was intentional; moreover, the settlement agree- ment between the state and the petitioner was not procedurally uncon- scionable, as the petitioner's counsel conceded that the petitioner entered into it knowingly and voluntarily, the petitioner was represented by attorneys who nego