State v. Gjini

CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedDecember 29, 2015
DocketAC36029
StatusPublished

This text of State v. Gjini (State v. Gjini) 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. Gjini, (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. GAZMEN GJINI (AC 36029) DiPentima, C. J., and Keller and Mihalakos, Js. Argued September 18—officially released December 29, 2015

(Appeal from Superior Court, judicial district Stamford- Norwalk, geographical area number one, Hudock, J.) Rachel L. Barmack, with whom, on the brief, was Ryan G. Blanch, for the appellant (defendant). Margaret Gaffney Radionovas, senior assistant state’s attorney, with whom, on the brief, were David I. Cohen, state’s attorney, and David R. Applegate, assis- tant state’s attorney, for the appellee (state). Opinion

KELLER, J. The defendant, Gazmen Gjini, appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered following a jury trial, of selling narcotics in violation of General Statutes § 21a-277 (a), engaging police in pursuit (by failing to stop when signaled and increasing his speed in an attempt to escape and elude the police) in violation of General Statutes § 14-223 (b), and possessing a nar- cotic substance with the intent to sell in violation of § 21a-277 (a).1 The defendant claims (1) that the trial court improperly denied his motion for a Franks hear- ing,2 and (2) the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction of possession of a narcotic substance with the intent to sell. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. On the basis of the evidence presented at trial, the jury reasonably could have found the following facts. In 2009, the Stamford Police Department was investigating the defendant for illegal drug related activities. The police were assisted in their investigation by Dennis Thurman, an agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The police used a cooperating witness3 to pose as a drug buyer and to purchase illegal drugs from the defendant. To this end, on June 13, 2009, under the supervision and surveillance of the police, the cooperating witness met with the defendant at a restaurant located on West Main Street in Stamford, during which interaction the cooperating witness and the defendant ‘‘talked about drugs.’’ One week following this initial meeting, and under the supervision and surveillance of the police, the coop- erating witness contacted the defendant by telephone for the purpose of purchasing narcotics from him. The police provided the cooperating witness with $80 and an automobile to use to complete the transaction. The cooperating witness met the defendant at an agreed upon location, the parking lot of the restaurant located on West Main Street in Stamford, where they had their first meeting. When the defendant arrived at that loca- tion, the cooperating witness got into the defendant’s automobile, at which time she gave the defendant $80 in exchange for slightly less than one ounce of cocaine. Following this transaction, which took approximately two minutes, the cooperating witness returned to her automobile and left the scene. The defendant, likewise, left the scene in his automobile. Several weeks later, on July 2, 2009, the defendant sold drugs to one or more cooperating witnesses at the same location where the prior interactions at issue had occurred. After this interaction, one or more police officers observed the defendant drive to his residence, a single family home located at 179 Cedar Heights Road in Stamford. On August 13, 2009, the police obtained an arrest warrant for the defendant. That day, the police began to surveil the defendant’s residence. The police observed an automobile that they had observed the defendant driving during the course of their investiga- tion, a black 2009 Honda Accord with heavily tinted windows, parked in the driveway. The automobile was registered to Nahile Gjini, the defendant’s mother. The police directed the cooperating witness to contact the defendant and arrange to purchase illegal narcotics from him. The cooperating witness informed the police that she had arranged for this transaction to take place at approximately 12:30 p.m., at the restaurant located on West Main Street in Stamford. Shortly thereafter, the police observed the defendant exit the residence on Cedar Heights Road, get into the Honda, and drive to the restaurant located on West Main Street in Stamford, where he previously had sold narcotics to the cooperating witness. Two police offi- cers traveling in an unmarked police automobile fol- lowed the defendant as he drove to the restaurant, and several other officers were positioned about the parking area near the restaurant, awaiting the defendant’s arrival. Events in the parking area of the restaurant unfolded quickly. When the defendant arrived, several police offi- cers, in automobiles with lights and sirens activated, approached the defendant’s automobile in an attempt to constrain his movement. One officer, Douglas Deiso, attempted to apprehend the defendant. While displaying his police badge, Deiso approached the defendant’s automobile on foot and yelled, ‘‘police . . . .’’ Deiso ordered the defendant to turn off his automobile. The defendant looked at Deiso with a blank stare and, instead of obeying his command, he accelerated his automobile in Deiso’s direction. Deiso escaped being struck only by moving away from the automobile. The defendant quickly sped away from the scene. In so doing, he dangerously maneuvered around police auto- mobiles, drove on the wrong side of the road, and crossed the double lines on the roadway, ultimately driving onto a nearby highway. Several police officers engaged the defendant in a high-speed pursuit, but they were unable to apprehend him. Police later discovered the defendant’s abandoned automobile in Greenwich. The police were unable to locate the defendant at this time. Shortly thereafter, two police officers, Christopher Broems and Steven Perrotta, prepared search warrant applications covering the defendant’s automobile and the defendant’s residence on Cedar Heights Road in Stamford. After obtaining the warrants, the police exe- cuted the warrant at the defendant’s residence, where the defendant’s mother and an attorney were present. There were three bedrooms in the residence: one used by the defendant’s mother, one used by the defendant’s brother, and one used by the defendant. During their search of the defendant’s bedroom, the police found approximately fifty grams of cocaine in a nightstand.

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Bluebook (online)
State v. Gjini, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-gjini-connappct-2015.