He did not file a direct appeal but filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in state court on the grounds that he had been afforded ineffective assistance of counsel and had been misinformed about the possibility of parole. The petition was denied and the denial was affirmed by the Connecticut Appellate Court.Braham v. Warden, 72 Conn. App. 1, 804 A.2d 951 (2002), cert. denied, 262 Conn. 906, 801 A.2d 271 (2002). Braham initiated this action by petition for writ of habeas corpus signed November 14, 2002.

In addition, the petitioner voluntarily waived his right to be represented by the Office of Public Defender and proceeded to represent himself.Braham v. Warden, Docket No. CV98-0585938 filed December 11, 1998, dismissed April 11, 2001, Rittenband, J.T.R. Affirmed, Braham v. Commissioner, 72 Conn.App. 1, cert. denied, 262 Conn. 906 (2002). North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25 (1970).

General Statutes § 53a-35b." Braham v. Commissioner of Correction , 72 Conn. App. 1, 9 n.6, 804 A.2d 951, cert. denied, 262 Conn. 906, 810 A.2d 271 (2002). "[I]t is rare that a sentence falling within a legislatively prescribed term of years will be deemed grossly disproportionate.

In evaluating the tactical decision by Attorney Klein, an attorney with over 20 years experience in handling criminal cases, not to investigate or involve the drug dealers who terrorized Quintina Texidor, in the defense of petitioner the court must be highly deferential. It must be concluded that the decision falls within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance which constitutes adequate representation. Braham v. Commissioner of Correction, 72 Conn. App. 1, 6 (2002). It cannot be found that in failing to investigate Patrick and Dred, Attorney Klein's conduct fell below the standard of competence required in such matters.Mercer v. Commissioner of Corrections, supra, 51 Conn. App. 640-41.

Certainly, the severe penal consequences that can attend an Alford plea indicate that there is no reason to distinguish convictions so obtained from those secured by standard guilty pleas or even jury verdicts. See, e.g., Annunziata v. Comm'r of Corr., 74 Conn.App. 9, 810 A.2d 287, 288 (Conn.App.Ct. 2002) (per curiam) (noting that petitioner who entered Alford plea to murder charge was sentenced to a forty-year prison term); Braham v. Comm'r of Corr., 72 Conn.App. 1, 804 A.2d 951, 954 (2002) (noting thirty-two year sentence after Alford plea to murder). Further, sentences under Alford pleas are no less final judgments than those imposed under standard pleas or jury verdicts.

Decided October 29, 2002 The petitioner Michael Braham's petition for certification for appeal from the Appellate Court, 72 Conn. App. 1 (AC 21993), is denied. Judith M. Wildfeuer, deputy assistant public defender, and Temmy Ann Pieszak, chief of habeas corpus services, in support of the petition.

'' In support thereof, the court cited the following proposition set forth in Braham v. Commissioner of Correction, 72 Conn.App. 1, 13, 804 A.2d 951, cert. denied, 262 Conn. 906, 810 A.2d 271 (2002): ''A habeas court need not . . . separately address due process claims subsumed by claims of ineffective assistance of counsel.

(Internal quotation marks omitted.) Commissioner of Correction v. Rodriquez , 222 Conn. 469, 476, 610 A.2d 631 (1992) ; see also Braham v. Commissioner of Correction , 72 Conn.App. 1, 12–13, 804 A.2d 951, cert. denied, 262 Conn. 906, 810 A.2d 271 (2002) ; Rivera v. Commissioner of Correction , 61 Conn.App. 825, 833–34, 767 A.2d 790, cert. denied, 256 Conn. 903, 772 A.2d 596 (2001) ; see generally Iovieno v. Commissioner of Correction , 67 Conn.App. 126, 129, 786 A.2d 1113 (2001), cert. denied, 259 Conn. 916, 792 A.2d 851 (2002). Therefore, for these reasons, we conclude that the habeas court properly rejected the due process claim raised by the petitioner.

” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Braham v. Commissioner of Correction, 72 Conn.App. 1, 2–4, 804 A.2d 951, cert. denied, 262 Conn. 906, 810 A.2d 271 (2002). See North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 91 S.Ct. 160, 27 L.Ed.2d 162 (1970).

" (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Braham v. Commissioner of Correction, 72 Conn. App. 1, 5-6, 804 A.2d 951, cert. denied, 262 Conn. 906, 810 A.2d 271 (2002). At the habeas trial, prior counsel was asked about whether they considered the canvass as an appellate issue.