Woods v. Commissioner of Correction

341 Conn. 506

• Court: Supreme Court of Connecticut
• Decided: December 15, 2021
• Docket: SC20487
• Status: Published

Opinion

JERMAINE WOODS v. COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTION (SC 20487) Robinson, C. J., and McDonald, D’Auria, Mullins, Kahn and Ecker, Js. Argued October 21—officially released December 15, 2021*

Procedural History

Amended petition for a writ of habeas corpus, brought to the Superior Court in the judicial district of Tolland, where the court, Kwak, J., granted the respon- facts that were not presented at trial. See, e.g., State v. Edwards, 314 Conn. 465, 496, 102 A.3d 52 (2014); State v. Turner, 133 Conn. App. 812, 839, 37 A.3d 183, cert. denied, 304 Conn. 929, 42 A.3d 390 (2012). * December 15, 2021, the date that this decision was released as a slip opinion, is the operative date for all substantive and procedural purposes. February 8, 2022 CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL Page 321

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dent’s motion to dismiss and rendered judgment dis- missing the petition; thereafter, the court denied the petitioner’s petition for certification to appeal, and the petitioner appealed to the Appellate Court, Lavine, Alv- ord and Keller, Js., which dismissed the appeal, and the petitioner, on the granting of certification, appealed to this court. Appeal dismissed.

Vishal K. Garg, for the appellant (petitioner). Ronald G. Weller, senior assistant state’s attorney, with whom, on the brief, were Nancy L. Walker, assis- tant state’s attorney, Maureen Platt, state’s attorney, and Eva Lenczewski, supervisory assistant state’s attor- ney.

Opinion

PER CURIAM. The petitioner, Jermaine Woods, appeals, upon our grant of his petition for certification,1 from the judgment of the Appellate Court dismissing his appeal from the judgment of the habeas court, which dismissed his third petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Woods v. Commissioner of Correction, 197 Conn. App. 597, 599–600, 232 A.3d 63 (2020). On appeal, the peti- tioner contends that the Appellate Court improperly construed his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, which he had filed as a self-represented party, in concluding that it did not raise a claim that counsel at the petition- er’s second habeas trial, which was held in 2011, pro- vided ineffective assistance by not challenging the failure of defense counsel at his 2006 murder trial to present evidence as to his diminished capacity. 1 We granted the petitioner’s petition for certification to appeal from the judgment of the Appellate Court, limited to the following issue: ‘‘Did the Appellate Court correctly conclude that the petitioner’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus, which was filed pro se, did not raise a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel with respect to the petitioner’s second habeas trial?’’ Woods v. Commissioner of Correction, 335 Conn. 938, 248 A.3d 708 (2020). Page 322 CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL February 8, 2022

508 FEBRUARY, 2022 341 Conn. 506 Woods v. Commissioner of Correction

After examining the entire record on appeal and con- sidering the briefs and oral arguments of the parties, we have determined that the appeal in this case should be dismissed on the ground that certification was improv- idently granted. The appeal is dismissed.