State v. Gary

992 A.2d 1178, 120 Conn. App. 592, 2010 Conn. App. LEXIS 160
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedApril 27, 2010
DocketAC 30740
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 992 A.2d 1178 (State v. Gary) 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. Gary, 992 A.2d 1178, 120 Conn. App. 592, 2010 Conn. App. LEXIS 160 (Colo. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

Opinion

HARPER, J.

The defendant, Vemol Kelvin Gary, appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of two counts of sexual assault in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-70 (a) (1), attempt to commit sexual assault in the first degree in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-49 (a) (2) and 53a-70 (a) (1), and kidnapping in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-92 (a) (2) (A). The defendant claims that (1) the prosecutor did not disclose potentially exculpatory evidence to him in a timely manner, thereby depriving the defendant of his constitutional right to a fair trial, and (2) the court improperly *594 instructed the jury with respect to the kidnapping charge. We affirm the judgment with respect to the defendant’s conviction of sexual assault and attempted sexual assault. We reverse the judgment with respect to the defendant’s conviction of kidnapping. Accordingly, the case is remanded for a new trial on the kidnapping charge.

The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. The victim 1 is a female who was bom in 1983. The defendant is a male who was bom in 1962. The victim met the defendant for the first time in November, 2006, at the residence of the victim’s drug supplier. On November 30, 2006, several weeks after their initial encounter, the defendant called the victim at approximately 2 a.m. The defendant asked the victim if she wanted to “hang out.” The victim agreed to see the defendant and gave him directions to her apartment. Upon the defendant’s arrival, he and the victim began drinking vodka together. They spent the early morning hours in the victim’s bedroom but did not have any sexual contact with one another. At approximately 8 a.m., the defendant and the victim walked to a liquor store, where they purchased more vodka. Upon returning to the apartment, the victim and the defendant had several alcoholic mixed drinks and were joined by the victim’s roommate, who had been asleep when the defendant initially arrived. The roommate left for work after a few drinks.

After the victim’s roommate left, the defendant indicated that he was tired and asked if he could lie down. The victim told the defendant that he could, but that she needed to remove some pillows from her bed. After *595 the victim removed the pillows from her bed, the defendant asked the victim to close the window because he was cold.

It is at this point that the defendant’s attack on the victim began. The victim moved to close the window and, when she turned back, the defendant grabbed her by the throat. The defendant proceeded to throw the victim on the ground. As he held the victim down, the defendant removed his pants and then the victim’s pants. The victim struggled with the defendant and pulled his earring out of his ear, causing him to bleed. The victim also bit the defendant on his chest. As the victim continued to fight, the defendant forced her legs apart and forcibly engaged in vaginal intercourse with her. After penetrating the victim’s vagina with his penis several times, the defendant discontinued vaginal intercourse and attempted to engage in anal intercourse with the victim. Unsuccessful, the defendant forced the victim to perform oral sex on him. Eventually, the victim managed to get out from under the defendant and reach the door, which was locked. The defendant grabbed the victim and prevented her from opening the door. The victim was screaming and continued to struggle with the defendant. She then heard a knock at the front door of the apartment. The victim managed to escape from the defendant, and ran from her bedroom and out the front door of her apartment in a state of total undress. When she exited the apartment, she discovered that the knocking had been from two police officers who were standing outside her apartment.

The two police officers were John Marchi and Earn Maher of the Winchester police department. They had been dispatched to the victim’s apartment because of a complaint by the tenant who lived below the victim. When the officers arrived outside the victim’s apartment, they banged on the door several times and identified themselves as police officers. There was no answer, *596 but the officers heard cries for help emanating from within the victim’s apartment. The officers were about to enter the apartment using a master key they had obtained from the building’s manager when the door flung open and the victim ran out screaming, “get him away from me, get him out of here.” The victim ran past the officers, curled into a fetal position and began crying. Officer Marchi looked into the apartment and saw the defendant standing with no clothes on. Marchi observed that the defendant had fresh injuries, including trauma to his chest and blood on his ear and toe. Marchi immediately detained the defendant while Maher attended to the victim. An ambulance was called for the victim, and the defendant, after putting on clothes, was taken by Marchi to the police station, where photographs were taken of his injuries. Additional facts will be set forth as necessary.

I

The defendant first claims that the state committed prosecutorial impropriety by failing to disclose exculpatory evidence. Specifically, the defendant alleges that the state improperly redacted portions of a medical report that revealed the victim’s prior diagnosis of bipolar disorder as well as medications she was taking to treat bipolar disorder. He claims that the redacted portions were potentially exculpatory and that, because he was not able to view the unredacted version until the first day of evidence, he was denied a fair trial. 2 We conclude that the defendant waived his suppression of *597 exculpatory evidence claim and therefore decline to afford it review.

The following additional facts and procedural history underlie the defendant’s claim. On March 7, 2008, the court granted the defendant’s request to subpoena the victim’s medical records. On March 12, 2008, the court heard testimony from witnesses for the first time. Before any witnesses were called to testify, the defendant’s counsel informed the court that the victim’s medical records had arrived and were in the custody of the clerk of the court and under seal. Defense counsel stated that he previously had received a copy of the medical records from the state, but that certain information had been blacked out by the prosecutor. 3 Defense counsel requested that the court review the records and determine whether the blacked out portions were admissible because he believed they “could affect the credibility of [the victim], specifically, anything to do with drug or alcohol intake or medications that she might have been on that’s been redacted.” The court agreed to review the records to determine their admissibility. During a recess, the court reviewed the victim’s medical records and determined that certain portions that had been redacted by the state were admissible, including the victim’s report to emergency room personnel of a prior diagnosis of bipolar disorder and the medications she was taking to treat it.

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State v. Gary
995 A.2d 637 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
992 A.2d 1178, 120 Conn. App. 592, 2010 Conn. App. LEXIS 160, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-gary-connappct-2010.