In State v. Shashaty, 251 Conn. 768, 781-83, 742 A.2d 786 (1999), cert. denied, 529 U.S. 1094, 120 S. Ct. 1734, 146 L. Ed. 2d 653 (2000), the defendant claimed that the department of correction violated his state and federal constitutional rights to a fair trial because alleged evidence consisting of several envelopes and a letter vanished while in the custody of the state or the department. The state contested the existence of the alleged evidence, and the defendant's claim ultimately failed. The court concluded that there was no factual basis for the claim other than the defendant's own statement, which was insufficient to sustain his constitutional challenge. Id., 782-83.