Wright v. Commissioner of Correction

Citations

• 235 Conn. App. 816

Syllabus

The petitioner, who had been convicted of sexual assault in the first degree and other crimes, appealed, on the granting of certification, from the habeas court's judgment denying in part his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. He claimed, inter alia, that the court improperly rejected his claim that his criminal trial counsel, F, rendered ineffective assistance by advising him to flee the state during trial or by leading him to believe that it was in his best interest to do so. Held: The habeas court did not err in concluding that the petitioner failed to establish that F rendered ineffective assistance with respect to his alleged advice about fleeing the state, as the court's factual findings, including its finding that F did not advise the petitioner to flee, were well supported by the evidence, which this court would not reweigh in a manner that under- mined the habeas court's conclusions. This court could not conclude that the habeas court's incorrect ruling, which precluded the petitioner from testifying as to alleged statements F made about fleeing the state, was so fundamentally unfair as to deny the petitioner his due process right to a fair trial, as, although the proffered testimony was admissible nonhearsay that was offered not for its truth but to prove the nature of F's advice and the effect it had on the petitioner, the habeas court permitted the petitioner to testify at length as to the substance of that advice, his understanding of that advice, and the actions he took in reliance thereon, even if he was not permitted to recount the exact words F used. The petitioner's contention that the habeas court improperly failed to con- sider certain evidence that supported his claim that F rendered ineffective assistance in connection with his trial performance was unavailing, as the court did not err in concluding that the petitioner failed to establish that he was prejudiced by F's cross-examination of a physician who testified for the state, which did no