Parker v. Commissioner of Correction, AC37796

Sidney Parker pleaded guilty under the Alford doctrine on August 9, 2010 to one count of first‑degree sexual assault for conduct on December 20, 2009; sentenced to 8 years incarceration plus 7 years special parole.
Drug and probation revocation charges were separately pending in Waterbury; those convictions run concurrently; Parker later withdrew a related habeas claim concerning the Waterbury matters.
Parker filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus on September 7, 2012 and amended it on July 1, 2014, alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel for advising the Alford plea.
A habeas trial was held on September 10, 2014; the habeas court denied the petition and denied certification to appeal.
On appeal, Parker claimed (1) the habeas court abused its discretion by denying certification and (2) his counsel rendered ineffective assistance in advising the Alford plea.
The Appellate Court reviewed the record, adopted the habeas court’s memorandum of decision, concluded certification was properly denied, and dismissed the appeal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the habeas court abused its discretion by denying certification to appeal	Parker argued the denial was an abuse because his underlying ineffective‑assistance claim was debatable and deserving of appellate review	Commissioner argued the habeas court reasonably found the underlying claim lacked merit and certification was not warranted	Denied — the court concluded the habeas court did not abuse its discretion in denying certification
Whether trial counsel was ineffective in advising an Alford plea	Parker asserted counsel’s advice led to an involuntary/unknowing plea and constituted ineffective assistance	Commissioner maintained counsel’s performance was adequate and the plea was valid under the Alford doctrine	Denied — the habeas court’s conclusion that counsel was not ineffective was adopted

North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25 (1970) (establishes that a defendant may plead guilty while maintaining innocence if plea is voluntary and supported by factual evidence)
Simms v. Warden, 229 Conn. 178 (1994) (sets two‑pronged test for appellate review when habeas court denies certification)
Simms v. Warden, 230 Conn. 608 (1994) (adopts and applies the test for certification review)
Moye v. Commissioner of Correction, 168 Conn. App. 207 (2016) (explains standards for evaluating abuse of discretion in certification denials)
Torrice v. Commissioner of Correction, 55 Conn. App. 1 (1999) (declines to repeat adopted habeas court analysis on appeal)