State v. Adams

56 A.3d 747, 139 Conn. App. 540, 2012 Conn. App. LEXIS 587
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedDecember 11, 2012
DocketAC 34066
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 56 A.3d 747 (State v. Adams) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Connecticut Appellate Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Adams, 56 A.3d 747, 139 Conn. App. 540, 2012 Conn. App. LEXIS 587 (Colo. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

Opinion

ESPINOSA, J.

The defendant, Dwayne Andre Adams, appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered following a jury trial, of two counts of sexual assault in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-70 (a) (2) and three counts of risk of injury to a child in violation of General Statutes § 53-21 (a) (2).1 The [543]*543defendant claims that (1) the trial court improperly admitted certain constancy of accusation testimony, (2) the court improperly admitted certain expert testimony that indirectly bolstered the victim’s2 credibility, (3) prosecutorial impropriety deprived him of a fair trial, (4) the evidence did not support the jury’s finding of guilt as to any of the charges of which he was convicted and (5) the court improperly denied his motion for a new trial. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The jury reasonably could have found that, in late 2008, the eight year old victim and her parents lived next door to the defendant, his wife and their three children in Hartford. It was not uncommon for the victim to spend the night at the defendant’s residence. On these occasions, the victim would sleep alone in the children’s bedroom at the defendant’s residence while the defendant and his family slept in the living room. Sometime during the late evening hours of December 26, 2008, and the early morning horns of December 27, 2008, the defendant entered the bedroom where the victim was asleep. The defendant woke the victim, removed her pajama pants and underwear and engaged in penile-vaginal intercourse with her. Also, the defendant forced the victim to perform fellatio on him. The victim tried, unsuccessfully, to prevent the assault. Following the assault, the defendant instructed the victim to clean herself and threatened her not to tell anyone about the incident.

The following day, the victim told her mother about the incident. The victim’s mother reported the incident to the police, and the victim was examined and treated at the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. Police [544]*544collected physical evidence related to the victim’s complaint. The underwear worn by the victim on the night of the incident was stained with seminal fluid; the results of subsequent DNA testing of this evidence revealed that the defendant likely was the contributor of this DNA. In the ensuing days, the victim was evaluated and treated at the Children’s Advocacy Center at Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center. Additional facts will be set forth as necessary.

I

First, the defendant claims that the court improperly permitted the state to introduce constancy of accusation testimony from the victim’s mother; Tanya Ortiz, a Hartford police officer; Audrey Courtney, an advanced practice registered nurse who conducted a physical examination of the victim at the Children’s Advocacy Center; and Lisa Murphy-Cipolla, a clinical child interview supervisor who conducted a forensic interview of the victim at the Children’s Advocacy Center. We do not reach the merits of this unpreserved claim.

The defendant did not preserve any aspect of this claim at trial. On appeal, the defendant argues that the claim is reviewable (1) because he has a constitutionally protected right to review of any and all claims on appeal; (2) under the doctrine set forth in State v. Golding, 213 Conn. 233, 239-40, 567 A.2d 823 (1989); (3) under the doctrine set forth in State v. Evans, 165 Conn. 61, 70, 327 A.2d 576 (1973); (4) under the plain error doctrine codified in Practice Book § 60-5; and (5) under the exercise of this court’s inherent supervisory authority over the administration of justice. See, e.g., State v. Mukhtaar, 253 Conn. 280, 290 n.11, 750 A.2d 1059 (2000).

We readily reject the defendant’s initial, novel contention that he has a right to review of any claim raised on appeal, regardless of its nature or whether it was raised before the trial court. This assertion conflicts [545]*545with ample and well settled appellate precedent; see, e.g., State v. Golding, supra, 213 Conn. 239-40; that we are not at liberty to overrule.3 See, e.g., State v. Smith, 107 Conn. App. 666, 684-85, 946 A.2d 319 (It is axiomatic that an appellate court is “bound by Supreme Court precedent and [is] unable to modify it ... . [W]e are not at liberty to overrule or discard the decisions of our Supreme Court but are bound by them. . . . [I]t is not within our province to reevaluate or replace those decisions.” [Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.]), cert. denied, 288 Conn. 902, 952 A.2d 811 (2008).

The defendant’s invocation of Golding is unsuccessful because, as he acknowledged in argument before this court, our Supreme Court unambiguously has held that a claim that a court improperly admitted constancy of accusation testimony is not of constitutional magnitude. See State v. Samuels, 273 Conn. 541, 558, 871 A.2d 1005 (2005); State v. Troupe, 237 Conn. 284, 290-93, 677 A.2d 917 (1996). Unless “[a] claim is of constitutional magnitude alleging the violation of a fundamental right,” it is not reviewable under Golding. State v. Golding, supra, 213 Conn. 239. For the reasons set forth previously, we decline the defendant’s express invitation to overrule those decisions of our Supreme Court.

The defendant’s recourse to State v. Evans, supra, 165 Conn. 70, likewise is of no avail. It was observed in Golding, and reiterated in numerous appellate decisions, that the doctrine set forth in Golding was meant to “facilitate a less burdensome, more uniform application of the . . . Evans standard in future cases . . . .” State v. Golding, supra, 213 Conn. 239. Thus, there is no basis in our case law for the proposition that, following [546]*546Golding, Evans provides an independent or distinct avenue for review for unpreserved claims of error, let alone claims that are not of constitutional magnitude. Thus, we do not engage in review pursuant to Evans.

The plain error doctrine is invoked sparingly and is reserved for those situations in which a reviewing court concludes that the failure to grant relief with regard to an unpreserved claim of error would result in a manifest injustice. See, e.g., State v. Roger B., 297 Conn. 607, 618, 999 A.2d 752 (2010). Having carefully reviewed the defendant’s argument, we conclude that the defendant has not demonstrated that the unpreserved evidentiary error of which he complains rises to the level of plain error.

Finally, the defendant summarily states that this court should grant relief in the exercise of its supervisory powers. We note that this request is devoid of any citation to authority or analysis, yet we readily conclude that the defendant’s claim does not warrant such an extraordinary level of relief.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
56 A.3d 747, 139 Conn. App. 540, 2012 Conn. App. LEXIS 587, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-adams-connappct-2012.