Baltas v. Commissioner of Correction

• Decision Date: 25 January 2022
• Docket Number: AC 44259
• Citation: 269 A.3d 957,210 Conn.App. 167
• Parties: Joe BALTAS v. COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTION
• Court: Connecticut Court of Appeals

210 Conn.App. 167

269 A.3d 957

Joe BALTAS

v.COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTION

AC 44259

Appellate Court of Connecticut.

Argued November 8, 2021

Officially released January 25, 2022

James E. Mortimer, assigned counsel, for the appellant (petitioner).

Kathryn W. Bare, senior assistant state's attorney, with whom, on the brief, were Patrick J. Griffin, state's attorney, and Adrienne Russo, assistant state's attorney, for the appellee (respondent).

Bright, C. J., and Moll and Bear, Js.

BEAR, J.

Following the denial of his petition for certification to appeal, the petitioner, Joe Baltas, appeals from the judgment of the habeas court denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. On appeal, the petitioner claims that the habeas court abused its discretion by denying his petition for certification to appeal because his rights to autonomy and to the effective assistance of counsel were violated. We dismiss the petitioner's appeal.

The following facts, as recited by our Supreme Court in the petitioner's direct appeal, and procedural history are relevant to our resolution of the petitioner's appeal. "The [petitioner] was involved in a relationship with [Misty] Rock, one of the complaining witnesses ... from December, 2005 until October, 2006. At some point during the month of October, the two discussed leaving Meriden, the town in which both of them lived, to start a new life in South Carolina.

"On October 25, 2006, Rock was living with her brother, Christopher Laverty (Christopher), her mother, Linda Laverty (Linda), and her stepfather, Michael Laverty (Michael). At approximately 10 p.m., Linda and Michael were sitting in the living room of their apartment watching a movie, while Christopher and Rock were on the second floor of the home. Christopher came downstairs and opened the door to the basement,

intending to check on the status of a load of laundry. As he opened the basement door, he encountered a masked person who was dressed all in black, wearing a ski mask, and holding at least one knife. The masked person stabbed Christopher in the stomach, and then moved out of the basement and into the living room, where he proceeded to fatally stab Michael. The masked person then turned to Linda, stated ‘die, bitch,’ and stabbed her in the neck. Linda later testified that she recognized the masked person as the [petitioner] because of his eyes, the sound of his voice, and his body mannerisms. The masked person walked to the staircase leading to the upper floor of the home, and while on the staircase, he ran into Rock, who had heard the commotion from upstairs. In the collision, the masked person's knife went through Rock's sweatshirt and [T]-shirt and inflicted a scratch on her stomach. The masked person then forced Rock in front of him, grabbed her by the hair, and forced her out of the apartment. While this was happening, Christopher grabbed a knife from the kitchen and a telephone and exited the home, running next door to ask a neighbor to call the police. Rock and the masked person then exited the apartment and were walking down the street, away from the apartment. Christopher attempted to stop them, and Rock told him to stop and not come any closer. Christopher then sat down on a bench and called the police himself, identifying the [petitioner] as the masked person who had just assaulted his family.

"The [petitioner] and Rock then walked to an abandoned car and sat in it. Rock testified that, at this point, the [petitioner] told her that he had killed Michael and stabbed Linda and, although Rock could not remember if the [petitioner] was still wearing a mask, Rock recognized his voice. The [petitioner] and Rock waited in the car until Rock informed the [petitioner] that she needed to use the bathroom. The [petitioner] led Rock to the

Pulaski school, at which point the [petitioner]—who at that time was not wearing a ski mask or a dark shirt—and Rock were confronted by police officers. The police observed the [petitioner] holding a butter knife in his hand and told him to drop it. When the [petitioner] did not comply with their command, the police tasered him and he fell to the ground; as he did so, a folding knife later found to be stained with Michael's blood fell out of the [petitioner's] pocket.

