Bozelko v. Commissioner of Correction ( 2016 )


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    CHANDRA BOZELKO v. COMMISSIONER
    OF CORRECTION
    (AC 35990)
    DiPentima, C. J., and Beach and Bear, Js.
    Argued October 14, 2015—officially released February 2, 2016
    (Appeal from Superior Court, judicial district of
    Tolland, Cobb, J.)
    Chandra Bozelko, self-represented, the appellant
    (petitioner).
    Kathryn W. Bare, assistant state’s attorney, with
    whom, on the brief, were Kevin D. Lawlor, state’s attor-
    ney, Angela R. Macchiarulo, senior assistant state’s
    attorney, and Yamini Menon, special deputy assistant
    state’s attorney, for the appellee (respondent).
    Opinion
    BEACH, J. The petitioner, Chandra Bozelko, appeals
    from the judgment of the habeas court denying her
    petition for a writ of habeas corpus. She claims that
    the court erred in denying her claim of ineffective assis-
    tance of trial counsel due to a failure to investigate
    effectively.1 She further argues that the court abused its
    discretion in denying certification to appeal. We dismiss
    the appeal.
    The petitioner claims that her counsel provided inef-
    fective assistance in the course of defending her against
    charges of jury tampering. She pleaded guilty to and was
    convicted of making telephone calls to jurors during
    her criminal trial on certain otherwise unrelated prior
    charges.2 The habeas court recited the following facts
    with respect to the jury tampering: ‘‘On the evening of
    October 4, 2007, while the petitioner’s criminal jury
    trial was underway, several jurors assigned to the case
    received telephone calls at their residences from a tele-
    phone number identified on their respective caller iden-
    tification systems as originating from Kate’s Paperie, a
    business establishment in Greenwich, Connecticut. A
    male caller asked the jurors questions regarding their
    status as jurors and instructed the jurors that they
    should not find the petitioner guilty of the pending
    charges. The petitioner submitted an affidavit to the
    court indicating that she received several calls from
    jurors at her residence on October 8, 2007.
    ‘‘The police conducted an extensive investigation and
    determined that the calls did not originate from Kate’s
    Paperie or from the jurors’ residences. The police deter-
    mined that the caller identification information for
    these calls had been ‘spoofed,’ a process whereby the
    caller attaches false identity contact information to the
    communication. The police discovered that a ‘Spoof-
    Card’ was purchased on April 12, 2007, with the com-
    puter located in the petitioner’s residence and her moth-
    er’s credit card. A SpoofCard allows the user to change
    caller identification information through the use of a
    computer service. A SpoofCard user also has the ability
    to change his or her voice to that of a male or female.
    ‘‘The call records showed that 123 calls were made
    with the [Spoof]card beginning on April 12, 2007, and
    ending on October 4, 2007. Ninety-four of the calls origi-
    nated from the petitioner’s father’s fax machine phone
    number, nineteen of the calls originated from the peti-
    tioner’s residential phone number and ten of the calls
    originated from a Tracfone phone number. The Trac-
    fone, a prepaid cell phone, was activated from the com-
    puter in the petitioner’s residence. The SpoofCard and
    the Tracfone were used to place the phone calls to the
    jurors on October 4, 2007. The calls took place over
    the span of an hour and a half, beginning at 7:22 p.m.
    and ending at 8:52 p.m. All of the phone calls made
    using the SpoofCard were recorded.
    ‘‘A second SpoofCard was purchased on October 8,
    2007, with the computer located in the petitioner’s resi-
    dence and a prepaid credit card that was found in the
    petitioner’s bedroom when the search warrant was exe-
    cuted. The second SpoofCard and the Tracfone were
    used to make calls to the petitioner’s residence from
    phone numbers spoofed to appear as if the calls origi-
    nated from the jurors’ residences. There were no
    recordings made of these calls.’’ The habeas court fur-
    ther explained that, in connection with this incident,
    ‘‘[t]he petitioner was charged with six counts of attempt
    to commit tampering with a juror in violation of General
    Statutes §§ 53a-49 (a) (2) and 53a-154, one count of
    false statement in the second degree in violation of
    General Statutes [Rev. to 2007] § 53a-157b and one
    count of tampering with physical evidence in violation
    of General Statutes § 53a-155 (1). The petitioner was
    also charged with [crimes] arising from the same allega-
    tions in a separate case in the Stamford judicial district.
    The petitioner’s exposure on these charges was approx-
    imately fifty years.
