State v. Harris

687 A.2d 544, 43 Conn. App. 830, 1996 Conn. App. LEXIS 606
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedDecember 24, 1996
Docket14466
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 687 A.2d 544 (State v. Harris) 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. Harris, 687 A.2d 544, 43 Conn. App. 830, 1996 Conn. App. LEXIS 606 (Colo. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

LANDAU, J.

The defendant, Willie Harris, appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered after a juiy trial, of conspiracy to commit murder in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-48 (a)1 and 53a-54a (a).2 On appeal, the defendant claims that the trial court improperly (1) admitted prior misconduct evidence, and (2) admitted a mug shot of the defendant that a witness used in making an out-of-court identification. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The juiy could reasonably have found the following facts. On April 27, 1993, at approximately 9 p.m., Ticey Brown was walking on the sidewalk in front of 75 County Street in New Haven when he was struck by two bullets, one in the head and one in the chest, causing his death. The shots were fired from the back of a vacant lot on the side of 75 County Street. Subsequent ballistic tests established that the bullets had been fired from two different weapons. At the time of the shooting, Brown was walking near 75 County Street with Ephraim Gilliard and Sam Hook. Gilliard and Hook were walking behind Brown when the shots were fired and did not see who fired the shots.

Approximately fifteen minutes before the shooting, Antonio West observed the defendant, Bobby Jones and Darryl McIntyre sitting in a burgundy Ford Mustang in a parking lot near the crime scene. When they exited the car, West saw Jones and McIntyre put on black masks and saw that the defendant was wearing a green hooded sweatshirt. West noted that Jones was taller [832]*832than the defendant and McIntyre. He observed the three men cross the street, walk through a parking lot, and proceed toward 75 County Street.

On the night of the shooting, Latisha Lewis, from a window that overlooked the rear of 75 County Street, observed three individuals near the back edge of 75 County Street. She noted that two of them were wearing black clothing, that the other wore a hooded sweatshirt, and that one individual was taller than the others. From her window, she observed two of the three individuals fire their weapons in the direction of County Street. The three individuals then fled the scene. Priscilla Harris, who heard the gunshots and looked out her window, observed two individuals running toward Goffe Street and the defendant, whom she positively identified, running toward Orchard Street.

On June 16, 1993, the police issued a warrant for the arrests of the defendant, Jones and McIntyre. On November 9,1993, while searching aresidence pursuant to a warrant, the police found the defendant hiding in the darkened kitchen and Jones underneath a bed.

I

The defendant first argues that the trial court improperly admitted evidence of prior misconduct. The trial court admitted evidence proffered by two state witnesses that the defendant, Jones and McIntyre engaged in the sale of narcotics. The state argued that the evidence was highly probative of the relationship among the three individuals. The defendant objected to the admission of this evidence, arguing that its probative value was outweighed by its prejudicial effect.

At trial, West testified that he had observed the defendant, Jones and McIntyre, on several occasions, selling narcotics at the corner of Dickerman and [833]*833Orchard Streets.3 Immediately following this testimony, the trial court gave a limiting instruction pointing out to the jury that the defendant is charged with conspiracy to commit murder, “not with drug cocaine possession, sale of cocaine or anything of that nature.” It also instructed the jury that the evidence was admitted because it “is the state’s claim that these three people, the [defendant, Jones] and this McIntyre had a relationship with each other . . . tending] to corroborate the fact that the three of them hung around together . . . .” The fact that they were selling drugs “is not to be used against them in deciding this case.”4

Another witness, Jeffrey Covington, testified that he was actively engaged in the narcotics trade with the defendant, Jones and McIntyre and that the defendant controlled the operation. He testified that Jones supplied him with the drugs to sell and that each day he [834]*834returned the proceeds from the sale of the drugs to Jones. Finally, he testified that following Brown’s murder he could not reach Jones for three days. The defendant objected to the admissibility of the testimony, and argued that its probative value was outweighed by its prejudicial effect. The state asserted that the evidence was highly probative of the relationship among the three conspirators and also highly probative of the conspirators’ changed course of conduct subsequent to the murder. After ruling that the probative value of the evidence outweighed the prejudicial impact, the trial court overruled the objection.5 The trial court then gave a limiting instruction as to the permissible use of Covington’s testimony.6 Finally, in the trial court’s charge to the jury [835]*835on the issue of prior misconduct evidence,7 it reiterated the purposes for which the evidence could be used.

“As a general rule, evidence of a defendant’s prior crimes or misconduct is not admissible. State v. Crump-[836]*836ton, 202 Conn. 224, 228, 520 A.2d 226 (1987); State v. Geyer, 194 Conn. 1, 5, 480 A.2d 489 (1984). We have, however, recognized exceptions to the general rule if the purpose for which the evidence is offered is to prove intent, identity, malice, motive, a system of criminal activity or the elements of a crime. State v. Mooney, 218 Conn. 85, 126, 588 A.2d 145, cert. denied, 502 U.S. 919, 112 S. Ct. 330, 116 L. Ed. 2d 270 (1991); State v. Brown, 199 Conn. 47, 56, 505 A.2d 1225 (1986); State v. Ibraimov, 187 Conn. 348, 352, 446 A.2d 382 (1982). ‘[Prior misconduct] evidence may also be used to corroborate crucial prosecution testimony. United States v. Everett, 825 F.2d 658, 660 (2d Cir. 1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1069, 108 S. Ct. 1035, 98 L. Ed. 2d 999 (1988) . . . .’ State v. Santiago, 224 Conn. 325, 338, 618 A.2d 32 (1992); State v. Duntz, 223 Conn. 207, 240, 613 A.2d 224 (1992).” State v. Cooper, 227 Conn. 417, 424, 630 A.2d 1043 (1993).

Our analysis of whether evidence of prior misconduct is admissible is two-pronged. First, the evidence must be relevant and material to at least one of the circumstances encompassed by the exceptions. “Second, the probative value of such evidence must outweigh the prejudicial effect of the other crimes evidence.” State v. Figueroa, 235 Conn. 145, 162, 665 A.2d 63 (1995); State v. Braman, 191 Conn. 670, 676, 469 A.2d 760 (1983).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Brown
Connecticut Appellate Court, 2014
State v. Collins
919 A.2d 1087 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2007)
State v. Cator
781 A.2d 285 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 2001)
State v. Lucas
775 A.2d 338 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2001)
State v. Clark
774 A.2d 183 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2001)
State v. Green
774 A.2d 157 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2001)
State v. McPhee
755 A.2d 893 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2000)
State v. Jenkins
743 A.2d 660 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2000)
State v. Hoover
738 A.2d 685 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1999)
State v. Greene
727 A.2d 765 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1999)
State v. Vega
709 A.2d 28 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1998)
State v. Oliver
708 A.2d 594 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1998)
State v. Faria
703 A.2d 1149 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1997)
State v. Adorno
695 A.2d 6 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1997)
State v. Jones
689 A.2d 517 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1997)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
687 A.2d 544, 43 Conn. App. 830, 1996 Conn. App. LEXIS 606, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-harris-connappct-1996.