State v. Fuller

CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedJuly 7, 2015
DocketAC36178
StatusPublished

This text of State v. Fuller (State v. Fuller) 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. Fuller, (Colo. Ct. App. 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. KEITH FULLER (AC 36178) Beach, Keller and Harper, Js. Argued March 11—officially released July 7, 2015

(Appeal from Superior Court, judicial district of New Haven, geographical area number twenty-three, Mullins, J.) Adele V. Patterson, senior assistant public defender, for the appellant (defendant). Laurie N. Feldman, special deputy assistant state’s attorney, with whom, on the brief, were Michael Dear- ington, state’s attorney, and Marc G. Ramia, senior assistant state’s attorney, for the appellee (state). Opinion

KELLER, J. The defendant, Keith Fuller, appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered following a jury trial, of burglary in the first degree in violation of Gen- eral Statutes § 53a-101 (a) (3) and larceny in the sixth degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-125b (a).1 The defendant claims that the court erred by failing to provide the jury with instructions concerning the reliability of the results of the show-up procedure, by which the victim identified him as the perpetrator of the crimes, and the reliability of the statements made by the victim that he was confident in his identification. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. On March 29, 2012, the victim, John Ziebell, along with his wife and his child, were residing in a first floor apartment on Goffe Terrace in New Haven. At approximately 9 p.m., after his wife and child were asleep, Ziebell went for an outdoor walk with his two dogs. Upon returning to his apartment at approximately 9:30 p.m., Ziebell observed the defendant, who pre- viously was unknown to him, exiting the apartment while carrying a flat screen television. Although it was dark outside, the area was well lit by means of street lamps. Ziebell rapidly approached the defendant and said, ‘‘excuse me, that’s my T.V.’’ The defendant, while carrying the television, made his way out of the residence, down the porch stairs, and onto the sidewalk. The defendant threatened physi- cally to harm Ziebell and stated that Ziebell would not do anything about it. Using his cell phone, Ziebell reported the incident to the police. He remained on the telephone with the police dispatcher while he pursued the defendant on foot, accompanied by his dogs. The interaction between the two men drew the attention of one of Ziebell’s neighbors, Timothy Newson, who exited his residence to investigate what was occurring. Ziebell screamed to Newson, ‘‘Tim, Tim, this guy was in my house, he was in my house.’’ In front of Newson’s residence, the defendant carefully placed the television on a grassy surface near the roadway and, in an attempt to flee from Ziebell, hurriedly proceeded on foot away from Ziebell and toward the intersection with Ella Grasso Boulevard. Shortly thereafter, he walked back toward an automobile that was parked in front of New- son’s residence. When the defendant was within approximately ten to fifteen feet of the automobile, he shouted ‘‘go, go, go.’’ The driver of the automobile drove toward the defendant, who got into the automobile. The automobile left the scene, and the television set remained on the grass where the defendant had left it. Ziebell provided the police with information about the perpetrator’s appearance as well as information con- cerning the marker plate and color of the automobile. After the automobile drove off, Ziebell entered his residence for a brief time. He observed that his wife and son were safely asleep. Also, Ziebell observed that there was fresh damage to his front door, the defen- dant’s point of entry. Within minutes after the automobile carrying the defendant left, police officers arrived on the scene. Within a few minutes of their arrival, the officers learned that other officers had stopped an automobile that matched the description of the suspect automobile provided by Ziebell. At that time, the police transported Ziebell in a police cruiser to the area of Winthrop Ave- nue and Maple Street, which was approximately one to two minutes away. There, by means of a show-up identification procedure,2 Ziebell immediately and posi- tively identified the defendant as the perpetrator.3 Fol- lowing Ziebell’s identification, the defendant was arrested and charged with crimes related to this inci- dent.4 The defendant appealed to this court following his conviction of burglary in the first degree and larceny in the sixth degree. Because the sole claim of instructional error raised in the present appeal relates to the evidence of the identification of the defendant made by Ziebell upon his arrival at the area of Winthrop Avenue and Maple Street, we shall turn our attention to the evidence related thereto. Ziebell testified that, within minutes after the police first arrived at his residence, he was transported in the back of a police cruiser to the nearby area of Winthrop Avenue and Maple Street, where he was asked to identify a suspect who was in police custody. During his direct examination, the following colloquy between the prosecutor and Ziebell occurred: ‘‘Q. And what happened when you arrived at that location? ‘‘A. I [saw] . . . that there was officers already on the scene and that they had somebody in custody. They had this guy in custody. The guy who was coming out the front door with the T.V. ‘‘Q. And did they ask you to identify the individual? ‘‘A. Yes, they did. ‘‘Q. The individual that they asked you to identify, did you recognize the individual— ‘‘A. Immediately. ‘‘Q. —at that point? And how did you recognize that person? ‘‘A. By his face, his build, base build, clothing. ‘‘Q. And was that the individual that you saw leaving your residence with your T.V.? ‘‘A. Yeah, he was three feet away from me when I first confronted him. The length of my dogs.’’ Later, during the state’s direct examination of Ziebell, the following colloquy between the prosecutor and Zie- bell occurred: ‘‘Q. Now, when you were brought to Winthrop [Ave- nue] and Maple [Street] . . . you were asked to identify the individual. Was there any doubt in your mind that the individual you saw that evening was the individual that you saw holding your T.V. on your front porch? ‘‘A. No doubt, whatsoever. I mean, he was . . . closer than we are apart right now.’’ During their direct examinations by the state, both Ziebell and Newson identified the defendant, who was present in the courtroom at trial, as the perpetrator of the crimes.

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State v. Fuller, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-fuller-connappct-2015.