State v. SmithState v. Smith
- Reporters:
- , ,
- Before:
- Norcott
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-
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
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
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
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. 458, 462, 58 S. Ct. 1019, 82 L. Ed. 1461 (1938) (right to counsel expanded to attach to all federal cases); Powell v. Ala
In addition, the Supreme Court also has sought to establish certain minimum procedural protections for individuals on parole and probation. In Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 482-83, 92 S. Ct. 2593, 33 L. Ed. 2d 484 (1972), the court held that the due process clause requires that an individual on parole be afforded a hearing before his parole is revoked. In determining whether the nature of the parolee’s interest was within the due process protection of the fourteenth amendment, the court stated: “The parolee has been released from prison based on an evaluation that he shows reasonable promise of being able to return to society and function as a responsible, self-reliant person. Subject to the conditions of his parole, he can be gainfully employed and is free to be with family and friends and to form the other enduring attachments of normal life. Though the State properly subjects him to many restrictions not applicable to other citizens, his condition is very different from that of confinement in a prison. He may have been on parole for a number of years and may be living a relatively normal life at the time he is faced with revocation. The parolee has relied on at least an implicit promise that parole will be revoked only if he fails to live up to the parole conditions. In many cases, the parolee faces lengthy incarceration if his parole is revoked. We see, therefore, that the liberty of a parolee, although indeterminate, includes many of the core values of unqualified liberty and its termination inflicts a ‘grievous loss’ on the parolee and often on others.” Id., 482.
Subsequently, in Gagnon v. Scarpelli, 411 U.S. 778, 782, 93 S. Ct. 1756, 36 L. Ed. 2d 656 (1973), the Supreme Court affirmed the principles set forth in Morrissey and held that, because revocation of probation results in
We previously have never considered whether due process requires that an individual on probation be afforded an opportunity to be heard with counsel before the office of adult probation may modify the defendant’s conditions of probation. Although the right to counsel and a hearing has been expanded over the years, particularly with regard to parole and probation revocations, we agree with the numerous federal and state courts that have held that due process does not require a court hearing or counsel before the conditions of an individual’s probation may be modified. See United States v. Silver, 83 F.3d 289, 292 (9th Cir. 1996) (extension of probation period); Forgues v. United States, 636 F.2d 1125, 1127 (6th Cir. 1980) (same); United States v. Cornwell, 625 F.2d 686, 688-89 (5th Cir. 1980) (same); United States v. Carey, 565 F.2d 545, 546-47 (8th Cir. 1977) (same); Skipworth v. United States, 508 F.2d 598, 600-602 (3d Cir. 1975) (same); Edwards v. State, 216 Ga. App. 740, 741, 456 S.E.2d 213 (1995) (adding condition of completing sex offender treatment); People v. Britt, 202 Mich. App. 714, 716-17, 509 N.W.2d 914 (1993) (adding condition that defendant wear electronic monitor or tether); Ockel v. Riley, 541 S.W.2d 535, 544 (Mo. 1976) (extension of probation period); State v. Zeisler, 19
The key distinction regarding this issue is that a modification of an individual’s probation does not require the same procedural protections as a probation revocation. In particular, the nature of the interest and the loss resulting from a modification simply do not parallel the fundamental nature of the interest or the seriousness of the loss involved in Morrissey or Gagnon. The primary loss occasioned by a modification of a condition of probation is still only the possibility of future revocation, a loss that potentially occurs only if the condition is not met.14 Because a probationer is entitled to a hearing prior to revocation, the potential of loss caused by modifying a condition of probation is not considered sufficiently grievous to require a hearing. See Morrissey v. Brewer, supra, 408 U.S. 482; see also Meachum v. Fano, 427 U.S. 215, 224-25, 96 S. Ct. 2532, 49 L. Ed. 2d 451 (1976) (rejecting argument that “any” loss is sufficient to invoke due process, noting
Revocation proceedings often resolve a contested factual determination that requires the trial court to decide whether there was, in fact, a violation of probation. For modifications of probation, however, it is not necessary for the trial court to make a finding of a probation violation.15 Furthermore, an individual on probation has an opportunity at the probation revocationproceeding to contest the modified condition. State v. Cooley, 3 Conn. App. 410, 414-15, 488 A.2d 1283, cert. denied, 196 Conn. 805, 492 A.2d 1241 (1985) (defendant’s probation will not be revoked on ground that he violated condition of probation if that condition is shown at revocation hearing to have no rehabilitative purpose). Even prior to the violation of probation hearing, if an individual on probation believes that the office of adult probation imposed an unreasonable condition, he may request a hearing pursuant to
Although “[probation is the product of statute”; State v. Smith, 207 Conn. 152, 167, 540 A.2d 679 (1988); see
B
The defendant also claims that, although
II
The defendant next claims that, even if the modified condition of probation validly had been imposed, the trial court abused its discretion and improperly revoked his probation because: (1) the defendant’s tardy arrivals at the sex offender treatment sessions did not warrant
“The standard of review of an order revoking probation is whether the trial court abused its discretion; if it appears that the trial court was reasonably satisfied that the terms of probation had been violated, and, impliedly, that the beneficial proposes of probation were no longer being served, then the order must stand.” State v. Roberson, 165 Conn. 73, 80, 327 A.2d 556 (1973). In making this determination, the trial court is vested with broad discretion. State v. Smith, supra, 207 Conn. 167 (defendant who seeks to reverse exercise of judicial discretion assumes heavy burden); State v. Davis, 229 Conn. 285, 290, 641 A.2d 370 (1994); State v. Repetti, 60 Conn. App. 614, 619-20, 760 A.2d 964 (2000) , cert. denied, 255 Conn. 923, 763 A.2d 1040 (2001) ; State v. Treat, 38 Conn. App. 762, 767, 664 A.2d 785, cert. denied, 235 Conn. 920, 665 A.2d 907 (1995).
