STATE OF CONNECTICUT v. MIGUEL WILLIAMSON
AC 36451
Appellate Court of Connecticut
January 27, 2015
Alvord, Keller and Harper, Js.
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(Appeal from Superior Court, judicial district of Hartford, geographical area number fourteen, Bentivegna, J.)
Thomas S. Rome, for the appellant (defendant).
Leon F. Dalbec, Jr., seniоr assistant state‘s attorney, with whom, on the brief, were Gail P. Hardy, state‘s attorney, and Mark Brodsky, senior assistant state‘s attorney, for the appellee (state).
KELLER, J. The defendant, Miguel Williamson, appeals from the judgment of the trial court dismissing his petition for a writ of error coram nobis. He claims that the court improperly concluded that it lacked jurisdiction over the petition. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.
The following undisputed facts appear in the record. On August 15, 2012, the defendant pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana with the intent to sell in violation of
Thе state objected to the petition on the ground that the court lacked jurisdiction because the defendant, who began serving the probationary portion of his sentence on August 20, 2013, had an adequate remedy at law, namely, the right to file a petition for a writ of habeas сorpus. The defendant filed a written response in which he represented that, upon the commencement of his probation, he was no longer in the custody of the state, but was currently in a facility in Massachusetts, in the custody of the United States Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcemеnt, while proceedings to remove him from the United States were underway. Further, the defendant stated that, in these circumstances, his ability to petition for a writ of habeas corpus was not an adequate remedy because it would not afford him “any relief from removal.” In a supplеmental memorandum of law in support of his petition, the defendant represented that, on November 22, 2013, the United States Immigration Court ordered that he be deported from the United States. The defendant asserted that, under these circumstances in which he was awaiting deportatiоn, the writ of error coram nobis was his only adequate remedy.
On December 19, 2013, the court held a hearing related to the jurisdictional issue, during which it heard arguments from both parties in this case. In its decision,1 the court set forth the relevant and undisputed facts, and dismissed the petition for a writ of еrror coram
Reiterating in substance the arguments he advanced before the trial court, the defendant relies on the fact that, at the time that the court dismissed his petition, he was no longer in the physical custody of the state, but was serving his probation while in federal custody and awaiting deportation from the United States.2 Without stating that he had the right to petition for a writ of habeas corpus, he asserts that such legal remedy was inadequate given his circumstances because “there is no reasonable and рractical prospect for timely adjudication of a prisoner‘s application for a habeas writ when the prisoner faces immediate forced removal by [the United States Department of Homeland Security].” Underlying the defendant‘s argument is his belief that, in contrast with а petition for a writ of habeas corpus, a petition for a writ of error coram nobis is the only means of providing practical relief to him in a timely manner so as to thwart his deportation, which was a consequence of his conviction.3 The state urges us to agree with the trial court that dismissal was proper because the defendant had other legal remedies by which to seek redress, such as a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Alternatively, the state urges us to conclude that dismissal was proper because, if the writ of error cоram nobis existed in the common law, it has been supplanted by other remedies in Connecticut law and therefore is no longer a viable remedy.4
“A determination regarding a trial court‘s subject matter jurisdiction is a question of law and, therefore, we employ the plenary standard of review and decide whether the court‘s conclusions are legally and logically correct and supported by the facts in the record. . . . [I]t is well established that a reviewing court properly may address jurisdictional claims that neither were raised nor ruled on in the trial court. Indеed, [o]nce the question of lack of jurisdiction of a court is raised, [it] must be disposed of no matter in what form it is presented. . . . The court must fully resolve it before proceeding further with the case.” (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Warner v. Bicknell, 126 Conn. App. 588, 594, 12 A.3d 1042 (2011). “Jurisdiction involves the power in a court tо hear and determine the cause of action presented to it and its source is the constitutional and statutory provisions by which it is created. . . . Article fifth, § 1 of the Connecticut constitution proclaims that [t]he powers and jurisdiction of the courts shall be defined by law, and
“A writ of error coram nobis is an ancient common law remedy which authorized the trial judge, within three years, to vacate the judgment of the same court if the party aggrieved by the judgment could present facts, not appearing in the record, which, if true, would show that such judgment was void or voidable. . . . The facts must be unknown at the time of the trial without fault of the party seeking relief. . . . A writ of error coram nobis lies only in the unusual situation [in which] no adequate remedy is provided by law. . . . Moreover, when habeas corpus affords a proper and complete remedy the writ of error coram nobis will not lie.” (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Das, 291 Conn. 356, 370–71, 968 A.2d 367 (2009); see also State v. Henderson, 259 Conn. 1, 3, 787 A.2d 514 (2002) (writ of error coram nobis unavailable whеn proper remedy afforded by means of writ of habeas corpus); State v. Grisgraber, 183 Conn. 383, 385, 439 A.2d 377 (1981) (writ of error coram nobis unavailable when proper remedy afforded by means of appeal).
To the extent that the defendant argues that he was unable to petition for a writ of habeas cоrpus because he had completed his definite term of incarceration and was serving the probationary portion of his sentence, this argument is legally unsound. Recently, this court rejected a similar argument, concluding that probation constituted a form of legal restraint that satisfied the custody requirement of
To the extent that the defendant argues thаt a writ of habeas corpus would afford him a “nominal, technical, theoretical, or ‘academic’ remedy,” because it would not provide him with timely relief, we are not persuaded. Before the trial court, the defendant argued that the writ of error coram nobis was the оnly available remedy because the relief he could obtain in connection with a writ of habeas corpus would not occur in time to
Additionally, beyond stating his subjective belief that a petition for a writ of habeas corpus would not provide him with timely relief, the defendant did nоt present any evidence in this regard before the trial court. As the state correctly observes, in the context of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, the defendant could have requested that the habeas court adjudicate the matter expeditiously. This fact helps to allay reasonable concerns related to timeliness.5 In support of this observation, the state aptly has cited in its brief numerous examples of habeas court decisions in which such courts have adjudicated petitions for writs of habeas corpus in an expedited manner because they involved the rights of petitioners who, like the defendant in the present case, were facing issues related to deportation. Moreover, the defendant has not cited any legal authority that stands for the proposition that, in the present circumstances, in which deportation was imminent, the writ of habeas corpus is not an adequate legal remedy. In light of the foregoing, we conclude that the court properly dismissed the petition for a writ of error coram nobis.
The judgment is affirmed.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.