State v. Hathaway
State v. Hathaway
Opinion
*280
The defendant, Robert Hathaway, appeals from the judgment of the trial court dismissing his motion to correct an illegal sentence. On appeal, the defendant claims
*259
that (1) the court erred in dismissing the motion to correct an illegal sentence on the ground that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction, (2) the court erred in dismissing the motion to correct an illegal sentence because the mandatory minimum sentence of twenty-five years of incarceration without the possibility of parole for murder is unconstitutional under article first, §§ 8 and 9, of the state constitution, as applied to juvenile offenders in that it bars courts from sentencing juveniles to less than twenty-five years upon due considerations of the
Miller
factors,
1
and (3) the court committed constitutional error when it accepted the defendant's waiver, through counsel, of his right to a presentence investigation report. We
*281
addressed these precise issues in
State
v.
Rivera
,
The following facts and procedural history are relevant to the present appeal. On or about May 23, 2001, the defendant, who was seventeen years old, shot and killed the victim, Fletcher Fitzgerald. Shortly thereafter, the defendant was arrested and charged with murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54a(a) and felony murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54c. On April 16, 2003, when the defendant was nineteen years old, he pleaded guilty under the Alford doctrine 2 to the charge of murder. On June 13, 2003, the state and the defendant waived the presentence investigation report, and, in accordance with the plea agreement, the trial court, Solomon, J. , sentenced the defendant to twenty-five years of incarceration on the murder charge, which constituted the statutory mandatory minimum. In addition, as part of the disposition, the state entered a nolle prosequi as to the felony murder count.
On November 28, 2013, the defendant filed a pro se motion to correct an illegal sentence. In that motion, the defendant claimed that the sentence of twenty-five years of incarceration without the possibility of parole for murder imposed upon a juvenile violates the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments in the eighth amendment of the United States constitution and the due process clauses of article first, §§ 8 and 9, of the state constitution. The court stated in its memorandum of decision: "Specifically, [the defendant] assert[ed] that his sentence, as imposed, violates the principles
*282
underpinning
Miller
v.
Alabama
,
On July 23, 2014, the trial court, Alexander, J. , issued a memorandum of decision dismissing the defendant's motion to correct an illegal sentence because it lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the motion. This appeal followed.
*260
On appeal, the defendant makes three claims that are identical to those made in
State
v.
Rivera
,
The judgment is affirmed.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.
The
Miller
factors refer to the sentencing court's obligation to consider a juvenile's age and circumstances related to age at an individualized sentencing hearing as mitigating factors before imposing a sentence of life imprisonment without parole. See
Miller
v.
Alabama
,
See
North Carolina
v.
Alford
,
"Furthermore,
Montgomery
[v.
Louisiana
, --- U.S. ----,
As the United States Supreme Court explained in
Montgomery
v.
Louisiana
, --- U.S. ----,
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.