    ‘‘Attorney Dean Popkin represented the petitioner.
    The petitioner entered a guilty plea, under the Alford
    doctrine,3 to three counts of attempt to commit tamper-
    ing with a juror on March 30, 2010. On May 24, 2010,
    the petitioner was sentenced to twenty-seven months
    incarceration on each count, to run concurrently, for
    a total effective sentence of twenty-seven months
    imprisonment.4 The state nolled the remaining charges
    against the petitioner in both this case and the Stam-
    ford case.’’
    The petitioner filed a petition for a writ of habeas
    corpus in August, 2010. In the operative petition, she
    claimed that her trial counsel was ineffective for failing
    to conduct an adequate pretrial investigation prior to
    the entry of her plea. She claimed that he did not effec-
    tively investigate the petitioner’s innocent use of
    another telephone line in the same time frame in which
    the telephone calls to the jurors were taking place,
    and that he did not effectively investigate all of the
    telephone records. The court denied the petition and
    found that the petitioner had failed to establish both
    deficient performance and prejudice. The habeas court
    denied her petition for certification to appeal. This
    appeal followed.
    As a threshold matter, the petitioner claims that the
    habeas court abused its discretion in denying her peti-
    tion for certification to appeal.5 ‘‘Faced with the habeas
    court’s denial of certification to appeal, a petitioner’s
    first burden is to demonstrate that the habeas court’s
    ruling constituted an abuse of discretion. . . . A peti-
    tioner may establish an abuse of discretion by demon-
    strating that the issues are debatable among jurists of
    reason . . . [the] court could resolve the issues [in a
    different manner] . . . or . . . the questions are ade-
    quate to deserve encouragement to proceed further.
    . . . The required determination may be made on the
    basis of the record before the habeas court and applica-
    ble legal principles. . . .
    ‘‘In determining whether the habeas court abused
    its discretion in denying the petitioner’s request for
    certification, we necessarily must consider the merits of
    the petitioner’s underlying claims to determine whether
    the habeas court reasonably determined that the peti-
    tioner’s appeal was frivolous. In other words, we review
    the petitioner’s substantive claims for the purpose of
    ascertaining whether those claims satisfy one or more
    of the three criteria . . . adopted by [our Supreme
    Court] for determining the propriety of the habeas
    court’s denial of the petition for certification. Absent
    such a showing by the petitioner, the judgment of the
    habeas court must be affirmed.’’ (Citation omitted;
    internal quotation marks omitted.) Ham v. Commis-
    sioner of Correction, 
    152 Conn. App. 212
    , 217–18, 
    98 A.3d 81
    , cert. denied, 
    314 Conn. 932
    , 
    102 A.3d 83
    (2014).
    Resolution of the petitioner’s threshold claim that the
    court abused its discretion in denying her petition for
    certification to appeal requires an examination of her
    underlying claims, and, thus, we address these claims
    in turn.
    The petitioner claims that the court erred: (1) in find-
    ing that her counsel’s performance was not deficient,
    and (2) in using an incorrect standard for determining
    prejudice. We are not persuaded.
    ‘‘In a habeas appeal, this court cannot disturb the
    underlying facts found by the habeas court unless they
    are clearly erroneous, but our review of whether the
    facts as found by the habeas court constituted a viola-
    tion of the petitioner’s constitutional right to effective
    assistance of counsel is plenary.’’ (Internal quotation
    marks omitted.) Williams v. Commissioner of Correc-
    tion, 
    117 Conn. App. 510
    , 519, 
    978 A.2d 1167
    (2009).
    ‘‘[T]he governing legal principles in cases involving
    claims of ineffective assistance of counsel arising in
    connection with guilty pleas are set forth in Strickland
    [v. Washington, 
    466 U.S. 668
    , 
    104 S. Ct. 2052
    , 
    80 L. Ed. 2d
    674 (1984)] and Hill [v. Lockhart, 
    474 U.S. 52
    , 
    106 S. Ct. 366
    , 
    88 L. Ed. 2d 203
    (1985)]. [According to]
    Strickland, [an ineffective assistance of counsel] claim
    must be supported by evidence establishing that (1)
    counsel’s representation fell below an objective stan-
    dard of reasonableness, and (2) counsel’s deficient per-
    formance prejudiced the defense because there was a
    reasonable probability that the outcome of the proceed-
    ings would have been different had it not been for the
    deficient performance. . . . The first prong requires a
    showing that counsel made errors so serious that coun-
    sel was not functioning as the counsel guaranteed . . .
