The right to effective assistance of counsel is guaranteed by the sixth and fourteenth amendments to the United States constitution and article first, 8, of the Connecticut constitution. This right is equally applicable whether defense counsel is court-appointed or, as in the present case, privately-retained. McMann v. Richardson, 397 U.S. 759, 771 n. 14, 90 S.Ct. 1441, 25 L.Ed.2d 763 (1970); State v. Mason, 186 Conn. 574, 577, 442 A.2d 1335 (1982); State v. Barber, 173 Conn. 153, 155, 376 A.2d 1108 (1977). Our cases demonstrate that "[t]o succeed in his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, the petitioner must show that his attorney's performance was not' "reasonably competent or within the range of competence displayed by lawyers with ordinary training and skill in the criminal law"'; State v. Clark, 170 Conn. 273, 283, 365 A.2d 1167, cert. denied, 425 U.S. 962, 96 S.Ct. 1748, 48 L.Ed.2d 208 (1976), quoting Gentry v. Warden, 167 Conn. 639, 646, 356 A.2d 902 (1975); and further, that this' "lack of competency contributed to the conviction. "`State v. Clark, supra; see also State v. Gregory, 191 Conn. 142, 143-44, 463 A.2d 609 (1983); State v. Scielzo, 190 Conn. 191, 206, 460 A.2d 951 (1983); State v. Chairamonte, 189 Conn. 61, 63, 454 A.2d 272 (1983)."
Myers v. Manson, 192 Conn. 383, 393, 472 A.2d 759 (1984). First, he must prove that the assistance was not "`within the range of competence displayed by lawyers with ordinary training and skill in the criminal law'; State v. Clark, 170 Conn. 273, 283, 365 A.2d 1167, cert. denied, 425 U.S. 962, 96 S.Ct. 1748, 48 L.Ed.2d 208 (1976), quoting Gentry v. Warden, 167 Conn. 639, 646, 356 A.2d 902 (1975) . . . ." Myers v. Manson, supra, 393. Second, there must exist" `such an interrelationship between the ineffective assistance of counsel and the guilty plea that it can be said that the plea was not voluntary and intelligent because of the ineffective assistance.
Although these claims were not properly preserved at trial, because they implicate the defendant's sixth amendment right to effective assistance of counsel we review them under State v. Evans, 165 Conn. 61, 327 A.2d 576 (1973). To succeed in his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, the defendant must show that his attorney's performance was not "reasonably competent or within the range of competence displayed by lawyers with ordinary training and skill in the criminal law"; State v. Clark, 170 Conn. 273, 283, 365 A.2d 1167, cert. denied, 425 U.S. 962, 96 S.Ct. 1748, 48 L.Ed.2d 208 (1976), quoting Gentry v. Warden, 167 Conn. 639, 646, 356 A.2d 902 (1975); and further, that this"'lack of competency contributed to the conviction.'" State v. Clark, supra; see also State v. Gregory, 191 Conn. 142 143-44, 463 A.2d 609 (1983); State v. Scielzo, 190 Conn. 191, 206, 460 A.2d 951 (1983); State v. Chairamonte, 189 Conn. 61, 63, 454 A.2d 272 (1983).
We agree with the conclusions of the trial court. To succeed in his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, the petitioner must show that his attorney's performance was not "`reasonably competent or within the range of competence displayed by lawyers with ordinary training and skill in the criminal law'"; State v. Clark, 170 Conn. 273, 283, 365 A.2d 1167, cert. denied, 425 U.S. 962, 96 S.Ct. 1748, 48 L.Ed.2d 208 (1976), quoting Gentry v. Warden, 167 Conn. 639, 646, 356 A.2d 902 (1975); and further, that this "`lack of competency contributed to the conviction.'" State v. Clark, supra; see also State v. Gregory, 191 Conn. 142, 143-44, 463 A.2d 609 (1983); State v. Scielzo, 190 Conn. 191, 206, 460 A.2d 951 (1983); State v. Chairamonte, 189 Conn. 61, 63, 454 A.2d 272 (1983). If the evidence upon which the petitioner bases his claim of ineffective assistance was properly admissible, he cannot sustain even the first part of this dual burden since the failure to object to admissible evidence cannot be considered conduct falling below the level of reasonably competent representation.
