State v. Miranda, 317 Conn. 741

120 A.3d 490 (2015) · Supreme Court of Connecticut · February 17, 2015 · No. SC 19194

Summary

The Connecticut Supreme Court dismissed the defendant's appeal as improvidently granted. The appeal concerned whether consecutive sentences for second-degree strangulation and first-degree unlawful restraint violated General Statutes § 53a-64bb because the convictions allegedly arose from the same incident.

Court
Supreme Court of Connecticut
Writing for the Court
Rogers, C. J.; Palmer, J.; Zarella, J.; Eveleigh, J.; McDonald, J.; Espinosa, J.; Robinson, J.
Jurisdiction
Connecticut
Decision date
February 17, 2015
Docket number
SC 19194
Procedural posture
The defendant appealed from the denial of his motion to correct an illegal sentence. The Appellate Court affirmed, and the Supreme Court granted certification limited to whether the sentence was illegal under General Statutes § 53a-64bb, then dismissed the appeal as improvidently granted.
Precedential value
Published Connecticut Supreme Court opinion; the disposition is binding, but the court did not decide the certified statutory issue on the merits.
Parties
Nuno Miranda v. State of Connecticut
Disposition
dismissed

Topics

sentencingcriminal procedureappellate procedurestatutory interpretation

Practice areas

Criminal procedureSentencingAppellate procedureStatutory interpretation

Questions Presented

  1. Whether the Appellate Court properly determined that the defendant's sentence was not illegal under General Statutes § 53a-64bb.

Holdings

  1. The appeal was dismissed because certification to appeal had been improvidently granted.

Key quotations

we have determined that the appeal in this case should be dismissed on the ground that certification was improvidently granted.

Factual background

The defendant pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree strangulation and one count of first-degree unlawful restraint. The trial court imposed consecutive terms resulting in an effective sentence of eight years of incarceration, suspended after four years, followed by three years of probation. The defendant claimed that both convictions arose from the same incident and therefore could not lawfully coexist under the strangulation statute.

Procedural history

Miranda pleaded guilty to second-degree strangulation and first-degree unlawful restraint and received consecutive sentences. He moved to correct an illegal sentence under Practice Book § 43-22, arguing that the convictions arose from the same incident and violated § 53a-64bb (b). The trial court denied the motion, the Appellate Court affirmed, and the Supreme Court dismissed the certified appeal because certification had been improvidently granted.

Court Document

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