    by the [s]ixth [a]mendment. . . . Under . . . Hill
    . . . which . . . modified the prejudice prong of the
    Strickland test for claims of ineffective assistance when
    the conviction resulted from a guilty plea, the evidence
    must demonstrate that there is a reasonable probability
    that, but for counsel’s errors, [the petitioner] would not
    have pleaded guilty and would have insisted on going
    to trial.’’ (Emphasis omitted; internal quotation marks
    omitted.) Patterson v. Commissioner of Correction,
    
    150 Conn. App. 30
    , 35, 
    89 A.3d 1018
    (2014). An ineffec-
    tive assistance of counsel claim ‘‘will succeed only if
    both prongs [of Strickland as modified by Hill] are
    satisfied.’’ (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Mozell
    v. Commissioner of Correction, 
    291 Conn. 62
    , 77, 
    967 A.2d 41
    (2009).
    I
    DEFICIENT PERFORMANCE
    The petitioner argues that the court erred in determin-
    ing that Popkin’s performance was not deficient. She
    contends that he rendered deficient performance in that
    he failed to examine the telephone records provided
    by the state during discovery, which show telephone
    calls made on the night in question from the landline
    at her residence, and that he failed to interview one
    Willie Green, since deceased. Green, an employee at
    Kinsella Commons, a mental health and substance
    abuse treatment center, allegedly was the recipient of
    an innocent call from the landline at the residence on
    the night in question. The petitioner claims that Green
    could have provided useful information about the call.6
    We disagree with the petitioner’s claim in this regard.
    The following additional findings of fact and conclu-
    sions of law were made by the habeas court. ‘‘At trial,
    the petitioner introduced records from AT&T and
    Kinsella Commons to demonstrate what additional
    investigation by Attorney Popkin would have revealed.
    The AT&T phone records submitted into evidence indi-
    cate that several calls were made from the landline at
    the petitioner’s residence on the evening of October 4,
    2007. The first outgoing phone call was made at 7:24
    p.m., and the last outgoing phone call was made at
    10:01 p.m. The durations of the phone calls ranged from
    approximately one second to four and a half minutes.
    The petitioner testified that the outgoing calls were
    made to Kinsella Commons, [a patient at the facility],
    relatives of [the patient], and the petitioner’s sisters.
    The notes submitted from Kinsella Commons, handwrit-
    ten by Willie Green, a supervisor of the center’s resi-
    dents, state that Green received a phone call from the
    petitioner on the evening of October 4, 2007. Green’s
    notes indicate that the call was received at 7:45 p.m.,
    but they do not indicate how long the phone call lasted.
    The AT&T phone records indicate that one phone call
    was made from the petitioner’s residence to Kinsella
    Commons at 7:48 p.m., and the call ended at 7:52 p.m.
    ‘‘Attorney Popkin hired an investigator in this case.
    The investigator attempted to contact individuals identi-
    fied by the petitioner as having some involvement with
    the case, but they refused to speak with him. The investi-
    gator also arranged for a forensic review of the petition-
    er’s hard drive, but the forensic examiner found more
    evidence on the computer that was detrimental to the
    petitioner than the state police had found. The court
    credits Attorney Popkin’s testimony that he also
    requested the phone records to substantiate the peti-
    tioner’s claimed theory of defense, but he did not find
    them to be helpful. The phone records did not prove that
    it was the petitioner making the phone calls. Moreover,
    Attorney Popkin determined that several brief phone
    calls to Kinsella Commons would not account for the
    hour and a half time frame during which the calls were
    made to the jurors.
    ‘‘Attorney Popkin wrote a letter to the petitioner,
    recommending that she plead guilty due to the strength
    of the state’s case against her and her lack of a viable
    defense. While the voice on the tape recordings of the
    phone calls made to the jurors using the SpoofCard
    was disguised in a male voice, the voice on other phone
    calls recorded on the card was not disguised. Attorney
    Popkin determined that the petitioner’s defense would
    require her to testify, and he believed that any jury that
    heard the tape recordings and the petitioner’s voice
    would determine that it was her voice on those phone
    calls. Attorney Popkin testified that he reviewed the
    tapes with the petitioner, and that she decided to plead
    guilty after hearing the recordings. He believed that the
    plea deal was very favorable in light of the exposure she
    faced. The sentencing court, Rodriguez, J., thoroughly
    canvassed the petitioner regarding her plea.
