Opinion
CR110264401T
10-26-2016
State of Connecticut v. Christopher Godreau
UNPUBLISHED OPINION
ORDER RE DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR JAIL CREDIT
Stanley T. Fuger, Jr., Senior Judge.
On April 26, 2012, this court sentenced the defendant to a total effective sentence of eight years of incarceration, followed by five years of special parole. The defendant filed a motion for jail credit on October 3, 2016, about four and one-half years after he was sentenced. The motion does not cite to any authority whatsoever as a basis for the motion and the requested jail credit.
A sentencing court's jurisdiction over a criminal matter is severely restricted post-sentencing. " It is axiomatic that, in a criminal case, the jurisdiction of the sentencing court terminates once a defendant's sentence has begun and a court may no longer take any action affecting a sentence unless it expressly has been authorized to act. Cobham v. Commissioner of Correction, 258 Conn. 30, 37, 779 A.2d 80 (2001)." State v. Taylor, 91 Conn.App. 788, 793, 882 A.2d 682 (en banc), cert. denied, 276 Conn. 928, 889 A.2d 819 (2005). " In the absence of statutory or constitutional provisions, the limits of [the trial court's] jurisdiction are delineated by the common law . . . Although the [trial] court loses jurisdiction over the case when [a] defendant is committed to the custody of the commissioner of correction and begins serving [his] sentence . . . [Practice Book] § 43-22 embodies a common-law exception that permits the trial court to correct an illegal sentence or other illegal disposition . . . Thus, if the defendant cannot demonstrate that his motion to correct falls within the purview of § 43-22, the court lacks jurisdiction to entertain it." . . . (Citation omitted.) State v. Saunders, 132 Conn.App. 268, 271-72, 50 A.3d 321 (2011), cert. denied, 303 Conn. 924, 34 A.3d 394 (2012). Another exception is a motion to modify a sentence pursuant to General Statutes § 53a-39. The instant motion does not fit either of these exceptions.
Therefore, the defendant's motion for jail credit is dismissed because this court lacks jurisdiction to entertain such motion. State v. Saunders, supra, 132 Conn.App. 272; State v. Taylor, supra, 91 Conn.App. 795.
It is so ordered.