State v. Smith

769 A.2d 698, 255 Conn. 830, 2001 Conn. LEXIS 119
CourtSupreme Court of Connecticut
DecidedMay 1, 2001
DocketSC 16336
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 769 A.2d 698 (State v. Smith) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Smith, 769 A.2d 698, 255 Conn. 830, 2001 Conn. LEXIS 119 (Colo. 2001).

Opinion

Opinion

NORCOTT, J.

The dispositive issue in this appeal is whether the due process clause of the federal constitution requires that a defendant be afforded a court hearing with counsel before a defendant’s conditions of probation may be modified by the probation authorities. After a hearing held pursuant to General Statutes § 53a-[832]*83232 (a),1 the trial court, Rodriguez, J., found the defendant, Emanuel Smith,2 in violation of one of the conditions of his probation and rendered judgment imposing the defendant’s original sentence of eight years imprisonment, which had been suspended. The defendant appeals, claiming a violation of his due process rights under the fourteenth amendment to the United States constitution3 and article first, § 8, of the Connecticut constitution.4 We affirm the trial court’s judgment.

The following facts are relevant to our disposition of this appeal. On March 21, 1995, the defendant pleaded guilty to several offenses under two separate, unrelated cases. In the first case, the defendant pleaded guilty to the charges of burglary in the second degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-102 (a),5 and sexual assault in the third degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-72a (a).6 In the second case, the defendant pleaded [833]*833guilty to a violation of probation in violation of § 53a-32,7 with the underlying offenses being possession of narcotics with intent to sell in violation of General Statutes § 2 la-277 (a),8 and interfering with an officer in violation of General Statutes § 53a-167a (a).9 In the first case, the trial court, Mints, J., imposed a sentence of ten years imprisonment, execution suspended after four years, followed by five years probation; and in the second case, a sentence of two years imprisonment to run consecutive to the first sentence. Thus, the court approved a total effective sentence of twelve years imprisonment, execution suspended after four years, followed by five years probation. The original conditions of the defendant’s probation included no contact with the victim, compliance with a standing criminal restraining order, substance abuse evaluation, and “treatment as deemed appropriate.” While the defendant was incarcerated, his probation officer, Dale Thur-ston, modified the defendant’s probation to include participation in a sex offender treatment program.10 A [834]*834copy of the amended condition was delivered to the defendant in prison, which he signed.

Upon the defendant’s release from prison, William Anselmo, who was the probation officer now overseeing the defendant’s case, made an appointment for the defendant at the sex offender unit of special services in Norwalk, and informed him of that date. Anselmo stressed to the defendant the importance of the evaluation process. Anselmo stated that the time allotted for the defendant to meet with the therapist would be very limited, and that even being fifteen minutes late for an appointment could prevent the therapist from meeting with the defendant. The evaluation process, if the defendant were cooperative, normally could be completed in three to four visits.

After attending a few meetings on time, the defendant arrived late to a meeting on February 24, 1998, did not receive an evaluation that day, and was informed that he would be removed from the program if he were late again. On March 24, 1998, the defendant arrived late again and was told that he was expelled from the program.

Thereafter, the probation department moved to have the defendant’s probation revoked. At the revocation hearing, the trial court determined that the defendant had violated his probation because he failed to comply with the condition of probation regarding sexual offender treatment. The trial court then sentenced the defendant to the unexecuted term of his original sentence.* 11 The defendant appealed from the judgment of [835]*835the trial court to the Appellate Court, and we transferred the appeal to this court pursuant to Practice Book § 65-1 and General Statutes § 51-199 (c).

This appeal is limited to the following issues: (1) whether the modification of the defendant’s probation by the office of adult probation without a hearing and counsel denied him due process of law under the federal constitution;12 and (2) if the modified condition of probation was validly imposed, did the trial court abuse its discretion in concluding that the defendant violated his probation and that the rehabilitative needs of probation were no longer being met?

I

The defendant, at the revocation hearing, did not claim that his probation was modified in violation of his due process rights under the federal or state constitution and, therefore, asks this court to review his unpreserved claim under State v. Golding, 213 Conn. 233, 239-40, 567 A.2d 823 (1989), and State v. Evans, 165 Conn. 61, 69-70, 327 A.2d 576 (1973). Under Golding, “a defendant can prevail on a claim of constitutional error [836]*836not preserved at trial only if all of the following conditions are met: (1) the record is adequate to review the alleged claim of error; (2) the claim is of constitutional magnitude alleging the violation of a fundamental right; (3) the alleged constitutional violation clearly exists and clearly deprived the defendant of a fair trial; and (4) if subject to harmless error analysis, the state has failed to demonstrate harmlessness of the alleged constitutional violation beyond a reasonable doubt.” (Emphasis in original.) State v. Golding, supra, 239-40. “The first two steps in the Golding analysis address the reviewability of the claim, while the last two steps involve the merits of the claim.” State v. Beltran, 246 Conn. 268, 275, 717 A.2d 168 (1998). We review the defendant’s claim because the record is adequate for review and the claim is constitutional in nature. See State v. Henry, 253 Conn. 354, 359, 752 A.2d 40 (2000); State v. Hinton, 227 Conn. 301, 308-309, 630 A.2d 593 (1993). The defendant’s claim fails under the third prong of Golding, however, because we conclude that due process does not require a court hearing or counsel before the office of adult probation modifies a condition of probation.

A

Over the past seventy years, the United States Supreme Court has expanded the protections afforded a defendant regarding the right to counsel and the right to a court hearing in criminal proceedings. See Arger-singer v. Hamlin, 407 U.S. 25, 37, 92 S. Ct. 2006, 32 L. Ed. 2d 530 (1972) (expanding right to counsel to state felony or misdemeanor cases through fourteenth amendment); In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1, 41, 87 S. Ct. 1428, 18 L. Ed. 2d 527 (1967) (right to counsel attaches at juvenile proceedings in which institutional confinement would result); Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
769 A.2d 698, 255 Conn. 830, 2001 Conn. LEXIS 119, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-smith-conn-2001.