    ‘‘Pursuant to the foregoing, the court finds that the
    evidence submitted by the petitioner is insufficient to
    establish the existence of exculpatory information that
    should have been discovered had a proper investigation
    been conducted. Attorney Popkin’s investigation was
    objectively reasonable under the circumstances of this
    case, and the petitioner has not met her burden of
    proving deficient performance for purposes of her inef-
    fective assistance claim.’’
    The court did not err in concluding that Popkin had
    not rendered deficient performance. He hired an investi-
    gator and examined the petitioner’s defense that she
    was making telephone calls from the landline at her
    residence during the time in which the telephone calls
    to the jurors had been made. He found the telephone
    records that he had requested, in order to support the
    petitioner’s defense theory, to be unhelpful. The records
    did not prove that the petitioner had made the telephone
    calls herself, and, because of the brief duration of the
    telephone calls from the landline, even if the petitioner
    had made those calls, she still had an hour and a half
    in which to telephone the jurors using the cell phone.7
    Popkin determined that not only were the additional
    telephone calls on the night in question of insufficient
    duration reasonably to eliminate the petitioner as the
    maker of the incriminating calls—for instance, the call
    to Green accounted for only approximately four
    minutes of the one and one half hour time frame in
    which the jurors were telephoned—but also that the
    jury would be able to match the voice on the tape
    recorded telephone calls to the petitioner’s voice, which
    of course would be heard if she testified. Popkin testi-
    fied that roughly twenty calls were made using the
    SpoofCard and that the caller’s voice was disguised on
    some of the calls. He testified that other calls captured
    what Popkin believed to be the petitioner’s real voice.
    He further testified that the petitioner decided to plead
    guilty after hearing the recordings of her voice. The
    court determined that Popkin’s investigation was objec-
    tively reasonable under the circumstances of the case.
    The petitioner argues, however, that Popkin was inef-
    fective for not investigating the petitioner’s defense fur-
    ther. ‘‘[C]ounsel need not track down each and every
    lead or personally investigate every evidentiary possibil-
    ity before choosing a defense and developing it . . .
    [as] [e]ffective assistance of counsel imposes an obliga-
    tion [on] the attorney to investigate all surrounding
    circumstances of the case and to explore all avenues
    that may potentially lead to facts relevant to the defense
    of the case. . . . In other words, counsel has a duty to
    make reasonable investigations or to make a reasonable
    decision that makes particular investigations unneces-
    sary. . . . If counsel makes strategic decisions after
    thorough investigation, those decisions are virtually
    unchallengeable . . . .’’ (Citations omitted; internal
    quotation marks omitted.) Taft v. Commissioner of
    Correction, 
    159 Conn. App. 537
    , 547, 
    124 A.3d 1
    , cert.
    denied, 
    320 Conn. 910
    ,      A.3d      (2015). We conclude
    that the court did not err in concluding that Popkin’s
    performance was not constitutionally deficient.
    II
    PREJUDICE
    The petitioner next argues that the habeas court
    relied on the superseded prejudice standard enunciated
    in Copas v. Commissioner of Correction, 
    234 Conn. 139
    , 151, 
    662 A.2d 178
    (1995), and examined only the
    strength of the state’s case. The petitioner argues that
    the court failed to use the proper prejudice standard
    articulated in Carraway v. Commissioner of Correc-
    tion, 
    317 Conn. 594
    , 600 n.6, 
    119 A.3d 1153
    (2015).
    We disagree.
    ‘‘For claims of ineffective assistance of counsel aris-
    ing out of the plea process, the United States Supreme
    Court has modified the [prejudice] prong of the Strick-
    land test to require that the petitioner produce evidence
    ‘that there is a reasonable probability that, but for coun-
    sel’s errors, [the petitioner] would not have pleaded
    guilty and would have insisted on going to trial.’ Hill
    v. 
