Hinds v. Comm’r of Corr.
Annotate this CasePetitioner was convicted of sexual assault in the first degree and kidnapping in the first degree. Thereafter, in State v. Salamon and Luurtsema v. Comm’r of Corr. (Luurtsema II), the Supreme Court overruled its overly broad interpretation of its kidnapping statutes and determined the holding in Salamon applied retroactively to collateral attacks on final judgments. Petitioner subsequently filed a second petition for a writ of habeas corpus arguing that there was constitutional error in the kidnapping instruction pursuant to Salamon and Luurtsema II. The habeas court granted a new trial on the kidnapping charge and rejected the Commissioner of Correction’s assertion that Petitioner’s failure to challenge the Court’s long-standing interpretation of kidnapping in his criminal proceedings led to his procedural default. The Appellate Court affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) Luurtsema II’s retroactivity decision compels the conclusion that challenges to kidnapping instructions in criminal proceedings rendered final before Salamon are not subject to the procedural default rule; and (2) Petitioner was entitled to a new trial on the kidnapping charge because the omission of a Salamon instruction was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
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