Little v. Comm'r of Corr.

Decision Date14 January 2014
Docket NumberAC 33910
CourtConnecticut Court of Appeals
PartiesTROY LITTLE v. COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTION

The "officially released" date that appears near the beginning of each opinion is the date the opinion will be published in the Connecticut Law Journal or the date it was released as a slip opinion. The operative date for the beginning of all time periods for filing postopinion motions and petitions for certification is the "officially released" date appearing in the opinion. In no event will any such motions be accepted before the "officially released" date.

All opinions are subject to modification and technical correction prior to official publication in the Connecticut Reports and Connecticut Appellate Reports. In the event of discrepancies between the electronic version of an opinion and the print version appearing in the Connecticut Law Journal and subsequently in the Connecticut Reports or Connecticut Appellate Reports, the latest print version is to be considered authoritative.

The syllabus and procedural history accompanying the opinion as it appears on the Commission on Official Legal Publications Electronic Bulletin Board Service and in the Connecticut Law Journal and bound volumes of official reports are copyrighted by the Secretary of the State, State of Connecticut, and may not be reproduced and distributed without the express written permission of the Commission on Official Legal Publications, Judicial Branch, State of Connecticut.Gruendel, Lavine and Sheldon, Js.

(Appeal from Superior Court, judicial district of

Tolland, Fuger, J. [motion to consolidate]; Bright, J.

[judgment, certification petition].)

Justin R. Clark, assigned counsel, for the appellant (petitioner).

Denise B. Smoker, senior assistant state's attorney, with whom, on the brief, were Matthew C. Gedansky, state's attorney, and David Clifton, assistant state's attorney, for the appellee (respondent).

Opinion

PER CURIAM. The petitioner, Troy Little, appeals following the denial of his petition for certification to appeal from the judgment denying his amended petition for a writ of habeas corpus. He claims that the habeas court abused its discretion when it denied his petition for certification to appeal and improperly concluded that he had not established that his trial and appellate counsel rendered ineffective assistance. We dismiss the appeal.

The petitioner was involved in a shooting incident in New Haven on August 16, 2000, that resulted in the death of Kishawn Council. See State v. Little, 88 Conn. App. 708, 710-11, 870 A.2d 1170, cert. denied, 274 Conn. 916, 879 A.2d 895 (2005). His arrest and a jury trial followed, at the conclusion of which the petitioner was found guilty of manslaughter in the first degree with a firearm in violation of General Statutes § 53a-55a and carrying a pistol without a permit in violation of General Statutes § 29-35 (a). The trial court rendered judgment accordingly and sentenced the petitioner to a total effective term of thirty-two years incarceration. This court affirmed that judgment of conviction on direct appeal. Id., 720.

In December, 2010, the petitioner filed an amended petition for a writ of habeas corpus alleging ineffective assistance of his trial and appellate counsel. In that petition, he averred that trial counsel failed (1) to communicate to him a plea bargain offer made by the state, (2) to examine a key witness properly, and (3) to request "any language to balance" the court's jury charge on consciousness of guilt. He further alleged that his appellate counsel failed to address the consciousness of guilt charge adequately in the direct appeal....

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