Buckley v. Warden, Connecticut Correctional Inst., Somers

• Decision Date: 15 May 1979
• Citation: 418 A.2d 913,177 Conn. 538
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: Richard BUCKLEY v. WARDEN, CONNECTICUT CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION, SOMERS.

Page 913

418 A.2d 913

177 Conn. 538

Richard BUCKLEY v. WARDEN, CONNECTICUT CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION, SOMERS.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued Feb. 8, 1979.

Decided May 15, 1979.

Hubert J. Santos, Sp. Public Defender, with whom, on the brief, was F. Mac Buckley, Hartford, for appellant (plaintiff).

Richard F. Jacobson, Asst. State's Atty., with whom, on the brief, was Donald A. Browne, State's Atty., for appellee (defendant).

Before COTTER, C. J., and LOISELLE, BOGDANSKI, LONGO and PETERS, JJ.

LONGO, Associate Justice.

The plaintiff pleaded guilty to an information charging him with the crime of manslaughter in the first degree in violation of § 53a-55(a)(1) of the General Statutes. He filed a writ of habeas corpus pro se challenging his confinement upon the sentence imposed. Upon the appointment of counsel to represent the plaintiff, a hearing was held on the allegations of an amended writ of habeas corpus which was dismissed. The court granted the plaintiff's request for an appeal to this court.

The trial court found the following facts pertinent to this appeal: Upon the plaintiff's indictment for murder, the public defender's office of the Superior Court assigned Attorney Herbert J. Bundock as public defender to represent the plaintiff. On January 2, 1975, in response to the plaintiff's letter complaining of Attorney Bundock's appointment, the presiding judge (Stapleton, J. ) appointed public defender Clement F. Naples to represent the plaintiff. The trial commenced on January 15, 1975, and at jury selection, Attorney Bundock joined Attorney Naples as defense counsel and without any objection continued to represent the plaintiff. Thereafter, on January 22, after a partial trial, the plaintiff pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of manslaughter in the first degree. The plaintiff's plea came about as a result of plea bargaining negotiated by Attorney Bundock and the state's attorney.

In accordance with established procedure, the court, prior to sentencing, questioned the plaintiff, inter alia, as to his relationship with Attorney Bundock; whether he was satisfied with Bundock's advice; whether he was aware of the consequences of his guilty plea, and whether he knew the state's attorney intended to recommend a sentence of seven to fourteen years. To all questions, the plaintiff answered in the affirmative. On the day of sentencing, the plaintiff was asked if he had anything to say and he replied: "(T)he only thing I can say is that I'm sorry the whole thing happened." ¹

In denying the plaintiff's petition for habeas corpus, the trial court concluded (1) that the plaintiff's guilty plea was entered voluntarily, knowingly, intelligently, with full awareness of the likely consequences and with adequate assistance of counsel, and (2) that the plaintiff was not denied the effective assistance of counsel by the fact that he was represented by counsel who had been previously relieved by the court.

This appeal presents a single issue: whether, in the plaintiff's collateral attack via habeas corpus on the judgment of conviction, the trial court erred in rejecting the plaintiff's claim that a per se and presumptive denial of the right to effective assistance of counsel resulted from defense counsel's asserted lack of authority on account of his failure to file an appearance with the trial court. ²

The plaintiff argues, somewhat disingenuously, that because Bundock did not file an appearance upon commencing his defense of the plaintiff, Bundock was without authority to represent the plaintiff, and, without such authority, his assistance was per se ineffective. This claim is without merit.

Despite the plaintiff's protestations to the contrary, we do not view the argument above as involving a serious attack on the validity of the plaintiff's plea of guilty. "The guilty plea is a waiver of constitutional rights--a waiver of nonjurisdictional defenses--and where . . . the record discloses that such an act was voluntary, knowing, intelligent and done with sufficient awareness of the relevant circumstances and likely consequences, . . . the plaintiff's plea of guilty was valid." Consiglio v. Warden, 160 Conn. 151, 166, 276 A.2d 773, 780 (1970). See also Williams v. Reincke, 157 Conn. 143, 148, 249 A.2d 252 (1968). There is nothing in the record which impeaches the plea here made or which suggests that the admissions of the plaintiff in open court were anything but the truth. The focus of a habeas inquiry where there has been a guilty plea is the nature of the advice of counsel and the voluntariness of the plea, not the existence of a purported antecedent constitutional infirmity. Tollett v. Henderson, 411 U.S. 258, 93 S.Ct. 1602, 36 L.Ed.2d 235 (1973). If a prisoner pleads guilty on advice of counsel, he must demonstrate that the advice was not within the range of competence demanded of attorneys in criminal cases. McMann v. Richardson, 397 U.S. 759, 771, 90 S.Ct. 1441, 25 L.Ed.2d 763 (1970). Moreover, "a guilty plea represents a break in the chain of events which has preceded it in the criminal process. When a criminal defendant has solemnly admitted in open court that he is in fact guilty of the offense with which he is charged, he may not thereafter raise independent claims relating to the deprivation of constitutional rights that occurred prior to the entry of the guilty plea. He may only attack the voluntary and intelligent character of the guilty plea by showing that the advice he received from counsel was not within the standards set forth in McMann (v. Richardson, 397 U.S. 759, 770, 90 S.Ct. 1441, 25 L.Ed.2d 763)." Tollett v. Henderson, supra, 411 U.S. 267, 93 S.Ct. 1608. The range of competence set forth in McMann requires not errorless counsel, and not counsel judged ineffective by hindsight, but "counsel whose performance is reasonably competent, or within the range of competence displayed by lawyers with ordinary training and skill in the criminal law." State v. Barber, 173 Conn. 153, 155, 376 A.2d 1108, 1109 (1977); State v. McClain, 171 Conn. 293, 301, 370 A.2d 928 (1976). The plaintiff must, moreover, demonstrate that there was such an interrelationship between the ineffective assistance of counsel and the guilty plea that it can be said that the plea was not voluntary and intelligent because of...