State v. Harris

198 Conn. App. 530
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedJune 30, 2020
DocketAC42888
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 198 Conn. App. 530 (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, 198 Conn. App. 530 (Colo. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

*********************************************** The “officially released” date that appears near the be- ginning of each opinion is the date the opinion will be pub- lished in the Connecticut Law Journal or the date it was released as a slip opinion. The operative date for the be- ginning of all time periods for filing postopinion motions and petitions for certification is the “officially released” date appearing in the opinion.

All opinions are subject to modification and technical correction prior to official publication in the Connecticut Reports and Connecticut Appellate Reports. In the event of discrepancies between the advance release version of an opinion and the latest version appearing in the Connecticut Law Journal and subsequently in the Connecticut Reports or Connecticut Appellate Reports, the latest version is to be considered authoritative.

The syllabus and procedural history accompanying the opinion as it appears 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 reproduced and distributed without the express written permission of the Commission on Official Legal Publica- tions, Judicial Branch, State of Connecticut. *********************************************** STATE OF CONNECTICUT v. JERMAINE HARRIS (AC 42888) Lavine, Alvord and Harper, Js.

Syllabus

Convicted, following a jury trial, of the crimes of murder, robbery in the first degree, and carrying a pistol without a permit, the defendant appealed. Held: 1. The defendant could not prevail on his claim that the trial court improperly admitted uncharged misconduct evidence regarding two robberies and three shootings: the defendant failed to preserve his claim that the trial court improperly admitted evidence of uncharged misconduct, the defendant’s objections lacked specificity with regard to the two robber- ies and the record did not reveal any objections to the admission of evidence regarding the shootings; moreover, the defendant was not entitled to reversal of his conviction under the plain error doctrine on his unpreserved claim that the trial court improperly admitted evidence of three uncharged shootings as it was clear from the record that the court balanced the probative value of the evidence against its prejudicial effect, and its determination that the evidence was more probative than prejudicial was legally correct; furthermore, even assuming, arguendo, that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting the evidence of the uncharged shootings, the defendant could not prove that the abuse of discretion was harmful in light of the trial court’s ameliorative steps, which included limiting instructions to the jury regarding its use of uncharged misconduct evidence. 2. The defendant could not prevail on his claim that prosecutorial impropriety deprived him of his due process right to a fair trial; the prosecutor’s comments about the defendant’s gang affiliation and her misstatement about the location where the defendant confessed to an individual about the murder did not constitute prosecutorial impropriety and, although, the prosecutor’s use of the defendant’s nickname beyond the purpose of clarifying the responses of the witnesses was arguably improper, the defendant was not deprived of a fair trial by the prosecutor’s use of his nickname, given the strength of the state’s case, the fact that the prosecutor’s use of the nickname was infrequent, and the defendant’s failure to object to its use during trial. 3. The defendant could not prevail on his claim that his right to due process was violated because the state withheld materially favorable evidence; evidence of the state’s arrangement to provide a witness with lodging and a stipend for food was immaterial and there was not a reasonable probability that the jury would have reached a different verdict had it considered the undisclosed impeachment evidence because the impeachment value of the evidence was low and the state’s case did not rest on the testimony of that witness but, rather, there was ample evidence to support the defendant’s conviction, including video surveil- lance that captured the shooting and testimony that the defendant twice confessed to shooting the victim. Argued February 10—officially released June 30, 2020

Procedural History

Information charging the defendant with the crimes of murder, felony murder, robbery in the first degree, and carrying a pistol without a permit, brought to the Superior Court in the judicial district of New Haven, where the defendant was tried to the jury before Blue, J.; verdict of guilty; thereafter, the court, Blue, J., vacated the defendant’s conviction of felony murder and sentenced the defendant on the remaining counts, and the defendant appealed. Affirmed. Vishal K. Garg, for the appellant (defendant). Robert J. Scheinblum, senior assistant state’s attor- ney, with whom, on the brief, were Patrick J. Griffin, state’s attorney, Stacey M. Miranda, senior assistant state’s attorney, and Karen A. Roberg, assistant state’s attorney, for the appellee (state). Opinion

HARPER, J. The defendant, Jermaine Harris, appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of murder, robbery in the first degree, and carrying a pistol without a permit.1 On appeal, the defendant claims that (1) the trial court improperly admitted uncharged misconduct evidence, (2) his right to due process was violated when the prosecutor appealed to the emotions of the jurors and misstated evidence, and (3) his right to due process was violated when the state withheld material evidence. We disagree with the defendant and, accordingly, affirm the judgment of the trial court. The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. In 2011, the defendant was a member of the G- Shine chapter of the Bloods gang in New Haven. On the night of July 30, 2011, the defendant met Tevin Williams, a fellow gang member and, together, they met the victim, Darryl McIver, who was a member of a rival gang, the Grape Street Crips. Together, the defendant, Williams, and McIver travelled throughout ‘‘the Hill’’ section of New Haven and committed three armed rob- beries. During the first two robberies, the defendant and McIver brandished their guns while Williams searched the victims’ pockets and took whatever valuables were on their respective persons, including money and cell phones. The defendant was armed with a Hi-Point nine millimeter pistol. During the third robbery, McIver pis- tol whipped Telaso Telez after learning that he did not have any money. Following the third robbery, McIver mentioned that he recently had shot Jason Roman, a member of the Bloods gang who went by the nickname ‘‘Scar.’’ Shortly after that admission, the defendant pulled Williams aside to inform Williams that he was going to shoot McIver. Later that night, the defendant and Williams followed McIver as he led them through the surrounding neigh- borhoods. Eventually, all three of them climbed over a perimeter fence onto commercial property on Ella Grasso Boulevard. Once on the property, McIver contin- ued to lead the defendant and Williams, at which point the defendant drew his gun and shot McIver in the back. After shooting McIver, the defendant placed his gun on the ground, next to McIver’s body, and then searched McIver’s body for his gun. While the defendant was searching for McIver’s gun, Williams picked up the defendant’s gun, as the defendant had instructed him to do, and fled the scene. As Williams left, he heard two more gun shots.2 After shooting McIver again, the defendant searched for McIver’s phone and left the scene. The defendant and Williams reconnected at the home of the defendant’s mother, which was located near the shooting of McIver.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
198 Conn. App. 530, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-harris-connappct-2020.