State v. Burke

723 A.2d 327, 51 Conn. App. 328, 1998 Conn. App. LEXIS 465
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedDecember 22, 1998
DocketAC 16363
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 723 A.2d 327 (State v. Burke) 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. Burke, 723 A.2d 327, 51 Conn. App. 328, 1998 Conn. App. LEXIS 465 (Colo. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

Opinion

SPEAR, J.

The defendant, Philip Burke, appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of reckless endangerment in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-63 and criminal mischief in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-115. The defendant claims that the trial court improperly (1) denied his motion for discovery, which requested that the state turn over exculpatory and favorable material concerning the state’s witness, and refused to conduct an in camera review of that material, (2) interrupted defense counsel’s voir dire and cross-examination of one of the state’s witnesses and (3) denied his motion to suppress evidence seized from his person and vehicle following his arrest. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. On December 9,1994, at approximately 1:20 a.m., Vincent Anglace and Alexandra Anglace were driving their sports utility vehicle north on 1-95 in Waterford, in the left lane of a two lane highway. They were approached from the rear by the defendant, who was driving a station wagon. Unable to pass, the defendant moved into the right lane and drove by the Anglaces. As the defendant passed, he fired several shots at the [330]*330Anglaces’ vehicle. Alexandra Anglace used a mobile telephone to call the police and Vincent Anglace pulled their vehicle into a nearby weigh station because of engine difficulty that occurred shortly after the shots were fired.

Connecticut State Trooper Clifford Labbe responded to the Anglaces’ call and met them at the weigh station. The Anglaces described the vehicle from which the shots were fired as a dark colored, older Ford or Mercury station wagon with a tinted rear window and a red and white out of state license plate. Labbe broadcast the description of the station wagon to Connecticut and Rhode Island troopers in the area. When Labbe examined the Anglaces’ vehicle, he found three bullet holes in the passenger side. He also found two spent shell casings on the right shoulder of 1-95 where the shooting occurred.

Several miles ahead, State Trooper Zacharias Abbey positioned his vehicle near exit 89 of 1-95 in Mystic to watch for the vehicle described in Labbe’s broadcast. He saw a Ford station wagon that matched the description given by Labbe and began to follow it. The vehicle accelerated to seventy-five miles per hour and began to swerve erratically between the right and left lanes. Abbey did not stop the vehicle because he was awaiting assistance from other troopers. Just beyond exit 93, the defendant stopped his vehicle in the breakdown lane. Abbey parked his vehicle behind the defendant’s vehicle, but did not approach it. The defendant remained there for a few moments and then continued north into Rhode Island. Several miles further, Abbey was joined by two Rhode Island state troopers, and they stopped the defendant’s vehicle.

The defendant consented to a search of his vehicle. The troopers found a shell casing on the driver’s side floor, a rifle, a shotgun and a metal box containing [331]*331ammunition. Labbe drove the Anglaces to Rhode Island to view the defendant’s vehicle. They could not positively identify the defendant as the shooter, but did positively identify the defendant’s vehicle.

The defendant was subsequently arrested and his hands were swabbed with chemicals, which, upon laboratory testing, revealed the presence of gunshot residue. Edward McPhillips, a firearms examiner with the Connecticut state police forensic laboratory, determined that all three shell casings had been fired by the rifle found in the defendant’s vehicle.

The defendant testified that he owned the rifle found in his vehicle and that he had fired at the Anglaces’ vehicle to scare them. After viewing a photograph of the bullet holes in the vehicle, the defendant stated: “There’s no doubt in my mind it probably came from my rifle .... I didn’t aim it, but that’s where it hit.” After a trial by jury, the defendant was convicted of reckless endangerment in the first degree and criminal mischief in the first degree. This appeal followed.

I

The defendant first claims that the trial court improperly denied his motion for discoveiy, which requested that the state turn over exculpatory material concerning a state’s witness, and that the court refused to conduct an in camera review of that material. We are unpersuaded.

Pursuant to Practice Book § 741, now § 40-11, Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87, 83 S. Ct. 1194, 10 L. Ed. 2d 215 (1963), and Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150, 154-55, 92 S. Ct. 763, 31 L. Ed. 2d 104 (1972), the defendant filed a motion for discoveiy requesting that the state disclose all information with respect to each potential state witness and each informant used by the state during its investigation of the case. Specifically, the defendant requested that the state disclose “any [332]*332and all evidence of drug or alcohol abuse, mental illness, and treatment for such conditions, of the informant.”

On the first day of trial, Clements Wolenc, a prisoner who was transported to the courthouse with the defendant, told the assistant state’s attorney that, earlier that morning, the defendant had confessed his involvement in the crime for which the defendant was on trial. The state promptly disclosed that information to defense counsel, provided him with a copy of Wolenc’s criminal record and indicated its desire to call Wolenc to testify. Defense counsel requested that the state comply with his discovery request and that it provide any exculpatory information and psychiatric records.

The state disclosed that it was unaware of any exculpatory information, that Wolenc had an extensive criminal record, that he was not a “professional snitch” and that he had denied any previous psychiatric treatment or drug use. After Wolenc was called to testify, defense counsel requested an opportunity to question Wolenc’s competence outside of the presence of the jury. During the questioning, Wolenc denied ever having been treated by a psychiatrist but admitted that he had undergone a psychiatric evaluation and had spoken with a psychiatrist about three or four times in connection with other court cases in Middlesex County. At the request of the defendant, the prosecutor contacted the state’s attorney’s office in Middlesex County and inquired about any psychiatric reports in their possession. The state’s attorney answered that he was aware of several evaluations, but that he believed the contents to be confidential and refused to release the reports. It is this material that the defendant claims the state improperly withheld.

“The United States Supreme Court has held that the suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused upon request violates due process where [333]*333the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment, irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the [government], Brady v. Maryland, [supra, 373 U.S. 87]; State v. Walker, 214 Conn. 122, 126, 571 A.2d 686 (1990); State v. Cohane, 193 Conn. 474, 495, 479 A.2d 763, cert. denied, 469 U.S. 990, 105 S. Ct.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
723 A.2d 327, 51 Conn. App. 328, 1998 Conn. App. LEXIS 465, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-burke-connappct-1998.