State v. Bowman

485 A.2d 1343, 3 Conn. App. 148, 1985 Conn. App. LEXIS 823
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedJanuary 15, 1985
Docket2784
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 485 A.2d 1343 (State v. Bowman) 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. Bowman, 485 A.2d 1343, 3 Conn. App. 148, 1985 Conn. App. LEXIS 823 (Colo. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

Dupont, C.P. J.

The defendant, after a trial to a jury, was convicted of sexual assault in the first degree, a violation of General Statutes § 53a-70. The issues of this appeal1 are whether the trial court erred (1) in giving jurors a continuing instruction permitting them to discuss the case in the jury room during the course of [150]*150the trial, (2) in allowing the state to introduce testimony of alleged prior sexual misconduct of the defendant, (3) in denying the defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal when the evidence presented by the state indicated that the crime occurred at a time different from that stated in the information, and (4) in failing to order a recording of closing arguments, thereby unconstitutionally depriving the defendant of his right to appellate review, effective assistance of counsel on appeal, due process, and equal protection of the law.

I

The defendant’s first claim of error is that the trial court should not have given the jury continuing instructions, during the trial, “not to discuss the case unless you are all together in the jury deliberating room.” The defendant did not object to the instructions. He now claims that they violated his constitutional right to a trial before an impartial jury. In State v. Washington, 182 Conn. 419, 438 A.2d 1144 (1980), an instruction similar to the one in the present case was given to the jury. The Supreme Court concluded that such an instruction allowing jurors to discuss a case and possibly form opinions before all the evidence was presented, constituted reversible error because it jeopardized the defendant’s right to an impartial jury in violation of the sixth and fourteenth amendments to the United States constitution and article first, § 8, of the Connecticut constitution. Unlike the defendant in the present case, the defendant in Washington objected to the instruction.

Since the defendant here failed to object to the instructions during the trial, he thereby waived his right to preserve the issue on appeal, unless his belated claim falls within one of two situations which may constitute “exceptional circumstances.” State v. Evans, 165 Conn. 61, 70, 327 A.2d 576 (1973). The two exceptions are [151]*151“where a new constitutional right not readily foreseeable has arisen between the time of trial and appeal,” or “where the record adequately supports a claim that a litigant has clearly been deprived of a fundamental constitutional right and a fair trial.” Id.

The defendant contends that because Washington was not decided until nine months after the admonitions were given in the present case, he is asserting a new constitutional right which was not foreseeable at the time of his trial, and that he is therefore entitled to an Evans review. This contention is rebutted by the case of State v. Johnson, 188 Conn. 515, 467 A.2d 1237 (1982). Under similar circumstances, it was held that review of a claimed violation of a constitutional right not perfected at trial and to which no exception was taken is only justified under the first Evans test if the neglected claim was meritless at the time of trial due to long-standing precedent upon which litigants could rely. Id., 518A.

The Johnson court held that the decision of State v. Washington, supra, was in harmony with established state procedure which for at least 150 years had prohibited premature juror discussion. State v. Johnson, supra, 518A. Not having objected to the trial court’s instructions to the jury which allowed it prematurely to discuss the case, the defendant is now precluded from obtaining a review of those instructions. His claim is not the assertion of a constitutional right, unforeseen at the time of the trial.

The defendant also claims that the trial court’s admonitions to the jury are within the scope of the second Evans exception. This issue has been addressed by our Supreme Court in State v. Johnson, supra, 519. That case held that it is the defendant who must shoulder the burden of establishing, by a sufficiently complete record, that he has been deprived of a fundamental con[152]*152stitutional right and a fair trial. Our Supreme Court recently decided State v. Castonguay, 194 Conn. 416, 481 A.2d 56 (1984), wherein an instruction allowing premature discussion was given over the defendant’s objection. That court remanded the case to the trial court to allow the state an opportunity to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the instruction was harmless error in accord with its previous holding in Washington. Id., 436. We are not confronted with this problem as the defendant here failed to object to the trial court’s instruction and therefore he, rather than the state, bears the burden of establishing the harmfulness of the instruction. We have reviewed the record and do not believe that it clearly indicates that the defendant has been deprived of a fundamental constitutional right and a fair trial.

II

The defendant’s second claim of error is that the trial court should not have allowed the state to introduce testimony of alleged prior sexual misconduct of the defendant with the complainant’s sister. Evidence of prior misconduct may not be admitted to prove the bad character or criminal tendencies of an accused, but such evidence is admissible (1) if it can be shown to be relevant and material on some element or issue of the case, and (2) if its probative value on this issue outweighs its general prejudicial tendency. State v. Howard, 187 Conn. 681, 684-85, 447 A.2d 1167 (1982); State v. Falby, 187 Conn. 6, 23, 444 A.2d 213 (1982).

The facts relevant to this claim were that the defendant was a friend of the victim’s family, that the victim was sixteen at the time of the crime with, which the defendant was charged, that her sister was thirteen at the time of the alleged prior sexual misconduct, that the victim and her sister were each allegedly assaulted in the defendant’s car, that each had entered his car [153]*153after an offer of a ride to another sister’s home and that the alleged assaults were approximately two years apart in time.

The state claims that the evidence was admissible because it showed a common design or plan on the part of the defendant, and claims that it was sufficiently connected with the principal crime in terms of circumstances and peculiarity for substantiation of that crime. Evidence of prior sex offenses involving a third person is relevant and admissible if the prior behavior is not too remote in time, is similar to the behavior involved in the crime with which the defendant is charged and is committed upon a person in some way similar to the victim. State v. Esposito, 192 Conn. 166, 169-70, 471 A.2d 949 (1984).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Faria
703 A.2d 1149 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1997)
Stratford Housing Authority v. Reese, No. Spbr-9411 28443 (Apr. 11, 1995)
1995 Conn. Super. Ct. 4186 (Connecticut Superior Court, 1995)
State v. Mazzetta
574 A.2d 806 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1990)
State v. Messier
549 A.2d 270 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1988)
State v. Mancinone
545 A.2d 1131 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1988)
State v. Adams
539 A.2d 1022 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1988)
State v. Delosantos
536 A.2d 609 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1988)
State v. Laracuente
534 A.2d 882 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1987)
State v. Murrell
507 A.2d 1033 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1986)
Gilhuly v. Karazulas
495 A.2d 1077 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1985)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
485 A.2d 1343, 3 Conn. App. 148, 1985 Conn. App. LEXIS 823, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bowman-connappct-1985.