State v. Bangulescu

832 A.2d 1187, 80 Conn. App. 26, 2003 Conn. App. LEXIS 445
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedOctober 21, 2003
DocketAC 21881
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 832 A.2d 1187 (State v. Bangulescu) 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. Bangulescu, 832 A.2d 1187, 80 Conn. App. 26, 2003 Conn. App. LEXIS 445 (Colo. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

Opinion

BISHOP, J.

The defendant, Florian Bangulescu, appeals from the judgments1 of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of issuing a bad check in violation of General Statutes § 53a-128 (a) (1), forgery in the second degree by completion of a written instrument that he knew to be forged in violation of General Statutes § 53a-139 (a) (1), two counts of forgery in the second degree by possession of a written instrument that he knew to be forged in violation of General Statutes § 53a-139 (a) (1), credit card theft in violation of General Statutes § 53a-128c (b) and possession of burglar’s tools in violation of General Statutes § 53a-106. On appeal, the defendant advances the following claims: (1) the charges brought against him should have been dismissed because the warrant authorizing his arrest was defective;2 (2) the trial court violated his federal and state due process rights at his arraignment by failing to advise [29]*29him of his constitutional rights as well as the charges against him; (3) the court violated his federal and state constitutional rights to counsel when it allowed him to waive counsel without conducting a proper canvass; and (4) the court violated his federal and state constitutional rights to a fair trial before an impartial jury by failing to conduct a proper investigation into alleged juror misconduct. We affirm the judgments of the trial court.

The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. In the winter of 2000, the Darien police department began investigating the recurring fraudulent activities of the defendant and another person involving Summit Bank. Pursuant to the investigation, a warrant was issued for the defendant’s arrest on February 2, 2000. Subsequently, the Darien police received a tip from the New York City police department, which had been investigating a similar case involving the defendant, that the defendant might have been a patron of Mailboxes, Etc., in Norwalk. Thereafter, on the morning of March 29, 2000, Ray Osborne, a detective with the Darien police department, confirmed that the defendant frequented the store.

Osborne returned to the store later that afternoon and, while sitting in a police vehicle in the parking lot, observed the defendant enter the store. As the defendant left the store, he was arrested by Osborne pursuant to the warrant issued on February 2, 2000. At that juncture, Osborne observed the defendant remove two credit cards from his pocket and throw them into a nearby trash can. Retrieving the cards, Osborne noted that one was a Telebank debit card and the other a Capitol One Visa card. Neither was in the defendant’s name. Additionally, the police searched the defendant’s automobile incidental to his arrest. The search yielded various tools used in picking locks.

[30]*30On June 14, 2000, the defendant pleaded not guilty and elected a jury trial. Before trial, the defendant was represented by two successive public defenders. The defendant’s first attorney was appointed on March 30, 2000, and withdrew on June 14, 2000. Thereafter, a second public defender, David J. Marantz, was appointed to represent the defendant, but pursuant to the defendant’s motion, the court dismissed Marantz on November 6, 2000. At the same time, the court granted the defendant’s motion to represent himself with the aid of Marantz as standby counsel. Consequently, the defendant represented himself throughout the entire trial. At trial, the defendant neither testified nor offered any witnesses. He was convicted as charged. This appeal followed. Additional facts will be provided as necessary.

I

The defendant’s first claim is that the warrant authorizing his arrest was defective, as it contained a false material factual statement, and, therefore, his arrest was illegal.

The following additional facts are necessary to our resolution of the defendant’s first claim. The defendant was arrested by Osborne pursuant to an arrest warrant signed on February 2, 2000, by Kavenewsky, J. The warrant was supported by a three page affidavit from Osborne that included a statement that he had obtained a photograph of the defendant and had shown it to John T. Mickle, the manager of Summit Bank. The affidavit further stated that Mickle had confirmed that the person in the photograph was the defendant. At trial, on February 1, 2001, on cross-examination by the defendant, Mickle testified that he had never met the defendant, nor had any law enforcement officer shown him a photograph of the defendant.

[31]*31On July 31, 2000, the defendant filed a motion to dismiss the charges for, inter alia, lack of probable cause to issue the arrest warrant. The defendant filed another motion to dismiss, dated January 29, 2001, on the ground that he had been arrested without an arrest warrant. In neither instance did the defendant include with his motion a statement of the supporting factual and legal basis. On appeal, however, the defendant claims that his arrest was illegal because there was no arrest warrant and because the charges do not appear in the warrant application, and, he now raises as an additional ground for dismissal that the affidavit in support of his arrest contained materially false allegations. The trial court denied both motions without written memoranda. Subsequently, on May 6, 2002, the court issued an articulation regarding the July 31, 2000 motion.

As to the motion to dismiss for lack of probable cause, the court observed that the defendant had failed to provide either a factual or legal basis in support of the motion, as required by Practice Book § 41-6. Additionally, as noted by the court in its articulation of its denial of the motion, because the defendant was arrested pursuant to an arrest warrant, he was not entitled to file a motion to dismiss claiming insufficiency of the evidence pursuant to Practice Book § 41-8 (5). See Practice Book § 41-9.

The defendant’s claim that the arrest warrant was incomplete and therefore a nullity is devoid of merit. The defendant asserts that the arrest warrant was invalid because it did not state the charges against him. The relevant rule of practice, Practice Book § 36-3, requires in relevant part that the warrant “state the offense charged . . . .’’In this case, the information that accompanied the warrant clearly stated the charges against the defendant. Additionally, as the record discloses, the warrant and the information comprise two [32]*32sides of the same piece of paper. Our review of the warrant and the information lead us to the conclusion that the charging documents were complete and proper. We find no basis for determining that the defendant was unlawfully arrested.3

The defendant seeks review4 of his claim that the affidavit in support of his arrest warrant contained a false allegation and, therefore, that the motion to dismiss should have been granted. See State v. Golding, 213 Conn. 233, 239-40, 567 A.2d 823 (1989). He claims that Golding review is warranted because the claim is of constitutional magnitude.

In Golding, our Supreme Court held that “a defendant can prevail on a claim of constitutional error not preserved at trial only if all

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
832 A.2d 1187, 80 Conn. App. 26, 2003 Conn. App. LEXIS 445, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bangulescu-connappct-2003.