State v. Castro

493 A.2d 223, 196 Conn. 421, 1985 Conn. LEXIS 780
CourtSupreme Court of Connecticut
DecidedJune 4, 1985
Docket10158
StatusPublished
Cited by69 cases

This text of 493 A.2d 223 (State v. Castro) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Castro, 493 A.2d 223, 196 Conn. 421, 1985 Conn. LEXIS 780 (Colo. 1985).

Opinion

Santaniello, J.

The defendant was convicted of felony murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54c.1 [422]*422He appeals, claiming that the trial court erred (1) in restricting his cross-examination of a witness in violation of his constitutional right to confrontation, and (2) in failing to instruct the jury on lesser included homicides pursuant to General Statutes § 53a-45 (c).2

The jury could reasonably have found the following facts. The incident which led to the defendant’s arrest took place on October 19,1978. The defendant left his home at approximately 10:30 a.m., drove to a package store, and purchased a pint bottle of vodka, which he consumed in his car during the course of the morning. Prior to 1 p.m., the defendant purchased a second half pint of vodka, which he partly consumed while sitting in the car by himself. Around 1 p.m. he met his friend, Hector Soto, whom he invited for a drive. Before entering the car, Soto walked to the side of a building and picked up his shotgun. The defendant also had a sawed-off shotgun under the driver’s seat of his car, where it had been for about ten months. The defendant told Soto that he had been stopped earlier that morning by a police officer and was asked for some identification while he was standing at the corner of Grand Avenue and Lloyd Street in New Haven. He claimed to be partially drunk at that time. The police [423]*423had confiscated his marijuana which they found close to where the defendant was standing. The defendant had denied ownership of the marijuana and was not arrested for possession. At trial, the defendant testified that he “dealt in drugs,” and that he had others selling marijuana for him. As a result of the loss of the marijuana, the defendant told Soto that “he needed some money . . . [bjecause they took his reefer.” The defendant then shared the remaining vodka with Soto and smoked some marijuana while they drove around for approximately twenty-five minutes. A third half pint of vodka was purchased around 4 p.m., which they shared.

At 5 p.m. the defendant and Soto drove by the inter-, section of Grand Avenue and Lloyd Street. This intersection was frequented by drug dealers. The defendant stopped the car, got out and walked up to a group of six or seven men and announced: “I need money; give up the money.” The defendant repeated in Spanish to the victim, Lucas Rivera, who was one of the group, that “it was a robbery,” and pointed his sawed-off shotgun at his head. When the victim pushed the gun away, the defendant again aimed the gun at the head of the victim and pulled the trigger, fatally wounding him. The defendant and Soto then got into the car and fled the scene.

Immediately after the killing, the defendant traded his car and some furniture for another car and left New Haven, driving to Buffalo, New York. He was accompanied by Soto. The defendant spent six days in Buffalo, where he sold the murder weapon. Five days after his return to New Haven the defendant was arrested. After being informed of his Miranda rights, he confessed to the killing.

The defendant was indicted by a grand jury for felony murder, General Statutes § 53a-54c. The evidence at [424]*424trial showed that during the course of the day the defendant had consumed a large amount of alcohol, and had taken an acid pill, snorted cocaine, and smoked eight or nine marijuana cigarettes. At least one witness testified that the defendant was unsteady on his feet, had slurred speech, and appeared to be feeling the effects of the combination of alcohol and drugs. The defendant was convicted as charged by a jury of twelve and sentenced to a term of ten years to life. After his motions for judgment of acquittal and for a new trial were denied by the court, he filed this appeal.

I

The defendant’s first claim of error is that the trial court, by limiting the scope of cross-examination of a state’s witness, violated his sixth amendment right of confrontation. The defendant attempted to question Frank Santiago, a witness to the killing, concerning alleged threatening behavior against Santiago by Hector Soto. After the murder, Soto had been seen on numerous occasions driving by Santiago’s house, and at one point he approached Santiago in his car. It is the defendant’s contention that “had [he] had the opportunity Pie] could have established that Mr. Santiago felt that this threatening was orchestrated by the defendant, thereby developing a prejudice and a bias against the defendant.”

“The general rule is that restrictions on the scope of cross-examination are within the sound discretion of the trial judge . . . but this discretion comes into play only after the defendant has been permitted cross-examination sufficient to satisfy the sixth amendment.” (Citations omitted.) State v. Gaynor, 182 Conn. 501, 508, 438 A.2d 749 (1980); see State v. Thompson, 191 Conn. 146, 148, 463 A.2d 611 (1983). We must therefore conduct a two-step analysis, determining first whether the cross-examination of Santiago permitted [425]*425to defense counsel comported with sixth amendment standards; see Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 94 S. Ct. 1105, 39 L. Ed. 2d 347 (1974); and second whether the trial court abused its discretion in restricting the scope of that cross-examination. State v. Gaynor, supra, 510.

“The constitutional standard is met when defense counsel is ‘permitted to expose to the jury the facts from which the jurors, as the sole triers of fact and credibility, could appropriately draw inferences relating to the reliability of the witness.’ Davis v. Alaska, supra, 318; United States v. Vasilios, [598 F.2d 387, 389 (5th Cir. 1979)].” State v. Gaynor, supra, 509. In this case the defendant clearly had sufficient opportunity to cross-examine Santiago fully and to attempt to discredit him before the jury. The trial court permitted extensive cross-examination of Santiago concerning the shooting incident, and also allowed the defendant to pursue a line of questioning in an attempt to show that Santiago had made prior inconsistent statements before the grand jury. The only aspect of the cross-examination restricted by the trial court involved the alleged threats against Santiago by Soto, which the court found too speculative to put before the jury. Under these circumstances, we cannot say the defendant’s sixth amendment right to confront Santiago was abrogated.

The remaining question is whether the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to allow Santiago to be questioned concerning the alleged threats. Although defense counsel had put forward several offers of proof concerning the alleged threatening behavior of Soto toward Santiago, the trial court rejected the defendant’s theory as speculative, and beyond the scope of direct examination. The defendant is claiming that because Santiago’s testimony was crucial to the state’s case, the jury should have been exposed to any evidence which tended to show Santiago’s bias.

[426]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
493 A.2d 223, 196 Conn. 421, 1985 Conn. LEXIS 780, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-castro-conn-1985.