Craig v. Bronson

• Decision Date: 20 January 1987
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: John N. CRAIG v. George D. BRONSON, Warden.

Page 155

520 A.2d 155

202 Conn. 93

John N. CRAIG v. George D. BRONSON, Warden.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued Nov. 13, 1986.

Decided Jan. 20, 1987.

James L. Radda, Sp. Public Defender, for appellant (petitioner).

John F. Cocheo, Asst. State's Atty., with whom, on brief, was C. Robert Satti, Sr., State's Atty., for appellee (respondent).

Before PETERS, C.J., and SHEA, DANNEHY, CALLAHAN and BRENNEMAN, JJ.

SHEA, Justice.

In this habeas corpus action the petitioner claims that he has been illegally confined by the respondent pursuant to a judgment of the Superior Court rendered at a time when the court was without jurisdiction. The petitioner relies upon General Statutes §§ 54-82c ¹ and 54-82d, ² which provide respectively that a prisoner who properly requests a speedy trial upon an information or indictment pending within this state "shall be brought to trial within one hundred twenty days" after delivery of the request, and that "[i]f an action is not assigned for trial within [such period] no court of this state shall any longer have jurisdiction thereof...." The trial court denied the petition on two grounds: (1) that § 54-82d does not require the sanction of dismissal to be imposed where an assignment of the case for trial is made within the 120 day period specified by § 54-82c even though the trial does not commence or the case is not disposed of within that period; and (2) that the petitioner had waived any noncompliance with the statutory time limit by virtue of having pleaded guilty to the charge and having been sentenced without protest while aware of the failure to satisfy the requirement of being brought to trial within the 120 day period of § 54-82c. We disagree with the first of these conclusions but agree with the trial court that the defendant waived his right to a trial within the time constraints imposed by § 54-82c. Accordingly, we find no error in the judgment dismissing the petition.

There is no dispute concerning the facts. On August 18, 1982, the petitioner began to serve at the state prison in Somers a term of imprisonment pursuant to a sentence imposed by the Superior Court. Having become aware of another information pending against him in the New London judicial district, the petitioner on June 30, 1983, caused his request for a final disposition of that charge to be delivered to the appropriate authorities pursuant to § 54-82c. On November 4, 1983, 127 days after the delivery of his request, the petitioner entered a plea of guilty to arson in the second degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-112(a)(1). The attorney who represented him at that time indicated his awareness that the 120 day period prescribed by § 54-82c for bringing the petitioner to trial on the information had expired, but he regarded the sanction of dismissal under § 54-82d as probably inapplicable because an assignment of the case for a trial had been made within the period. The court, Goldberg, J., in accepting the plea, remarked that some time prior to October 28, 1983, the date when the 120 day period from the delivery of the request had expired, the case had been assigned to him for trial.

I

Sections 54-82c and 54-82d were enacted simultaneously in 1957 as related parts of the same public act. Public Acts 1957, No. 551, §§ 1 and 2. The brief legislative history concerning the bill indicates that its purpose was to "allow a prisoner who was committed to jail to ask that he be tried within 120 days on any information or indictment pending against him." ³ This objective could hardly be achieved if we were to adopt the view of the trial court that the sanction of § 54-82d is inapplicable so long as a case has been placed on an assignment list within the prescribed period, even though the trial does not commence within that time and the case has never been continued for "good cause shown in open court" as permitted by § 54-82c. See State v. Antrum, 185 Conn. 118, 122, 440 A.2d 839 (1981).

In State v. Best, 171 Conn. 487, 489, 370 A.2d 1035 (1976), this court construed § 54-82d to provide that, "if an action is not assigned for trial in accordance with the provisions of [§ 54-82c]" the specified sanction of dismissal would be imposed, although § 54-82d as then framed referred to an action that had "not been assigned for trial within the period of time as herein provided." (Emphasis added.) In conformity with this interpretation, ⁴ the legislature, in making an extensive technical revision of our criminal statutes in 1980, amended § 54-82d by substituting for the original "as herein provided" qualification of the word "time" the present statutory language, "as provided in section 54-82c." It appears that the legislators in enacting this amendment of § 54-82d intended to conform the time limit contained therein to that specified in § 54-82c for bringing to trial a prisoner who has properly requested a speedy disposition of a pending information, 120 days from the date of the request. We hold that the sanction of § 54-82d may be invoked whenever the time specified in § 54-82c for bringing such a prisoner to trial has been exceeded unless a "necessary or reasonable continuance" has been granted "[f]or good cause shown in open court," as § 54-82c provides.

