Leon v. Comm'r of Corr.
Decision Date | 30 April 2019 |
Docket Number | AC 41039 |
Court | Connecticut Court of Appeals |
Parties | Edwin LEON, Jr. v. COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTION |
Mark Rademacher, assistant public defender, for the appellant (petitioner).
Laurie N. Feldman, special deputy assistant state's attorney, with whom, on the brief, were Gail P. Hardy, state's attorney, and Michael J. Proto, assistant state's attorney, for the appellee (respondent).
The focus of the petitioner Edwin Leon, Jr.'s, appeal from the judgment of the habeas court denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus is on the conduct of his criminal trial counsel during closing argument. On appeal, the petitioner claims that (1) that conduct violated his right to client autonomy under the sixth amendment to the United States constitution, and (2) the habeas court improperly determined that the petitioner had not been denied the effective assistance of counsel by that conduct. We conclude that the former was not pleaded or decided by the habeas court and therefore is not properly before this court. With respect to the latter, the petitioner's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel fails, as he did not establish prejudice. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the habeas court.
Following a jury trial, the petitioner was convicted of manslaughter in the first degree with a firearm (reckless indifference) in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-55 (a) (3) and 53a-55a, and carrying a revolver without a permit in violation of General Statutes § 29-35. In affirming the petitioner's conviction, this court set forth the following facts which the jury reasonably could have found. "The [petitioner] and the victim, Krisann Pouliot, had been in a romantic relationship for three years and lived in the home of Pouliot's mother in East Hartford. On May 19, 2012, after a night of drinking and arguing, the [petitioner] and Pouliot returned home where the [petitioner] fatally shot Pouliot in the neck.
The [petitioner] subsequently was arrested and charged in an amended long form information with murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54a and carrying a revolver without a permit in violation of § 29-35.
(Emphasis omitted; footnotes omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Leon , 159 Conn. App. 526, 528–31, 123 A.3d 136, cert. denied, 319 Conn. 949, 125 A.3d 529 (2015).
With respect to the homicide, the court instructed the jury on the crime of murder, and the lesser included offenses of manslaughter in the first degree with a firearm (intentional), manslaughter in the first degree with a firearm (reckless indifference) and criminally negligent homicide. Id., at 531, 123 A.3d 136. The petitioner was found not guilty of the murder charge, and guilty of manslaughter in the first degree with a firearm (reckless indifference) and carrying a revolver without a permit. Id. Following the verdict, the court sentenced the petitioner to a total effective term of thirty-one years imprisonment. Id. This court affirmed the petitioner's conviction on direct appeal.1 Id., at 527–28, 123 A.3d 136.
On September 23, 2014, the self-represented petitioner commenced the present action by filing a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. On November 7, 2016, habeas counsel filed an amended petition alleging the single legal claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel. The habeas court, Sferrazza, J. , conducted a two day trial on April 11 and 25, 2017. On October 4, 2017, the habeas court issued a memorandum of decision denying the petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
The habeas court noted that in the amended petition, the petitioner had alleged that his criminal trial counsel, Attorneys Donald Freeman and Deron Freeman, had provided ineffective assistance. The basis for this allegation was Donald Freeman's concession, without the petitioner's knowledge or consent, during closing argument, that the petitioner bore some responsibility for the victim's death and that the petitioner had been reckless. The court reasoned that a lawyer's acknowledgment of the commission of some aspect of the state's allegations does not amount to ineffective assistance per se. Furthermore, in the absence of exceptional circumstances, the two part test of Strickland v. Washington , 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), applied to a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.
The habeas court recognized that, in rare situations, a petitioner is not required to demonstrate prejudice resulting from a lawyer's deficient performance. "If the exceptional circumstances are present, then the holding of United States v. Cronic , 466 U.S. 648, 659, 104 S.Ct. 2039, 80 L.Ed.2d 657 (1984), controls, and a habeas petitioner is relieved of the burden of proving that defense counsel's concessions actually prejudiced the petitioner."
The habeas court determined that the Cronic exception applies only when counsel entirely fails to function as an advocate and does not subject the state's case to meaningful adversarial testing. The court concluded that Donald Freeman's actions in the present case did not come within the scope of the Cronic exception and, therefore, the petitioner retained "his obligation to demonstrate defense counsel's deficient actions or inactions prejudiced him, as set forth under the second prong of the Strickland standard, before he can prevail."
The habeas court then applied the relevant legal principles to the facts of the present case. First, it set forth the principal issue at the petitioner's criminal trial.
Next, the habeas court considered the petitioner's argument that Donald Freeman had conceded his guilt without his consent. The court concluded that Donald Freeman had not informed the petitioner, prior to closing argument, of his intentions to state to the jury that the petitioner's actions of...
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...a denial of counsel undermined the reliability of a judgment ...." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Leon v. Commissioner of Correction , 189 Conn. App. 512, 531, 208 A.3d 296, cert. denied, 332 Conn. 909, 209 A.3d 1232 (2019). Our Supreme Court has further explained that "specific errors......
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...a denial of counsel undermined the reliability of a judgment ...." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Leon v. Commissioner of Correction , 189 Conn. App. 512, 531, 208 A.3d 296, cert. denied, 332 Conn. 909, 209 A.3d 1232 (2019). "[C]ases have emphasized that the second Cronic exception is ......
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Zachs v. Comm'r of Corr.
...of counsel undermined the reliability of a judgment . . . ." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Leon v. Commissioner of Correction, 189 Conn. App. 512, 531, 208 A.3d 296, cert. denied, 332 Conn. 909, 209 A.3d 1232 (2019). Our Supreme Court has further explained that "specific errors in rep......