State v. Haddad

456 A.2d 316, 189 Conn. 383, 1983 Conn. LEXIS 455
Supreme Court of Connecticut·Decided March 1, 1983·No. 10934·Published·Cited by 77 cases

Opinion

Arthur H. Healey, J.

The defendant Kenneth Haddad was charged in a two count information in which the first count charged him with intentionally aiding Arthur Faunce and Michael Zierler in committing the crime of burglary in the first degree in violation of General Statutes §§ 53U-8 1 and 53a-101 (a) (2) 2 and the second count charged him with intentionally aiding Arthur Faunce and Michael Zierler in committing the crime of attempted *385 larceny in the first degree in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-8, 53a-49, 53a-119 and 53a-122 (a) (2). After a trial to the court, Dannéhy, Jhe was found guilty on the first count and the trial court granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss the second count. 3 Thereafter, the defendant appealed from the judgment on the first count.

On appeal the defendant’s basic claim is that the court could not have concluded, on the evidence and the reasonable inferences to be drawn from it, that his guilt had been established beyond a reasonable doubt. In challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to justify his conviction, he recognizes that on review the evidence must be given the construction most favorable to sustain the trial court’s judgment of guilty. He maintains, however, that the state did not sustain its burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt every essential element of the crime. He claims that “the key element . . . was whether Haddad intentionally aided Faunce and Zierler as it was conceded [that] both co-defendants had committed the crime.” 4 Acknowledging that the court *386 had concluded that he had intentionally aided them by acting affirmatively in the furtherance of the crime, he submits that this court “should review again the credibility of these witnesses on this point,” although he concedes that “ordinarily” rulings on the credibility of witnesses are not reviewed by us. Additionally, he claims that not only were Faunce and Zierler self-confessed and convicted accomplices 5 but their credibility was also gravely flawed by their trial testimony in the light of earlier statements each had given to the state police as developed particularly on cross-examination. 6 While arguing that his “testimony was not shaken in any material [way] by the state’s cross-examination” and was “as believable as that of Faunce and Zierler,” he goes on to claim that “the truthfulness of their testimony did not rise to the level of proof beyond a reasonable doubt by any reasonable assessment.”

On the other hand, the state argues that there was sufficient evidence before the court to sustain its conclusion that the defendant was proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Specifically, it maintains this was so with reference to the requisite mental intent for the charge of aiding the co-defend *387 ants in the underlying crime of burglary in the first degree, pointing to the right to prove intent by circumstantial evidence. Conceding that it depended heavily upon accomplice testimony which at times was “differing,” it claims, nevertheless, that the credibility of all the testimony was a matter for the trial court to determine. It submits that the evidence was such that “the testimony of each accomplice independently supported the trial court’s finding of guilty.” Noting that the trial court explicitly adverted to the “inherent unreliability” of accomplice testimony and to the demeanor and attitude of the witnesses, it claims that there was sufficient evidence to warrant the trial court’s finding that the state had proven the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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State v. Haddad, 456 A.2d 316, 189 Conn. 383, 1983 Conn. LEXIS 455 (Colo. 1983).

456 A.2d 316 (State v. Haddad) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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