    Lockhart, supra
    , 
    474 U.S. 59
    .’’ Thiersaint v. Commis-
    sioner of Correction, 
    316 Conn. 89
    , 101, 
    111 A.3d 829
    (2015). In Copas v. Commissioner of 
    Correction, supra
    ,
    
    234 Conn. 151
    , our Supreme Court interpreted Hill to
    require that in order to prove prejudice the petitioner
    must ‘‘demonstrate that [s]he would not have pleaded
    guilty, that [s]he would have insisted on going to trial,
    and that the evidence that had been undiscovered or
    the defenses [s]he claims should have been introduced
    were likely to have been successful at trial.’’ In Carra-
    way, our Supreme Court held that the prejudice stan-
    dard enunciated in Copas had been overruled, sub
    silentio, by statements in more recent cases in which
    it ‘‘specifically disapproved of the petitioner’s charac-
    terization of the prejudice prong as ‘a reasonable proba-
    bility that the result of the trial court proceedings would
    have been different’ and instead stated that ‘[i]n the
    context of a guilty plea . . . to succeed on the preju-
    dice prong the petitioner must demonstrate that, but
    for counsel’s alleged ineffective performance, the peti-
    tioner would not have pleaded guilty and would have
    proceeded to trial.’ ’’ Carraway v. Commissioner of
    
    Correction, supra
    , 
    317 Conn. 600
    n.6, citing Washington
    v. Commissioner of Correction, 
    287 Conn. 792
    , 835, 
    950 A.2d 1220
    (2008) and Crawford v. Commissioner of
    Correction, 
    285 Conn. 585
    , 598, 
    940 A.2d 789
    (2008).
    The habeas court used the proper prejudice standard
    under Carraway. In its introductory discussion of law,
    the court specifically stated the same standard as that
    enunciated in Carraway. The court later specifically
    found: ‘‘The evidence submitted by the petitioner is
    insufficient to establish the existence of exculpatory
    information that would have changed the result in this
    case. The telephone records reveal that calls were made
    on the landline in the petitioner’s residence; however,
    the telephone calls made to the jurors were placed on
    a Tracfone. The duration of the outgoing telephone calls
    do not amount to the time needed to attempt to tamper
    with the jurors. Furthermore, there is no evidence that
    it was the petitioner who was making the telephone
    calls. The only evidence of a telephone call made by
    the petitioner on October 4, 2007, is a four minute tele-
    phone call made to Green around 7:45 p.m. The peti-
    tioner pleaded guilty as a result of the strength of the
    state’s case, particularly, the existence of the tape
    recordings featuring the petitioner’s voice that the state
    intended to introduce into evidence, and the potential
    exposure that she faced if convicted. The court does
    not credit the petitioner’s testimony that she would
    have gone to trial in light of these circumstances. The
    court finds that there is not a reasonable probability
    that this newly submitted evidence would have changed
    the petitioner’s decision to plead guilty.’’
    The court clearly assessed whether the petitioner,
    but for counsel’s alleged ineffective performance,
    would not have pleaded guilty and would have pro-
    ceeded to trial. The court discredited the petitioner’s
    testimony that she would have gone to trial.8 The court
    analyzed the strength of the state’s case, to be sure, as
    the strength of the state’s case played a role in the
    petitioner’s decision to plead guilty and in the court’s
    determination of whether that decision would likely
    have changed if the ‘‘new’’ evidence had been developed
    at the time of the plea. The court concluded that it was
    not reasonably probable that the new evidence would
    have changed the petitioner’s mind to plead guilty. We
    conclude that the court used the proper standard in
    assessing prejudice.
    After a thorough review of the record and briefs, we
    conclude that the petitioner did not demonstrate that
    the issues she has raised in her petition for certification
    to appeal are debatable among jurists of reason, that a
    court could resolve those issues differently or that the
    questions raised deserve encouragement to proceed fur-
    ther.9 Accordingly, we conclude that the petitioner has
    failed to demonstrate that the court abused its discre-
    tion in denying her petition for certification to appeal.
    The appeal is dismissed.
    In this opinion the other judges concurred.
    1
    The petitioner also claimed ineffective assistance of habeas counsel.
    This issue was not raised before or addressed by the habeas court and,
    thus, we decline to afford it review. ‘‘It is fundamental that claims of error
    must be distinctly raised and decided in the [habeas] court before they are
    reviewed on appeal. As a result, Connecticut appellate courts will not address
    issues not decided by the [habeas] court.’’ (Internal quotation marks omit-
    ted.) Tompkins v. Freedom of Information Commission, 
    136 Conn. App. 496
    , 511, 
    46 A.3d 291
    (2012).
    2
    The unrelated prior charges, and the facts underlying them, for which
    the petitioner was ultimately convicted, are set forth in State v. Bozelko,
    
    119 Conn. App. 483
    , 
    987 A.2d 1102
    , cert. denied, 
    295 Conn. 916
    , 
    990 A.2d 867
    (2010), cert. denied,       U.S.     , 
    134 S. Ct. 1314
    , 
    188 L. Ed. 2d 331
    (2014).
