Clark v. Commissioner of Correction
Syllabus
The petitioner, who previously had been convicted of assault in the first degree, appealed, on the granting of certification, from the habeas court's judgment denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The petitioner, whose trial counsel had been permitted by the trial court to withdraw upon an oral motion made during a hearing at which the petitioner failed to appear, claimed, inter alia, that the habeas court erred in determining that the proceeding during which his counsel had withdrawn was not a critical stage of the prosecution and, thus, despite his absence, his rights to due process had not been violated. Held: The habeas court properly determined that the proceeding during which the trial court granted the motion to withdraw by the petitioner's criminal trial counsel was not a critical stage of the petitioner's prosecution, as, although the proceeding had originally been scheduled to address a pending plea offer from the state, the petitioner's failure to appear at the hearing changed the nature of the hearing, and the proceeding had no effect on the petitioner's ability to later accept or reject a plea offer from the state. Argued March 19—officially released October 7, 2025
Opinion Excerpt
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