Whistnant v. Commissioner of Correction

Citations

• 199 Conn. App. 406

Syllabus

The petitioner, who had been convicted on a guilty plea in 2009, of the crime of robbery in the first degree in connection with a robbery he committed in 2008, sought a writ of habeas corpus, claiming, inter alia, a violation of the ex post facto clause of the United States constitution. In 2011, the legislature enacted a statute (§ 18-98e) that permitted certain inmates, including the petitioner, to earn risk reduction credit toward the reduction of their sentences, at the discretion of the respondent, the Commissioner of Correction, and amended the statute (§ 54-125a (b) (2)) governing parole eligibility to permit risk reduction credit to be applied to advance the parole eligibility date of inmates convicted of certain violent offenses. In 2013, the legislature enacted an amendment (P.A. 13-3, § 59) to § 54-125a (b) (2) that removed the language that permitted the risk reduction credit earned under § 18-98e to advance the parole eligibility date of violent offenders. The petitioner claimed, inter alia, that the 2013 amendment, as applied retroactively to him, violated the ex post facto clause of the federal constitution. The habeas court rendered judgment declining to issue a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to the applicable rule of practice (§ 23-24 (a) (1)) on the ground that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction. Thereafter, the habeas court denied the petitioner's petition for certification to appeal, and the peti- tioner appealed to this court. Held: 1. The habeas court did not abuse its discretion in denying the petition for certification to appeal, as the petitioner failed to demonstrate that his claims were debatable among jurists of reason, that a court could have resolved the issues in a different manner or that the questions were adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed further. 2. The petitioner's claim that the habeas court improperly failed to conduct a hearing before declining to issue a writ of habeas corpus under Practice Book § 23-24 (a) (1) w