Shipman v. Commissioner of Correction

161 A.3d 585, 172 Conn. App. 600, 2017 WL 1397840, 2017 Conn. App. LEXIS 144
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedApril 25, 2017
DocketAC38774
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 161 A.3d 585 (Shipman v. Commissioner of Correction) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Connecticut Appellate Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shipman v. Commissioner of Correction, 161 A.3d 585, 172 Conn. App. 600, 2017 WL 1397840, 2017 Conn. App. LEXIS 144 (Colo. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

GRUENDEL, J.

Following a grant of certification to appeal, the petitioner, Somen Shipman, appeals from the judgment of the habeas court denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. On appeal, the petitioner claims that the habeas court erred by finding that his right to the effective assistance of counsel was not violated. Specifically, the petitioner claims that the court improperly found that his constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel was not violated by his trial counsel's failure (1) to adequately raise a Batson 1 challenge, and (2) to present the testimony of two alibi witnesses. We disagree and, accordingly, affirm the judgment of the habeas court.

The following facts and procedural history, as set forth by this court on direct appeal, are relevant to this appeal. "In October, 1996, Torrance McClain, Norman Gaines and the [petitioner] were entrenched in Bridgeport's drug trade. Sometime in mid-October, Ronald Marcellus, another drug dealer and an associate of McClain, Gaines and the [petitioner], engaged with Gary Louis-Jeune in an angry verbal exchange over their respective drug dealing enterprises. Following this exchange, Marcellus requested that the [petitioner] take care of [the situation] for him because Louis-Jeune was attempting to move in on the block. The [petitioner] and Gaines, on the evening of October 29, 1996, thereafter shot Louis-Jeune and his girlfriend, Marsha Larose, multiple times, killing both of them.

"In December, 1996, McClain was arrested and pleaded guilty to drug charges. Before he was sentenced pursuant to his guilty plea, McClain provided the Bridgeport police with a written statement indicating that Gaines and the [petitioner] were responsible for the shooting of Louis-Jeune and Larose. The [petitioner] subsequently was arrested and charged with one count of capital felony, two counts of murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder. After a trial, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on all charges, and the court, on April 28, 2000, rendered judgment in accordance with the verdict. Merging the two counts of murder with the capital felony charge, the court sentenced the [petitioner] to life imprisonment without the possibility of release, to run concurrently with twenty years imprisonment on the charge of conspiracy to commit murder, for a total effective sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of release.

"In June, 2000, the [petitioner] appealed his conviction directly to the Supreme Court, following which he moved for rectification of the trial court record to establish the races of the jury venirepersons. The trial court denied his motion and, thereafter, the [petitioner] moved for review by the Supreme Court. On March 16, 2004, the Supreme Court granted the motion and the relief requested therein. On November 17, 2011, the state moved for reconsideration of the Supreme Court's granting of the [petitioner's] motion for rectification of the record. The Supreme Court granted both the state's motion and the relief requested therein, stating: Upon careful review of the record, it is apparent that the [petitioner] failed to raise a disparate treatment claim in the trial court and, therefore, is not entitled to rectification of the record to augment [it] with evidence to support such a claim. See, e.g., State v. Hodge , 248 Conn. 207 , 227 [ 726 A.2d 531 ] (when the defendant [fails] to raise a disparate treatment claim with respect to [specific] venirepersons, the record is inadequate for appellate review of his claims with respect to those venirepersons), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 969 [ 120 S.Ct. 409 , 145 L.Ed.2d 319 ] (1999) ; State v. Haughey , 124 Conn.App. 58 , 61 n.3, [ 3 A.3d 980 ] (same) [cert. denied, 299 Conn. 912 , 10 A.3d 529 (2010) ]. Thereafter, pursuant to Practice Book § 65-1, the Supreme Court transferred the [petitioner's] appeal to this court." (Footnote omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Shipman , 142 Conn.App. 161 , 163-65, 64 A.3d 338 , cert. denied, 309 Conn. 918 , 70 A.3d 41 (2013). This court affirmed the petitioner's conviction. Id. at 177 , 64 A.3d 338 .

On May 27, 2014, the petitioner filed his amended petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The petitioner alleged, inter alia, that his federal and state constitutional rights to due process, conflict-free representation, and the effective assistance of counsel were violated. Specifically, the petitioner claimed that the state failed to disclose material evidence favorable to his defense, pursuant to Brady v. Maryland , 373 U.S. 83 , 87, 83 S.Ct. 1194 , 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), and that the state knowingly presented false testimony at his trial.

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Related

Shipman v. Comm'r of Corr.
163 A.3d 1207 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 2017)

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Bluebook (online)
161 A.3d 585, 172 Conn. App. 600, 2017 WL 1397840, 2017 Conn. App. LEXIS 144, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shipman-v-commissioner-of-correction-connappct-2017.