State v. Crespo

CourtSupreme Court of Connecticut
DecidedMay 19, 2015
DocketSC19242
StatusPublished

This text of State v. Crespo (State v. Crespo) 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. Crespo, (Colo. 2015).

Opinion

****************************************************** The ‘‘officially released’’ date that appears near the beginning of each opinion is the date the opinion will be published in the Connecticut Law Journal or the date it was released as a slip opinion. The operative date for the beginning of all time periods for filing postopinion motions and petitions for certification is the ‘‘officially released’’ date appearing in the opinion. In no event will any such motions be accepted before the ‘‘officially released’’ date. All opinions are subject to modification and technical correction prior to official publication in the Connecti- cut Reports and Connecticut Appellate Reports. In the event of discrepancies between the electronic version of an opinion and the print version appearing in the Connecticut Law Journal and subsequently in the Con- necticut Reports or Connecticut Appellate Reports, the latest print version is to be considered authoritative. The syllabus and procedural history accompanying the opinion as it appears on the Commission on Official Legal Publications Electronic Bulletin Board Service and in the Connecticut Law Journal and bound volumes of official reports are copyrighted by the Secretary of the State, State of Connecticut, and may not be repro- duced and distributed without the express written per- mission of the Commission on Official Legal Publications, Judicial Branch, State of Connecticut. ****************************************************** STATE OF CONNECTICUT v. VICTOR CRESPO (SC 19242) Rogers, C. J., and Palmer, Zarella, Eveleigh, McDonald and Robinson, Js. Argued December 1, 2014—officially released May 19, 2015

Megan L. Weiss, assistant public defender, with whom was Martin Zeldis, assigned counsel, for the appellant (defendant). Leonard C. Boyle, deputy chief state’s attorney, with whom, on the brief, were John C. Smriga, state’s attor- ney, and Nicholas J. Bove, Jr., senior assistant state’s attorney, for the appellee (state). Opinion

PALMER, J. The primary issue presented by this appeal is whether General Statutes § 54-1c,1 which ren- ders inadmissible ‘‘[a]ny . . . statement . . . obtained from an accused person who has not been presented to the first session of the court’’ following his or her arrest, applies to a statement elicited from an accused who, although not presented to the first session of court, provided the statement before the expiration of that first court session, when his present- ment still would have been timely. The defendant, Victor Crespo, was charged with one count each of the crimes of carrying a pistol without a permit in violation of General Statutes (Rev. to 2009) § 29-35 (a),2 having a weapon in a motor vehicle without a permit in violation of General Statutes (Rev. to 2009) § 29-38 (a), and pos- session of an assault weapon in violation of General Statutes (Rev. to 2009) § 53-202c (a). To establish the defendant’s guilt with respect to these offenses, the state relied, in part, on a written confession that the defendant had given to the police following his arrest. After a trial, the jury found the defendant guilty as charged, and the trial court rendered judgment in accor- dance with the jury verdict.3 The Appellate Court affirmed the trial court’s judgment; State v. Crespo, 145 Conn. App. 547, 582, 76 A.3d 664 (2013); and we granted the defendant’s petition for certification to appeal, lim- ited to two issues. First, did the Appellate Court cor- rectly conclude that the trial court properly rejected the defendant’s claim under § 54-1c that he was entitled to the suppression of his written statement because he was not presented to the first session of the court and, second, was the evidence sufficient to establish that he had carried a pistol in violation of § 29-35 (a) even though the pistol was discovered in the defendant’s vehicle. See State v. Crespo, 310 Conn. 953, 953–54, 81 A.3d 1181 (2013). With respect to the first issue, we agree with the Appellate Court and the trial court that § 54-1c did not bar the state’s use of the defendant’s written statement because § 54-1c is inapplicable when, as in the present case, the statement is elicited prior to the expiration of the first session of court. With respect to the second issue, we conclude that the evi- dence was sufficient to support a jury finding that the defendant carried the pistol in violation of § 29-35 (a). We therefore affirm the judgment of the Appellate Court. The opinion of the Appellate Court sets forth the following relevant facts that the jury reasonably could have found. ‘‘On January 18, 2010, at approximately 10:45 p.m., Officer Hugo Stern of the Bridgeport Police Department received a tip from a confidential informant (informant) that [he] had been approached by a man (seller) in the parking lot of the T Market in [the city of] Bridgeport offering to sell the informant an Uzi-type pistol. The informant described the seller as a ‘Hispanic male’ with a ‘[s]lender build, approximately [five foot, seven inches tall], [wearing] a black jacket, blue jeans, and . . . a multicolor knitted hat . . . .’ The informant stated that the gun was wrapped in a black plastic garbage bag. The informant told Stern that the seller had removed the gun from a white van . . . [that] was parked in the parking lot of the T Market.4 Armed with this information, Stern called Officer Frank Delbouno of the Bridgeport Police Department, requesting that Delbouno meet him at the T Market. Stern arrived at the T Market approximately ten minutes later to investi- gate the informant’s tip. ‘‘Upon his arrival at the T Market, Stern immediately saw the defendant standing a few feet away from a white van, which was parked in the parking lot of the T Market. Satisfied that the defendant matched the informant’s description of the seller, Stern exited his police cruiser, drew his weapon and ordered the defen- dant to raise his hands; the defendant complied. After conducting a patdown search of the defendant, which did not produce any weapons, Stern ordered the defen- dant to lie on the ground; the defendant again complied. Thereafter, Delbouno arrived at the scene to provide backup. Because the side door to the van was com- pletely open, Stern was able to see a black plastic gar- bage bag inside it, which was similar to that which the informant had described. Stern ordered Delbouno to seize the bag, which he did. Inside the bag, Delbouno found a loaded, semiautomatic Uzi-type pistol. ‘‘While Delbouno was securing the gun, the defendant volunteered, without interrogation, that the van ‘was his vehicle . . . .’ Thereafter, Stern arrested the defen- dant. After Stern placed the defendant in the backseat of his police cruiser, the defendant voluntarily stated, again unprompted by interrogation, that ‘he was holding the weapon for Fats, who was supposed to meet him later . . . in exchange for some heroin folds.’ The informant subsequently appeared on the scene and identified the defendant as the man who had attempted to sell him the gun. The informant further confirmed that the defendant’s van was the vehicle from which the seller had retrieved the gun. The defendant was then transported to Bridgeport police headquarters. ‘‘At approximately 10 a.m. the following morning, January 19, 2010, Detective Paul Ortiz of the Bridgeport Police Department approached the defendant and asked him to make a statement. The defendant agreed and executed a waiver of rights, at which time Ortiz advised him of his Miranda5 rights. . . . The defendant then provided a written statement to Ortiz in which he stated that he had agreed to ‘hold the firearm’ in exchange for heroin.’’ (Citation omitted; footnotes altered.) State v. Crespo, supra, 145 Conn. App. 550–52.

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State v. Crespo, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-crespo-conn-2015.