State v. DeMayo

557 A.2d 571, 18 Conn. App. 297, 1989 Conn. App. LEXIS 132
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedMay 2, 1989
Docket5813
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 557 A.2d 571 (State v. DeMayo) 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. DeMayo, 557 A.2d 571, 18 Conn. App. 297, 1989 Conn. App. LEXIS 132 (Colo. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

Foti, J.

The defendant appeals from judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of two counts of risk [298]*298of injury to a child in violation of General Statutes § 53-211 and two counts of sexual assault in the fourth degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-73 (a) (1) (A).2 On appeal, the defendant claims for the first time three violations of his constitutional rights: (1) his state and federal constitutional rights not to be twice placed in jeopardy for the same offense were violated by the trial court’s imposition of multiple punishments for the same offense; (2) his constitutional right to a fair trial was violated by the prosecutor’s remarks during final argument; and (3) the trial court’s sequestration order denied him his rights to due process, effective assistance of counsel, compulsory process and to present a defense. We find that the record in this case does not support the defendant’s claim that he was deprived of any constitutional rights.

This case involves allegations made by two minor victims that the defendant sexually abused them. The jury could reasonably have found the following facts. R and K are siblings and live across the street from the defendant. The defendant had a workroom in his garage, and R and K visited him there a number of times.

R testified that in the fall of 1985, when she was seven years old, the defendant placed his hand down her pants and under her shirt on a number of occasions. On one of these occasions, the defendant placed his hand inside [299]*299R’s pants and placed his finger in her “private parts.” The defendant cautioned R not to tell anyone about these events.

K, R’s older sister, testified that several times when she was thirteen years old, the defendant touched her breasts, buttocks and crotch. On one occasion, the defendant kissed K on the lips and put his tongue in her mouth. The defendant also asked K to touch him.

The defendant raises three claims of error on appeal that were not properly preserved at trial. See Practice Book § 4185. As to each, the defendant seeks review under State v. Evans, 165 Conn. 61, 70, 327 A.2d 576 (1973), and the plain error doctrine. Practice Book § 4185. We find the Supreme Court’s recent admonition to appellate counsel appropriate to this case. A “wholesale appellate reconstruction of the trial court proceedings does not serve the administration of justice. State v. Pelletier, 209 Conn. 564, 566-67, 552 A.2d 885 (1989); State v. Hinckley, 198 Conn. 77, 86-87, 502 A.2d 388 (1985). Appellate review of newly discovered issues cannot be guaranteed by couching every claim of error in the constitutional language of State v. Evans, supra, or the common law doctrine of plain error codified in Practice Book § 4185. Belated appellate scrutiny is warranted only for egregious errors that undermine the fairness of a trial and cast doubt on the integrity of the judicial process.” State v. Hull, 210 Conn. 481, 484-85, 556 A.2d 154 (1989).

We have reviewed the defendant’s claims of error and conclude that the record does not disclose that the defendant has been deprived of any fundamental constitutional right or a fair trial; State v. Evans, supra, 70; State v. Sergi, 7 Conn. App. 445, 448, 509 A.2d 56 (1986); or that any of the defendant’s claims involve a “ ‘truly extraordinary [situation], where the existence [300]*300of the error is so obvious that it affects the fairness and integrity of and public confidence in the judicial proceedings’. . . .” State v. Phu Dinh Le, 17 Conn. App. 339, 342, 552 A.2d 448 (1989), quoting State v. Hinckley, supra, 87-88.

The defendant’s first claim is that the trial court’s imposition of multiple punishments for the crimes of sexual assault in the fourth degree and risk of injury to a child violated his rights under the double jeopardy clause of the fifth amendment to the federal constitution and under Connecticut law.3 In particular, the defendant claims that because the long form information described the manner in which the defendant committed the crime of risk of injury to a minor as “subjecting her to sexual contact,” the two crimes were “nominally” the same for double jeopardy purposes. Both the Supreme Court and this court have conclusively held that the imposition of multiple sentences for convictions of sexual assault and risk of injury to a child does not violate the double jeopardy clause because these crimes are not considered the “same offense” for the purpose of double jeopardy as “each require[s] proof of an element not required by the other . . . .” State v. Perruccio, 192 Conn. 154, 162, 471 A.2d 632, appeal dismissed, 469 U.S. 801, 105 S. Ct. 55, 83 L. Ed. 2d 6 (1984); see also State v. McCall, 187 Conn. 73, 91-92, 444 A.2d 896 (1982); State v. Davis, 13 Conn. App. 667, 671-72, 539 A.2d 150 (1988); State v. Trujillo, 12 Conn. App. 320, 335-36, 531 A.2d 142 (1987). The fact that the state has alleged that the same [301]*301conduct constituted the charges does not alter this result. State v. Trujillo, supra; see also State v. Per-ruccio, supra, 154.

Because the defendant has not “clearly been deprived of a constitutional right”; State v. Evans, supra, 70; his first claim is not reviewable under Evans. See State v. Bailey, 209 Conn. 322, 332, 551 A.2d 1206 (1988); State v. Thurman, 10 Conn. App. 302, 306-307, 523 A.2d 891, cert. denied, 204 Conn, 805, 528 A.2d 1152 (1987); State v. Huff, 10 Conn. App. 330, 334, 523 A.2d 906, cert. denied, 203 Conn. 809, 525 A.2d 523 (1987). Similarly, we find the defendant’s assertion that this claim is reviewable as plain error equally unavailing.

The defendant’s second unpreserved4 claim is that he was deprived of his state and federal rights to due process of law and a fair trial by certain remarks made by the prosecutor during closing argument. Evans review of alleged prosecutorial misconduct is reserved for those cases in which the prosecutor’s conduct manifested “an egregious pattern of blatant prejudicial misstatements”; State v. Hull, supra, 485; State v. Smith, 209 Conn. 423, 428, 551 A.2d 742 (1988);

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
557 A.2d 571, 18 Conn. App. 297, 1989 Conn. App. LEXIS 132, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-demayo-connappct-1989.