State v. Punsalan

838 A.2d 232, 81 Conn. App. 84, 2004 Conn. App. LEXIS 20
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedJanuary 13, 2004
DocketAC 22917
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 838 A.2d 232 (State v. Punsalan) 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
State v. Punsalan, 838 A.2d 232, 81 Conn. App. 84, 2004 Conn. App. LEXIS 20 (Colo. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

Opinion

FOTI, J.

The defendant, Florencio P. Punsalan, Jr., appeals from the judgment of the trial court, rendered after he entered a plea of guilty, convicting him of attempt to commit murder in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-49 and 53a-54a, sexual assault in a spousal relationship in violation of General Statutes § 53a-70b [86]*86(b), kidnapping in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-92 (a) (2) (A), and attempt to commit arson in the first degree in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-49 and 53a-lll (a) (1). On appeal, the defendant claims that (1) his sentence constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the United States and Connecticut constitutions, and (2) the court improperly entered a standing criminal restraining order. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The following facts and procedural history are relevant to our resolution of the defendant’s appeal. On October 10, 2001, the defendant pleaded guilty to a four count substitute information. On March 22, 2002, the court imposed a total effective sentence of twelve years imprisonment with ten years of special parole. The court also entered a standing criminal restraining order pursuant to General Statutes § 53a-40e, precluding the defendant from having any contact with his minor children. Additional facts and procedural history relevant to the defendant’s claims will be set forth as necessary.

I

The defendant first claims that the imposition of a twelve year sentence constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the United States and Connecticut constitutions. Specifically, the defendant claims that because of his medical condition, he should have been sentenced to home confinement. We do not agree.

The following additional facts are relevant to the defendant’s claim. In March, 1999, while released on bond, the defendant suffered paraplegia as a result of an automobile accident. On October 9, 2001, following his guilty plea, the defendant was taken into custody. At his sentencing on March 22, 2002, the defendant, who submitted testimony from his physician, argued for a sentence of home confinement because of his medical condition and related needs. The court, how[87]*87ever, sentenced the defendant to a total effective term of twelve years incarceration with ten years of special parole. Taking into account the defendant’s medical condition, the court further ordered that the mittimus state the following: “The court advises the following medical treatment for the defendant. First, regular physical therapy; second, timely monitoring and replacement of medication for the defendant’s stomach pump; number three, Botox shots on a regular basis every three months; four, regular and timely treatment of all illnesses, especially urinary tract infections.” The defendant now argues for home confinement because he claims that as a paraplegic, he will not receive adequate medical care while in sentenced confinement. The defendant bases his argument on his contention that he did not receive adequate care while in presen-tence confinement.

“It is well established that an unconditional plea of guilty, made intelligently and voluntarily, operates as a waiver of all nonjurisdictional defects and bars the later assertion of constitutional challenges to pretrial proceedings. ... In general, the only allowable challenges after a plea are those relating either to the voluntary and intelligent nature of the plea or the exercise of the trial court’s jurisdiction.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Nelson, 76 Conn. App. 472, 474, 819 A.2d 905, cert. denied, 264 Conn. 913, 826 A.2d 1156 (2003).

In the present case, the defendant pleaded guilty to all counts of the information and does not challenge, on appeal, the court’s jurisdiction, the plea agreement, the pleas or whether his sentence is within the statutory limits. Consequently, his claim of cruel and unusual punishment is not properly brought as a direct appeal from the sentencing court. See id.

The defendant bases his claim on what he alleges was a worsening of his condition while he was in presen-[88]*88tence confinement. He argues that because he received inadequate medical treatment from the department of correction prior to sentencing, the department of correction likewise will fail to provide him with adequate care during his sentenced confinement, which, therefore, would constitute cruel and unusual punishment. The defendant, in effect, is asking this court to speculate as to how he will be treated when he begins his sentence by looking to his treatment in presentence confinement. This court cannot undertake such a task. See State v. Williams, 157 Conn. 114, 121-22, 249 A.2d 245 (1968), cert. denied, 395 U.S. 927, 89 S. Ct. 1783, 23 L. Ed. 2d 244 (1969).

In Williams, the defendant claimed cruel and unusual punishment because while he “was confined in jail awaiting trial and unable to furnish bail, the jail physician denied him proper medication for his claimed ailments . . . .” Id., 120-21. Our Supreme Court stated that “[w]hile courts have entertained claims of mistreatment of various sorts, usually made by prisoners in proceedings such as habeas corpus or for an injunction, we have found no instance in which mistreatment of the sort claimed here prior to trial has been entertained as a ground for attacking, on appeal, a judgment rendered within the limits of the statute punishing the offense.” Id., 121-22. Here, as in Williams, the defendant is asking this court to change, based purely on speculation, a sentence imposed within the statutory limits and the plea agreement. We cannot engage in such speculation.

In further support of this court’s refusal to entertain such a claim by speculating as to how the defendant might be treated while in sentenced confinement, it is relevant that the sentencing court specifically ordered that the mittimus reflect the defendant’s medical requirements, including his need for physical therapy, Botox injections and maintenance of his stomach pump. [89]*89Because such an order was not in place when the defendant was in presentence confinement, which is the period of time that the defendant asks this court to use in speculating about the treatment he could expect to receive while he is in sentenced confinement, we see no basis on which to entertain a claim of cruel and unusual punishment in an appeal from the sentencing court.

This appeal is not an appropriate means by which the defendant can claim cruel and unusual punishment.1 Consequently, we conclude that the sentence imposed by the court was proper.

II

The defendant next claims that the court improperly entered a standing criminal restraining order pursuant to § 53a-40e precluding him from having any contact with his minor children. Specifically, the defendant argues that § 53a-40e does not allow the court to enter such a restraining order for the benefit of anyone except the victim.2 We do not agree.

The defendant’s claim requires this court to interpret § 53a-40e. “Statutory construction . . . presents a question of law over which our review is plenary. . . .

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Related

State v. Strich
915 A.2d 891 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2007)
State v. Bennett-Gibson
851 A.2d 1214 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2004)
State v. Punsalan
845 A.2d 408 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
838 A.2d 232, 81 Conn. App. 84, 2004 Conn. App. LEXIS 20, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-punsalan-connappct-2004.