"A K-9 officer was also dispatched as a result of Christopher's 911 call, and the officer's dog tracked the path that the [petitioner] and Rock took away from the apartment. The K-9 officer also had his dog perform an ‘article recovery ....’ Between the K-9 officer's search and the actions of other police officers in the area, the following items along the path taken by the [petitioner] and Rock were recovered that evening: (1) a ski mask, the interior of which later tested positive for the [petitioner's] DNA, and the exterior of which tested positive for Michael's blood; (2) a dark, bloody shirt which tested positive for the blood of Linda and Michael; (3) a latex glove stained with the blood of Linda and also possibly of Michael; and (4) a long knife stained with the blood of Michael, which the state medical examiner later concluded was the weapon that caused his fatal wounds. Tests also indicated that Michael and Linda were the sources of various bloodstains found on the [petitioner's] pants, sneaker, and arms when he was arrested. Finally, the police matched a shoe print that was formed in blood at the crime scene to the shoe of the [petitioner]." (Footnotes omitted.) State v. Baltas , 311 Conn. 786, 790–92, 91 A.3d 384 (2014).

"The [petitioner] ... was convicted, after a trial by jury, of one count of murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54a (a), two counts of assault in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-59 (a) (1),

one count of burglary in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-101 (a) (1), one count of burglary in the first degree in violation of § 53a-101 (a) (2), and one count of kidnapping in the second degree in violation of General Statutes § 52a-94 (a)." (Footnotes omitted.) Id., at 789, 91 A.3d 384. On appeal, the petitioner's convictions of murder and assault in the first degree were affirmed, his convictions of burglary in the first degree and kidnapping in the second degree were vacated, and the case was remanded for a new trial on those charges. Id., at 828–29, 91 A.3d 384. The state declined to reprosecute those charges, and the petitioner's total effective sentence was reduced from 115 years to 75 years of incarceration.

On September 8, 2015, the petitioner filed an amended petition for a writ of habeas corpus, asserting claims of (1) prosecutorial impropriety, (2) police misconduct, and (3) ineffective assistance of trial counsel. In response, the respondent, the Commissioner of Correction, raised special defenses of procedural default and res judicata. After a trial, the habeas court denied the petitioner's habeas petition, finding, inter alia, that his trial counsel's performance was not deficient and that he had failed to establish prejudice.¹ The petitioner subsequently filed a petition for certification to appeal, which also was denied by the court. The petitioner then appealed to this court from the denial of his petition for certification to appeal. On appeal, the petitioner claims that his trial counsel inappropriately conceded his guilt, thereby violating his rights to autonomy and to the effective assistance of counsel.

We now turn to our familiar standard of review. "Faced with a habeas court's denial of a petition for

certification to appeal, a petitioner can obtain appellate review of the [denial] of his petition for [a writ of] habeas corpus only by satisfying the two-pronged test enunciated by our Supreme Court in Simms v. Warden , 229 Conn. 178, 640 A.2d 601 (1994), and adopted in Simms v. Warden , 230 Conn. 608, 612, 646 A.2d 126 (1994). First, he must demonstrate that the denial of his petition for certification [to appeal] constituted an abuse of discretion. ... Second, if the petitioner can show an abuse of discretion, he must then prove that the decision of the habeas court should be reversed on the merits. ...

"To prove an abuse of discretion, the petitioner must demonstrate that the [resolution of the underlying claim involves issues that] are debatable among jurists of reason; that a court could resolve the issues [in a different manner]; or that the questions are adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed further. ... In determining whether the habeas court abused its discretion in denying the petitioner's request for certification, we necessarily must consider the merits of the petitioner's underlying claims to determine whether the habeas court reasonably determined that the petitioner's appeal was frivolous. ...

"In evaluating the merits of the underlying claims on which the petitioner relies ... we observe that [when] the legal conclusions of the court are challenged, [the reviewing court] must determine whether they are legally and logically correct ... and whether they find support in the facts that appear in the record. ... To the extent that factual findings are challenged, this court cannot disturb the underlying facts found by the habeas court unless they are clearly erroneous .... [A] finding of fact is clearly erroneous when there is no evidence in the record to support it ... or when although there is evidence to support it, the reviewing court on the entire evidence is left with the definite and

firm conviction that a mistake has been committed." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Henderson v. Commissioner of Correction , 181 Conn. App. 778, 794–95, 189 A.3d 135, cert. denied, 329 Conn. 911, 186 A.3d 707 (2018).

I

The petitioner's first claim is that his right to autonomy was violated when his trial counsel inappropriately conceded his guilt. Specifically, the petitioner argues that the habeas court's conclusion that trial counsel did not concede his guilt...