To construe § 54-82d to apply only when a case has not been listed among the cases assigned for trial within the period prescribed by § 54-82c, regardless of its actual trial date, would wholly frustrate the salutary purpose of this statutory scheme for speedy disposition of charges against prisoners already serving sentences. Our view that the statutory scheme of §§ 54-82c and 54-82d mandates commencement of a trial, in the absence of a "necessary or reasonable continuance," within 120 days of receipt of a properly filed request for disposition of outstanding charges in this state against a prisoner sentenced in this state accords with the position we have taken with respect to the Interstate Agreement on Detainers, General Statutes § 54-186. We have construed that statute, commonly referred to as the IAD, to require that a prisoner in another state who requests a final disposition of a charge in this state must be brought to trial within the 180 day period allowed following receipt of the prisoner's request. State v. Braswell, 194 Conn. 297, 305, 481 A.2d 413 (1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1112, 105 S.Ct. 793, 83 L.Ed.2d 786 (1985); see United States v. Mauro, 436 U.S. 340, 364, 98 S.Ct. 1834, 1849, 56 L.Ed.2d 329 (1978). It would be incongruous to hold that the legislature intended to establish definite time limits for the disposition of interstate detainers, but that the time constraints for bringing an intrastate detainee to trial could be circumvented simply by placing the case on an assignment list.

Since it is undisputed in this case that the time limit prescribed by § 54-82c had expired before the petitioner was "brought to trial" and that no continuance for "good cause shown in open court" was ever granted, it is clear that he was entitled to invoke the protection afforded by § 54-82d before he chose to plead guilty to the charge.

II

As we have noted, the record indicates that the petitioner realized at the time he entered his guilty plea on November 4, 1983, that the 120 day period prescribed by § 54-82c had expired and that a legal issue existed concerning the applicability of § 54-82d under the circumstances. The petitioner had originally been charged with arson in the first degree, in violation of General Statutes § 53a-111(a), a class A felony calling for a term of imprisonment of not less than ten years nor more than life. General Statutes § 53a-35a(3). As a result of a plea bargain, he was allowed to plead to a substitute information charging arson in the second degree in violation of § 53a-112(a)(1), a class B felony with a one year minimum and a twenty year maximum sentence. General Statutes § 53a-35a(4). The state also agreed to recommend a sentence, concurrent with terms of imprisonment being served, of ten years to be suspended after the petitioner had served five years, with the further understanding that he could argue for a lesser sentence at the sentencing hearing. The state's attorney expressly stated that a primary reason for the proposed disposition of the case was "a claim that was made regarding the speedy trial" and he sought a waiver of that claim. In response, counsel for the petitioner explained to the court, Goldberg, J., that he had filed a motion to dismiss because the petitioner had not been brought to trial within the period prescribed by § 54-82c, but that he did not view the likelihood of success as "particularly great" because an assignment of the case for trial had been made within the 120 day period and, therefore, § 54-82d might not be applicable. In behalf of the petitioner he expressly withdrew "any claim under the Speedy Trial Act referencing specifically to 54-82c of the Connecticut General Statutes." During the canvass conducted by the court prior to accepting the guilty plea, the petitioner acknowledged that he had discussed his plea with his attorney. He expressed his satisfaction with the plea agreement and also said he was "pleased" with the services of his attorney.

At the sentencing hearing the court, Goldberg, J., adopted the recommendation of the state and imposed sentence accordingly. During this proceeding counsel for the petitioner, in arguing for a lesser sentence than that recommended by the state, alluded to the "speedy trial claims" that had been mentioned when the plea had been accepted. No motion to withdraw the guilty plea, either prior to sentence or thereafter, was made, however, nor did the petitioner ever file an appeal from the judgment. It was not until February 8, 1985, when he filed the present habeas corpus action, that he first claimed the invalidity of his conviction. ⁵ Under these circumstances the conclusion of the habeas court, Kline, J., that the...