State v. Barnes

610 A.2d 689, 27 Conn. App. 713, 1992 Conn. App. LEXIS 225
Connecticut Appellate Court·Decided June 9, 1992·No. 10379·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

Norcott, J.

The defendant appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of two counts of sale of narcotics by a person who is not drug-dependent in violation of General Statutes § 2 la-278 (b). He claims that the trial court improperly (1) excluded the results of his polygraph examination, (2) admitted two state’s exhibits that were insufficiently identified at trial, (3) denied his motion to strike the testimony of undercover police detective John Merullo, and (4) failed to find, pursuant to General Statutes § 21a-278 (b) (2), that his mental capacity was significantly impaired at the time of the crimes. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The jury could reasonably have found the following facts. In October, 1989, Detectives Mark Pompano and John Merullo were assigned to the northwest office of the statewide narcotics task force in the capacity of undercover officers. Their assignment was to attempt to buy narcotics in a neighborhood with a high incidence of drug related activities.

During the late afternoon of October 4, 1989, Pompano and Merullo drove through the Beaver and Elm Streets area of Danbury, where they spotted the defendant, whom Merullo had known for about twenty [715] years. Merullo gave Pompano $100 for the purpose of buying drugs while operating undercover. While Merullo parked their vehicle and watched from a surveillance location, Pompano approached some individuals on a sidewalk and engaged them in conversation. Shortly thereafter, the defendant joined the group. The group members referred to him as “Flat Top.” Merullo knew that Flat Top was a nickname of the defendant. When the group broke apart, the defendant asked Pompano if he wanted to buy some cocaine. Pompano said he wanted “a quarter gram.” The defendant then retrieved a white, pyramid-type paper fold from his jacket pocket, and Pompano handed him $20 of the money Merullo had provided. Merullo watched the entire transaction from his surveillance post.

Thereafter, the detectives met at a prearranged location and conducted a field test on the contents of the packet. The test showed the substance in the packet to be cocaine. The packet was thereafter taken to the department of health services toxicology laboratory for further tests. At trial, chief state toxicologist Joel Mil-zoff testified that the contents of the packet tested positive for cocaine.

During a second undercover operation on October 25, 1989, Merullo returned to the same area in Danbury and saw the defendant standing next to a garage. Shortly thereafter, Pompano arrived and engaged in a transaction with the defendant, resulting in the sale to Pompano of one quarter of a gram of cocaine for $25. The narcotic substance was also packaged in a white, pyramid-type paper fold.1 Merullo also watched this transaction from a distance of about fifty feet.

[716] The defendant’s first claim requires little discussion. He argues that the trial court improperly denied his pretrial motion to admit into evidence the results of his polygraph examination. We disagree.

We first note that the trial court conducted a full hearing on the defendant’s motion and heard testimony from his expert witness, Victor Kaufman.2 The court also reviewed the relevant Connecticut law on polygraph evidence before denying the defendant’s motion. The defendant now urges us to abandon the well established principle articulated by our Supreme Court that polygraph evidence is inadmissible. See State v. Plourde, 208 Conn. 455, 471, 545 A.2d 1071 (1988), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 1034, 109 S. Ct. 847, 102 L. Ed. 2d 979 (1989); State v. Miller, 202 Conn. 463, 484, 522 A.2d 249 (1987). Specifically, the Supreme Court has held that, “[d]ue to their questionable accuracy, the results of a polygraph examination are not admissible either as positive proof or for the purposes of impeachment.” State v. Plourde, supra. Our review of the record discloses no special or distinguishing circumstances, as argued by the defendant, that would lead us to consider a rule different from that enunciated by our highest court. Accordingly, this claim must fail.

Next, the defendant argues that the trial court improperly admitted into evidence certain state’s exhibits that were insufficiently identified.

The following facts are germane to this issue. It is uncontested that during the trial, when Pompano and Merullo testified about state’s exhibits B1 and Cl, which represented the packets of cocaine sold to Pompano on October 4 and October 25, 1989, respectively, [717] they initially misidentified the exhibits. After their initial testimony, it was clear that there was confusion with respect to the correlation between exhibits and the dates on which they were seized by the police.3 Upon being recalled to testify, however, Pompano and Merullo clarified their earlier testimony to the court’s satisfaction. The court then denied the defendant’s motion to exclude the evidence at issue.

The essence of the defendant’s argument here is that the testimony of the state’s witnesses supporting the identification and chain of custody of the exhibits was inherently unreliable and, therefore, the state failed to establish a sufficient basis for the admission of this evidence. This claim has no merit.

It is axiomatic that we afford a trial court’s rulings on the admissibility of evidence great deference. State v. Sharpe, 195 Conn. 651, 658-59, 491 A.2d 345 (1985). We will not disturb such rulings absent a showing of a clear abuse of the trial court’s discretion. State v. Moye, 214 Conn. 89, 96, 570 A.2d 209 (1990). Our review of the record leads us to conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that the state had sufficiently laid a proper foundation for the admission of the exhibits and that, in addition, the state had sufficiently established both their identification and chain of custody.

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State v. Barnes, 610 A.2d 689, 27 Conn. App. 713, 1992 Conn. App. LEXIS 225 (Colo. Ct. App. 1992).

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