    3
    See North Carolina v. Alford, 
    400 U.S. 25
    , 
    91 S. Ct. 160
    , 27 L. Ed 2d
    162 (1970).
    4
    At the time she filed the petition for a writ of habeas corpus, the petitioner
    was incarcerated. The respondent, the Commissioner of Correction, notes
    that the petitioner has completed her sentence. The appeal, however, is not
    moot because the petitioner was in custody at the time she filed the petition
    and there are collateral consequences to her conviction. See Carpenter v.
    Commissioner of Correction, 
    290 Conn. 107
    , 116 n.6, 
    961 A.2d 403
    (2009).
    5
    Following the filing of the appellate brief of the petitioner, who is self-
    represented on appeal, this court sua sponte ordered the petitioner to file a
    supplemental brief addressing the threshold question of whether the habeas
    court abused its discretion in denying certification to appeal. The petitioner
    filed a supplemental brief addressing the issue.
    6
    The petitioner presented the scenario that, during the relevant time
    frame, she pursued legal business regarding a resident of Kinsella Commons.
    Green was an employee of Kinsella Commons who took a message from
    the petitioner.
    7
    At oral argument before this court, the petitioner conceded that the
    telephone records did not show that calls from the cell phone to jurors
    necessarily overlapped with any call from the landline to Green.
    8
    The petitioner argues that her plea under the Alford doctrine was ren-
    dered involuntary by Popkin’s failure to investigate, leaving her with no
    choice but to plead guilty. The petitioner did not raise this claim on direct
    appeal, or before the habeas court where a determination could have been
    made if cause and prejudice existed so as to excuse procedural default. See
    Taylor v. Commissioner of Correction, 
    94 Conn. App. 772
    , 784–86, 
    895 A.2d 246
    (2006) (setting forth cause and prejudice standard in context of excusing
    procedural default), rev’d on other grounds, 
    284 Conn. 433
    , 
    936 A.2d 611
    (2007). This argument essentially is a restating of her ineffective assistance
    of counsel claim. The habeas court discredited her testimony that she would
    have gone to trial even if she had been aware at the time of the plea of all
    the evidence adduced at the habeas trial. Furthermore, the habeas court
    determined, in dicta, that the Alford plea was voluntary.
    9
    The petitioner also argues that it was improper for the same judge who
    presided over the habeas trial to rule on the motion for certification to
    appeal because ‘‘any judge who reviews her own work and certifies whether
    it can be appealed is not a fair arbitrator,’’ thus, violating the due process
    clause of the fourteenth amendment to the federal constitution. ‘‘Connecti-
    cut’s appellate courts [generally] do not review judicial disqualification
    claims raised for the first time on appeal because the parties, by failing to
    object, are deemed to have consented to the participation of the allegedly
    disqualified judge.’’ State v. Rizzo, 
    303 Conn. 71
    , 115, 
    31 A.3d 1094
    (2011),
    cert. denied,     U.S. , 
    133 S. Ct. 133
    , 
    184 L. Ed. 2d 64
    (2012). We will note,
    however, that ‘‘[t]he United States Supreme Court consistently has held that
    a judge’s failure to disqualify himself or herself will implicate the due process
    clause only when the right to disqualification arises from actual bias on the
    part of that judge.’’ (Emphasis omitted.) State v. Canales, 
    281 Conn. 572
    ,
    594, 
    916 A.2d 767
    (2007). The petitioner makes no claim of actual bias; thus,
    due process concerns are not implicated. See Francis v. Commissioner of
    Correction, 
    142 Conn. App. 530
    , 546, 
    66 A.3d 501
    (‘‘[I]t is well settled that
    a judge’s involvement in more than one stage of a criminal case does not
    per se create an appearance of partiality requiring disqualification. Indeed,
    as our Supreme Court has stated: ‘[T]he law presumes that duly elected or
    appointed judges, consistent with their oaths of office, will perform their
    duties impartially,’ and ‘a judge’s participation in the preliminary stages of
    a case, and the knowledge he or she thereby gains, will not ordinarily
    preclude his or her continued participation in the same case thereafter.’ ’’),
    cert. denied, 
    310 Conn. 921
    , 
    77 A.3d 141
    (2013), quoting State v. 
    Rizzo, supra
    ,
    119–20. We additionally note that General Statutes § 52-470 (g) specifically
    provides that the petition for certification is to be presented to the judge
    who tried the habeas corpus proceeding, unless that judge is unavailable.