We recognize that, in the present case, sex offender treatment was a key component of the rehabilitative process because it was directly connected to one of the underlying crimes to which the defendant had pleaded guilty. Failure to comply with a condition of probation is a sufficient basis upon which to order a violation of probation. See State v. Davis, supra, 229 Conn. 302; State v. Welch, 40 Conn. App. 395, 401-402, 671 A.2d 379, cert. denied, 236 Conn. 918, 673 A.2d 1145 (1996); State v. Treat, supra, 38 Conn. App. 765-66; State v. DeMasi, 34 Conn. App. 46, 56, 640 A.2d 138, cert. denied, 230 Conn. 906, 644 A.2d 920 (1994). Here, the defendant failed to complete the conditions of his probation because he repeatedly had arrived late to the sex
The trial court, therefore, reasonably could have found that, without the treatment, the likelihood of the defendant committing such crimes again had not decreased, and that the goals of rehabilitation were not being adequately met. Accordingly, we conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in revoking the defendant’s probation.
The judgment is affirmed.
In this opinion the other justices concurred.
Notes
The spelling of the defendant’s first name in this case is in accordance with a note in the files by the department of correction.
The due process clause of the fourteenth amendment to the United States constitution provides in relevant part: “No State shall . . . deprive any person of life, liberty or properly, without due process of law . . . .”
Article first, § 8, of the Connecticut constitution provides in relevant part: “No person shall be . . . deprived of life, liberty or properly without due process of law . . . .”
See footnote 1 of this opinion.
The department of special services filed a report recommending that upon release from prison, the defendant should engage in outpatient sex offender treatment. On the basis of this recommendation, the office of adult probation modified the defendant’s probation to include sex offender treatment.
The trial court, in making its ruling, stated: “[E]valuations were made while the defendant was still in the custody of the commissioner of correction. The defendant was informed that he would be subject to conditions to include sexual offender treatment both before and after his release. The court finds based on all of the evidence presented in this case that the defendant violated the conditions of his probation by not cooperating with the probation department and/or the individuals at the sexual offender program by arriving late, by arriving with the attitude that he was not making that part of his probationary condition a priority item by not cooperating with the probation department and the treatment organization. The defendant is found to have violated the conditions of his probation.”
Although the defendant also claims a violation under the state due process clause, our decision is confined to the federal constitution because the defendant has failed to provide an independent analysis of the state constitutional issue. See State v. Ellis, 232 Conn. 691, 692 n.l, 657 A.2d 1099 (1995). “We have repeatedly apprised litigants that we will not entertain a state constitutional claim unless the defendant has provided an independent analysis under the particular provisions of the state constitution at issue. . . . Without a separately briefed and analyzed state constitutional claim, we deem abandoned the defendant’s claim . . . .” (Citations omitted.) State v. Robinson, 227 Conn. 711, 721-22, 631 A.2d 288 (1993); see also State v. Williams, 231 Conn. 235, 245 n.13, 645 A.2d 999 (1994); State v. Joyner, 225 Conn. 450, 458 n.4, 625 A.2d 791 (1993); State v. Rosado, 218 Conn. 239, 251 n.12, 588 A.2d 1066 (1991).
The Supreme Court stated: “[Probation revocation, like parole revocation, is not a stage of a criminal prosecution, but does result in a loss of liberty. Accordingly, we hold that a probationer, like a parolee, is entitled to apreliminary and a final revocation hearing, under the conditions specified in Morrissey v. Brewer, supra, [408 U.S. 482].” Gagnon v. Scarpelli, supra, 411 U.S. 782.
In Skipworth v. United States, supra, 508 F.2d 601-602, a case widely cited by courts addressing this issue, the Court of Appeals stated: “While we acknowledge that probation entails significant restrictions on an individual, an extension of probation is clearly not as ‘grievous’ a ‘loss’ as revocation, and here it entailed no greater restrictions than those which existed previously. In fact, the primary ‘loss’ suffered by an individual whose probation has been extended lies not in the continuing restrictions themselves, but in the possibility of future revocation. While such a loss is indeed serious, it is merely potential at the time of extension, and the due process clause clearly provides the protection of a hearing in the event that revocation proceedings should subsequently occur.”
In Skipworth v. United, States, supra, 508 F.2d 602, the Court of Appeals highlighted this distinction: “In revocation proceedings, the trial judge must reasonably satisfy himself that the probationer has broken some law while on probation or has otherwise violated a condition of his probation. While the judge has considerable discretion as to whether to order revocation, he must at a minimum make an initial factual finding of a probation violation. A revocation hearing, therefore, provides the probationer with the crucial opportunity to contest an allegation of violation.”
Specifically, we note that the comment to
“(b) When a defendant has been sentenced to a period of probation, the Office of Adult Probation may require that the defendant comply with any or all conditions which the court could have imposed under subsection (a) which are not inconsistent with any condition actually imposed by the court. . . .”
In a similar context, the United States Supreme Court has held that a defendant has no right to a hearing concerning prison transfers as long as “the conditions or degree of confinement to which the prisoner is subject is within the sentence imposed upon him and is not otherwise violative of the Constitution, the Due Process Clause does not itself subject an inmate’s treatment by prison authorities to judicial oversight.” Montanye v. Haymes, 427 U.S. 236, 242, 96 S. Ct. 2543, 49 L. Ed. 2d 466 (1976).
See footnote 19 of this opinion.
See footnote 16 of this opinion.