McClam v. Commissioner of Correction
Decision Date | 14 November 2006 |
Docket Number | No. 26704.,26704. |
Citation | 909 A.2d 72,98 Conn.App. 432 |
Court | Connecticut Court of Appeals |
Parties | Gregory McCLAM v. COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTION. |
Emmet P. Hibson, Jr., special public defender, for the appellant (petitioner).
Kelly A. Masi, assistant state's attorney, with whom were Michael E. O'Hare, supervisory assistant state's attorney, and, on the brief, Michael Dearington, state's attorney, and David P. Gold, former assistant state's attorney, for the appellee (respondent).
DiPENTIMA, McLACHLAN and PETERS, Js.
The petitioner, Gregory McClam, appeals following the denial of his petition for certification to appeal from the judgment of the habeas court denying his amended petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The petitioner claims that the court abused its discretion when it denied his petition for certification to appeal and improperly rejected his claims that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance. We dismiss the petitioner's appeal.
The relevant facts and procedural history are set forth in the decision rendered in the petitioner's direct appeal. "At approximately 11 p.m. on March 14, 1992, Dwight Binns, Damon Williams, his brother David Williams, Brian McCoy, Warren Murphy and his girlfriend were all at Tipton's nightclub in Stamford. At the nightclub, McCoy asked Murphy's girlfriend to dance. A fist-fight ensued between McCoy's friends and Murphy's friends. The fight was stopped by club security, but started again. Eventually, the nightclub was closed and everyone was asked to leave.
State v. McClam, 44 Conn.App. 198, 200-202, 689 A.2d 475, cert. denied, 240 Conn. 912, 690 A.2d 400 (1997). A three judge panel found the petitioner guilty of murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54a and sentenced him to a total effective term of thirty-five years imprisonment. We affirmed his conviction on direct appeal. See id., at 210, 689 A.2d 475.
Following his unsuccessful appeal, the petitioner filed an amended petition for a writ of habeas corpus.1 In that petition, the petitioner claimed ineffective assistance of counsel, alleging that his trial counsel, William Tiernan, Jr., was ineffective in failing to raise a self-defense claim and to cross-examine a state's witness effectively concerning one of the shell casings found at the scene, and in filing a request for consideration of a lesser included offense that was inconsistent with the defense in the case. In his prayer for relief, the petitioner requested that his conviction be reversed and that his case be remanded to the trial court for a new trial.
The habeas court held a hearing on December 2, 2004, and again on March 15, 2005, during which the petitioner and Tiernan testified. In a memorandum of decision filed on March 17, 2005, the court found that the petitioner had failed to meet his burden of proof and denied the petition. Thereafter, the court denied the petition for certification to appeal from the denial of the petition for a writ of habeas corpus. This appeal followed.
The standard of review of a habeas court's denial of a petition for certification to appeal is well settled. "We examine the petitioner's underlying claim . . . to determine whether the habeas court abused its discretion in denying the petition for certification to appeal. . . . In a habeas appeal, this court cannot disturb the underlying facts found by the habeas court unless they are clearly erroneous, but our review of whether the facts as found by the habeas court constituted a violation of the petitioner's constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel is plenary. . . .
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...to investigate a claim of self-defense does not constitute ineffective assistance of counsel. In McClam v. Commissioner of Correction , 98 Conn. App. 432, 435, 909 A.2d 72 (2006), cert. denied, 281 Conn. 907, 916 A.2d 49 (2007), the petitioner asserted a claim of ineffective assistance of c......
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