State v. Anthony

588 A.2d 214, 24 Conn. App. 195, 1991 Conn. App. LEXIS 64, 1991 WL 27487
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedFebruary 22, 1991
Docket8969
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 588 A.2d 214 (State v. Anthony) 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. Anthony, 588 A.2d 214, 24 Conn. App. 195, 1991 Conn. App. LEXIS 64, 1991 WL 27487 (Colo. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

Dupont, C. J.

The defendant was found guilty, after a court trial, of one count of creating a public disturbance in violation of General Statutes § 53a-181a and one count of simple trespass in violation of General Statutes § 53a-110a. Both statutory violations are infractions. The defendant was originally charged with criminal trespass in violation of General Statutes § 53a-107 and interfering with a police officer in violation of General Statutes § 53a-167a (a), both of which are misdemeanors.

The defendant raises five claims on appeal.1 The defendant contends that the court, Norko, J., improp[197]*197erly found probable cause for his warrantless arrest. He further asserts that the court, Smith, J., (1) lacked personal and subject matter jurisdiction, (2) denied the defendant his right to discovery, (3) abused its discretion in refusing to consider a brief on the defenses of necessity and justification, and (4) abused its discretion throughout the course of the trial so that the defendant was deprived of his right to a fair trial.

The trial court could have found reasonably certain facts. On June 17, 1989, the defendant was involved in a demonstration that occurred in a private shopping center parking lot in West Hartford. The demonstration’s purpose was to prevent the performance of abortions. During the course of the protest, Officer Steven Looby saw the defendant break through a police barricade and rush toward a bus, which was about to leave the parking lot to transport demonstrators who had been arrested to police headquarters. The defendant then crawled underneath the bus to prevent it from moving and had to be pulled out from under it by Looby. Two days later, after the defendant’s arrest, he was arraigned along with approximately 260 other demonstrators who had also been arrested. The court found probable cause for criminal trespass and interfering with a police officer, but the record is unclear as to whether the defendant pleaded to these criminal charges. Approximately one week later, the defendant posted the bond set by the court and was released from custody.

About a month before the trial was to begin, the state filed a substitute information reducing the charges against the defendant to infractions. The defendant claimed that the substituted charges of simple trespass [198]*198and creating a public disturbance were ridiculous and refused to enter a plea. The court entered not guilty pleas for the defendant. The case proceeded to trial, and the court found the defendant guilty of both infractions.

I

The defendant first argues that his convictions should be reversed because the court improperly found probable cause. The defendant claims that he was deprived of his right to a separate and independent judicial determination of probable cause pursuant to the constitution of Connecticut, article first, § 9, and Practice Book § 6502 because he was arraigned with approximately 260 other people. He further claims that he was prejudiced by the court’s finding of probable cause because he could not credit the time that he spent in jail before he made the bail against his punishment, the fines that were imposed for the infraction violations. The state contends that the court properly found probable cause for the defendant’s arrest and that the defendant’s argument concerning his inability to credit time served against the fine imposed is moot because no court can, after the serving of jail time, provide any practical relief.

The defendant is correct in asserting that he was entitled to an independent, judicial determination of [199]*199probable cause in a nonadversary proceeding pursuant to Practice Book § 650 because he was arrested without a warrant and was not released from custody at the time of the arraignment. Under the precepts of State v. Fleming, 198 Conn. 255, 263, 502 A.2d 886, cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1143, 106 S. Ct. 1797, 90 L. Ed. 2d 342 (1986), however, even if the defendant did not receive the rights enumerated in Practice Book § 650 and article first, § 9, of the Connecticut constitution, the judgment of the trial court must stand.

“Where the fairness of a subsequent prosecution has not been impaired by an illegal arrest, neither the federal nor the Connecticut constitution requires dismissal of the charges or a voiding of the resulting conviction.” State v. Fleming, supra. The fairness of a subsequent prosecution is impaired where evidence, obtained as a direct consequence of an illegal arrest, is admitted against the defendant at trial. State v. Ostroski, 201 Conn. 534, 555, 518 A.2d 915 (1986); State v. Ryerson, 201 Conn. 333, 338, 514 A.2d 337 (1986).

Here, the defendant does not claim that his trial was tainted by evidence obtained as a direct consequence of his allegedly illegal arrest and detention. Furthermore, no illegally obtained evidence was introduced at trial. The record reveals that the defendant received a fair trial.

In an attempt to circumvent Fleming and its progeny, the defendant argues that State v. Mitchell, 200 Conn. 323, 512 A.2d 140 (1986), controls. Mitchell, however, is distinguishable. Unlike the defendant here, the defendant in Mitchell was entitled to an adversarial probable cause hearing as mandated by the Connecticut constitution.3 The Mitchell court held that an adver[200]*200sarial probable cause hearing is a critical stage of the prosecution of those charged with crimes punishable by death or life imprisonment, and that under our state constitution, such a hearing is a jurisdictional prerequisite to continuing a prosecution. State v. Mitchell, supra, 332. As a result, the court concluded, “an invalid finding of probable cause at such a hearing undermines the court’s power to hear the case at trial.” Id. The holding in Mitchell, therefore, is that there can be appellate review of a probable cause finding in crimes punishable by death or life imprisonment because of the unique nature of the express constitutional guarantee in such cases.

In the present case, the defendant was not entitled to an adversarial probable cause hearing because he was not charged with a crime punishable by death or life imprisonment. Even if the trial court improperly found that probable cause existed, the subsequent judgments of conviction of the defendant would not be void. State v. Fleming, supra.

The defendant next claims that he was prejudiced because he spent time in jail that he was unable to credit against the fines eventually imposed for punishment. We agree with the state that this claim is moot because no practical relief can be afforded to the defendant. Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority v. Freedom of Information Commission, 19 Conn. 489, 493-94, 562 A.2d 1145 (1989).

II

The defendant next contends that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the infractions because the infraction prosecution here was initiated by an [201]

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Bluebook (online)
588 A.2d 214, 24 Conn. App. 195, 1991 Conn. App. LEXIS 64, 1991 WL 27487, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-anthony-connappct-1991.