The standard used to review claims of ineffective assistance of counsel is whether' "defense counsel's performance [was] reasonably competent or within the range of competence displayed by lawyers with ordinary training and skill in the criminal law."' State v. Clark, 170 Conn. 273, 283, 365 A.2d 1167, cert. denied, 425 U.S. 962, 96 S.Ct. 1748, 48 L.Ed.2d 208 (1976), quoting Gentry v. Warden, 167 Conn. 639, 646, 356 A.2d 902 (1975); see State v. Mason, supra, 577-78; Palmer v. Adams, 162 Conn. 316, 320-25, 294 A.2d 297 (1972). The defendant, however, has the burden '"to show that his counsel's conduct fell below that standard and that the lack of competency contributed to the conviction."
Hence our focus is on the plaintiff's second and third allegations. In order to prevail on these claims the plaintiff must prove two things: that his counsel's assistance was ineffective in that it was not "within the range of competence displayed by lawyers with ordinary training and skill in the criminal law"; State v. Clark, 170 Conn. 273, 283, 365 A.2d 1167, cert. denied, 425 U.S. 962, 96 S.Ct. 1748, 48 L.Ed.2d 208 (1976), quoting Gentry v. Warden, 167 Conn. 639, 646, 356 A.2d 902 (1975); and that "there was such an interrelationship between the ineffective assistance of counsel and the guilty plea that it can be said that the plea was not voluntary and intelligent because of the ineffective assistance. Dukes v. Warden, 161 Conn. 337, 344, 288 A.2d 58 (1971), aff'd, 406 U.S. 250, 92 S.Ct. 1551, 32 L.Ed.2d 45, reh. denied, 407 U.S. 934, 92 S.Ct. 2464, 32 L.Ed.2d 817 (1972).
The standard used to review claims of ineffective assistance of counsel is whether "`defense counsel's performance [was] reasonably competent or within the range of competence displayed by lawyers with ordinary training and skill in the criminal law.'" State v. Clark, 170 Conn. 273, 283, 365 A.2d 1167, cert. denied, 425 U.S. 962, 96 S.Ct. 1748, 48 L.Ed.2d 208 (1976), quoting Gentry v. Warden, 167 Conn. 639, 646, 356 A.2d 902 (1975); see State v. Mason, supra, 577-78; Palmer v. Adams, 162 Conn. 316, 320-25, 294 A.2d 297 (1972). The defendant, however, has the burden "`to show that his counsel's conduct fell below that standard and that the lack of competency contributed to the conviction.'"
The standard employed by this court to assess the effectiveness of counsel is whether the defense counsel's performance was "`reasonably competent or within the range of competence displayed by lawyers with ordinary training and skill in the criminal law.'" State v. Clark, 170 Conn. 273, 283, 365 A.2d 1167, cert. denied, 425 U.S. 962, 96 S.Ct. 1748, 48 L.Ed.2d 208 (1976); see State v. Just, 185 Conn. 339, 370, 441 A.2d 98 (1981); Siemon v. Stoughton, 184 Conn. 547, 554, 440 A.2d 210 (1981); State v. Barber, 173 Conn. 153, 155-56, 376 A.2d 1108 (1977); State v. McClain, 171 Conn. 293, 301, 370 A.2d 928 (1976); Gentry v. Warden, 167 Conn. 639, 645-46, 356 A.2d 902 (1975). "`The defendant's burden is to show that his counsel's conduct fell below that standard and that the lack of competency contributed to the conviction.'"
Hindsight is irrelevant. Gentry v. Warden, 167 Conn. 639, 647, 356 A.2d 902 (1975). "`[T]he issue, therefore, is not what counsel should have done to constitute the proper representation of the defendant considering the case in retrospect, but rather, whether in the circumstances, as viewed at the time, the defendant received effective assistance of counsel.'"
These unsupported allegations fall far short of demonstrating that defense counsel's performance was not "reasonably competent or within the range of competence displayed by lawyers with ordinary training and skill in the criminal law." State v. Clark, 170 Conn. 273, 283, 365 A.2d 1167, cert. denied, 425 U.S. 962, 96 S.Ct. 1748, 48 L.Ed.2d 208 (1976), quoting Gentry v. Warden, 167 Conn. 639, 646, 356 A.2d 902 (1975); State v. Barber, 173 Conn. 153, 155, 376 A.2d 1108 (1977); State v. McClain, 171 Conn. 293, 301, 370 A.2d 928 (1976). These and similar allegations have, moreover, been made and found wanting on three previous occasions; they were presented in habeas corpus petitions to the Superior Court, Parskey, J., and Cramer, J., and to the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, Newman, J.