*********************************************** The “officially released” date that appears near the be- ginning of each opinion is the date the opinion will be pub- lished in the Connecticut Law Journal or the date it was released as a slip opinion. The operative date for the be- ginning of all time periods for filing postopinion motions and petitions for certification is the “officially released” date appearing in the opinion. All opinions are subject to modification and technical correction prior to official publication in the Connecticut Reports and Connecticut Appellate Reports. In the event of discrepancies between the advance release version of an opinion and the latest version appearing in the Connecticut Law Journal and subsequently in the Connecticut Reports or Connecticut Appellate Reports, the latest version is to be considered authoritative. The syllabus and procedural history accompanying the opinion as it appears in the Connecticut Law Journal and bound volumes of official reports are copyrighted by the Secretary of the State, State of Connecticut, and may not be reproduced and distributed without the express written permission of the Commission on Official Legal Publica- tions, Judicial Branch, State of Connecticut. *********************************************** TROY MCCARTHY v. COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTION (AC 40926) Prescott, Elgo and Pellegrino, Js. Syllabus The petitioner, who had been convicted of murder in connection with the shooting death of the victim, sought a second writ of habeas corpus, claiming, inter alia, that his right to due process was violated because his decision to reject the state’s plea offer was not made knowingly and voluntarily, and that his trial counsel for bond purposes, E, had rendered ineffective assistance. At the petitioner’s arraignment, E filed an appear- ance on the petitioner’s behalf for bond purposes only, and, at subse- quent pretrial proceedings, E reiterated that he had appeared for bond purposes only and informed the court that he did not intend to remain in the case and that he would return his retainer to the petitioner’s family. Although the trial court discharged E from the case on March 10, 2004, at some point prior to April 9, 2004, E’s investigator interviewed two witnesses to the shooting who previously had provided statements to the police implicating the petitioner. On the basis of the investigator’s interview notes, E then prepared affidavits for the witnesses in which they purportedly recanted their prior statements and indicated that the police had coerced them to make those statements. The trial court subsequently appointed new counsel, S and K, to represent the peti- tioner, and the witnesses’ signed affidavits became part of S and K’s criminal trial file. Thereafter, the petitioner rejected a plea offer from the state and the case proceeded to trial, at which the petitioner impeached the two witnesses with their affidavits after they testified for the state, identified the petitioner as the shooter, and denied telling the investigator that they had been coerced by the police into making their prior statements. E thereafter testified for the state, stating that although he had used the investigator’s notes to prepare ...
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Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals