Holliday v. Commissioner of Correction
Holliday v. Commissioner of Correction
Opinion
*230
The petitioner, Dean Holliday, appeals from the judgment of the habeas court dismissing his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The petitioner claims that the habeas court erred in dismissing his petition (1) for lack of jurisdiction on the basis of
Petaway
v.
Commissioner of Correction
,
The following facts and procedural history are relevant to our resolution of this appeal. In April, 2002, following a jury trial, the petitioner was convicted of attempt to commit robbery in the first degree in
*869
violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-49 and 53a-134 (a) (2), conspiracy to commit robbery in the first degree in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-48 and 53a-134 (a) (2), and attempt to commit robbery in the second degree in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-49 and 53a-135 (a) (1). The petitioner was sentenced to a total effective term of forty years in prison.
1
This court affirmed the petitioner's conviction on direct appeal. See
State
v.
Holliday
,
In 2001, at the time of the petitioner's criminal conduct, and in 2003, when he was convicted, no statutory provision existed that permitted inmates to earn credits toward reducing the length of their sentences. In 2011,
*231
while the petitioner was incarcerated, the General Assembly enacted No. 11-51, § 22, of the 2011 Public Acts, later codified in General Statutes § 18-98e. This legislation provided that certain prisoners convicted of crimes committed after October 1, 1994, "may be eligible to earn risk reduction credit toward a reduction of such person's sentence, in an amount not to exceed five days per month, at the discretion of the Commissioner of Correction" for certain positive behaviors. General Statutes § 18-98e (a). Section 18-98e (a) was enacted in conjunction with a revision to General Statutes § 54-125a (b), which provided, in relevant part, that a person convicted of a violent crime would not be eligible for parole consideration "until such person has served not less than eighty-five percent of the definite sentence imposed less any risk reduction credit earned under the provisions of section 18-98e." (Emphasis added.) General Statutes (Rev. to 2013) § 54-125a (b). The petitioner's crimes qualified as violent under § 54-125a (b).
2
See
State
v.
Holliday
, supra,
In July, 2013, the General Assembly amended § 54-125a (b), striking the language that allowed credits earned under § 18-98e to reduce the time served by violent offenders before becoming eligible for parole.
*232 This revision meant that violent offenders, like the petitioner, were required to serve 85 percent of their definite sentence 3 before becoming eligible for parole. Credits the petitioner had earned toward his discharge date and parole eligibility date were revoked following the revision.
On December 24, 2014, the self-represented petitioner filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in which he alleged that the 2013 legislative change violated the ex post facto clause of the United States constitution,
*870
article one, § 10, by revoking credits he had earned under § 18-98e. In support of his claim, the petitioner cited
Teague
v.
Quarterman
,
The petitioner filed a petition for certification to appeal on April 15, 2016, which the habeas court granted on April 25, 2016. The petitioner, then represented by appointed counsel, filed a motion for articulation on November 7, 2016, which the court denied on November 21, 2016. 4 This appeal followed. Additional facts and procedural history will be set forth as necessary.
*233 I
On appeal, the petitioner claims that the habeas court erred in dismissing his habeas petition for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Specifically, the petitioner argues the court improperly relied on
Petaway
v.
Commissioner of Correction
, supra,
We first set forth our standard of review and applicable legal principles. "It is well settled that [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." (Internal quotation marks omitted.)
Petaway
v.
Commissioner of Correction
, supra,
The habeas court's subject matter jurisdiction is predicated on the deprivation of a recognized liberty interest. See General Statutes § 52-466 (a) (2) ;
Santiago
v.
Commissioner of Correction
,
Even if the petitioner had a liberty interest in risk reduction credit and the habeas court had been able to reach the merits of his ex post facto claim, the claim would fail in light of
Petaway
, which the petitioner recognized as dispositive at oral argument before this court.
6
In
Petaway
, this court adjudicated nearly identical factual and legal issues to those in the present case.
Petaway
v.
Commissioner of Correction
, supra,
The petitioner also argues that the habeas court erred in dismissing his petition in its entirety because the failure of his ex post facto claim did not deprive the habeas court of jurisdiction to hear his due process and equal protection claims. We disagree. Our Supreme Court in Perez rejected the argument that the due process and equal protection claims regarding risk reduction credit independently implicate the subject matter jurisdiction of the habeas court, concluding that "[a]n essential predicate to all of these claims is a cognizable liberty interest."
*872
Perez
v.
Commissioner of Correction
, supra, 326 Conn. at 370,
II
The petitioner also argues that the habeas court erred in dismissing the petition on its own motion, without
*236
notice or a hearing. The respondent argues that the plain meaning of Practice Book § 23-29 (1) and this court's decision in
Pentland
v.
Commissioner of Correction
,
"[I]t is the established policy of the Connecticut courts to be solicitous of pro se litigants and when it does not interfere with the rights of other parties to construe the rules of practice liberally in favor of the pro se party." (Internal quotation marks omitted.)
Ajadi
v.
Commissioner of Correction
,
Notwithstanding this policy, a petitioner's right to a hearing before a habeas court is not absolute. In
Pentland
v.
Commissioner of Correction
, supra,
The judgment is affirmed.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.
In August, 2005, the petitioner's sentence was modified to twenty-five years in prison by the sentence review division.
State
v.
Holliday
, Superior Court, judicial district of New Britain, Docket No. CR-011-94794,
General Statutes (Rev. to 2013) § 54-125a (b) (1) prohibits the use of risk reduction credit toward parole eligibility by "[a] person convicted of ... an offense ... where the underlying facts and circumstances of the offense involve the use, attempted use or threatened use of physical force against another person ... until such person has served not less than eighty-five per cent of the definite sentence imposed ...."
A jury found the petitioner guilty of, among other crimes, robbery in the first degree, which involves the "[use] or threaten[ed] ... immediate use of physical force upon another person ...." (Internal quotation marks omitted.)
State
v.
Holliday
, supra,
"[D]efinite sentence is the flat maximum to which a defendant is sentenced ...."
State
v.
Adam H.
,
The petitioner filed a motion for review of the habeas court's denial of his motion for articulation on December 5, 2016. This court granted the petitioner's motion for review but denied the relief requested therein.
Our Supreme Court decided
Perez
and
James E.
v.
Commissioner of Correction
, supra, 326 Conn. at 388,
See footnote 4 of this opinion.
Whereas the habeas court here dismissed the petition pursuant to Practice Book § 23-29 (1), the court in
Petaway
v.
Commissioner of Correction
, supra,
We note that two cases alleging an ex post facto violation on the basis of the 2013 amendment to § 54-125a (b) are currently on appeal before our Supreme Court. See Breton v. Commissioner of Correction , SC 19928, and Garner v. Commissioner of Correction , SC 19927. These cases, however, are factually distinguishable from the present case. While the present case involves a petitioner who was convicted before the enactment of the 2011 provisions, thereby defeating the timing requirement for an ex post facto claim, the petitioners in Breton and Warden committed their crimes between the enactment of the 2011 and 2013 amendments.
It should be noted that, on June 13, 2018, our Supreme Court granted a petition for certification to appeal this court's decision in
Gilchrist
v.
Commissioner of Correction
,
"[T]he rules of practice were promulgated to create one harmonious and consistent body of law.... If courts can by any fair interpretation find a reasonable field of operation for two [rules of practice] without destroying their evident meaning, it is the duty of the courts to do so, thus reconciling them and according to them concurrent effect." (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.)
Farmington
v.
Dowling
,
The petitioner argues that the habeas court erred in dismissing the petition without a hearing because, in
Boyd
v.
Commissioner of Correction
,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Dean HOLLIDAY v. COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTION
- Cited By
- 10 cases
- Status
- Published