Velez v. Commissioner of Correction

Citations

• 203 Conn. App. 141

Syllabus

The petitioner, who had been convicted of the crimes of murder, burglary in the first degree and criminal mischief in the first degree, filed a second petition for a writ of habeas corpus, claiming that his prior habeas counsel had provided ineffective assistance. The habeas court, upon the request of the respondent Commissioner of Correction, issued an order to show cause why the petition, which was filed in August, 2015, should be permitted to proceed in light of the fact that the petitioner had filed it beyond the October 1, 2014 deadline for successive petitions set forth in the applicable statute (§ 52-470 (d) (2)). The court conducted an evidentiary hearing, during which the petitioner presented a 2005 report of a neuropsychological evaluation of the petitioner, which described in depth his mental deficiencies. The petitioner asserted that those deficiencies established good cause for his delay in filing the second habeas petition because they prevented him from obtaining the legal assistance while he was incarcerated to file it in a timely manner. The habeas court dismissed the petition pursuant to § 52-470 (e) for lack of good cause for the delay in filing the successive petition, conclud- ing that, although the petitioner's mental deficiencies were significant, he failed to prove that they contributed to his delay in filing the petition. Thereafter, the petitioner, on the granting of certification, appealed to this court. Held that the habeas court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing the second habeas petition and properly determined that the petitioner failed to establish good cause for the delay in filing the successive petition; contrary to the petitioner's claim, that court properly determined that the petitioner failed to prove that his mental deficienc- ies, as described in the 2005 report, contributed to his delay in filing the second habeas petition and, thus, failed to rebut the presumption of unreasonable delay set forth in § 52-470 (d), as