State v. Jay

4 A.3d 865, 124 Conn. App. 294, 2010 Conn. App. LEXIS 443
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedOctober 5, 2010
DocketAC 30002
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 4 A.3d 865 (State v. Jay) 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. Jay, 4 A.3d 865, 124 Conn. App. 294, 2010 Conn. App. LEXIS 443 (Colo. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

Opinion

HARPER, J.

The defendant, Michael Jay, appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered following a jury trial, of one count of evasion of responsibility in the operation of a motor vehicle in violation of General Statutes (Rev. to 2005) § 14-224 (b), one count of assault of public safety personnel in violation of General Statutes (Rev. to 2005) § 53a-167c (a) (5) and two counts of interfering with an officer in violation of General Statutes (Rev. to 2005) § 53a-167a.1 The defendant claims that (1) the trial court improperly denied his motion to suppress evidence; (2) the court improperly instructed the jury with regard to the crimes of assault of public safety personnel and interfering with an officer; (3) the court improperly instructed the jury with regard to the crime of evasion of responsibility, resulting in a violation of his right to fair notice of [298]*298the conduct prohibited by the evasion of responsibility statute and his right against self-incrimination; and (4) his conviction of the crimes of assault of public safety personnel and interfering with an officer violated the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

At trial, the state presented evidence in support of the following facts. On the evening of February 2, 2006, the defendant was at a bar in Oakdale with his girlfriend, Heather Femald, and a friend, Anthony Gilmore. The defendant consumed alcoholic beverages at the bar. Upon leaving the bar at about midnight, the defendant drove his automobile, with Femald and Gilmore as passengers, on Forsyth Road in Salem. Soon thereafter, the defendant lost control of his automobile, and it collided with wooden guardrails along the road. This collision caused damage to the guardrails and to the automobile. During the incident, Femald attempted to get out of the automobile, and became pinned between the automobile and a guardrail post. Femald screamed loudly. After she was freed, Femald walked away from the automobile unassisted. At the scene, the defendant exited the automobile and, after inspecting the automobile, tossed the front bumper of his automobile, which had become partially detached during the collision, into a nearby wooded area. Shortly thereafter, Femald, operating the defendant’s automobile, drove the defendant and Gilmore to the defendant’s residence. Later, Femald departed from the defendant’s residence with Gilmore.

John Vitello, an eyewitness at the scene of the collision, notified the police. Christopher Bums, a state police trooper, arrived at the scene at approximately 1:30 a.m. on February 3, 2006. Vitello told Bums that the automobile had left the scene. Vitello also stated that, following the collision, he heard a female screaming and that he observed the female bent over, holding [299]*299her side and crying. At the scene, Bums observed the damaged guardrails, a shoe, two beer bottles and the front bumper of the defendant’s automobile. Bums readily observed one of the defendant’s license plates attached to the bumper. After obtaining the defendant’s address by means of the license plate, Bums immediately proceeded to the defendant’s residence.

Bums and his fellow state police Trooper James Olson arrived at the residence, where they observed the defendant’s automobile. They observed that the automobile was missing its front bumper and that the rear license plate matched the license plate discovered by Bums at the scene of the collision. The troopers, identifying themselves as “state police,” knocked on the defendant’s front door for several minutes, but nobody answered the door. Also, a police dispatcher called the telephone at the residence, but nobody answered the call.

Bums, concerned for the safety of the occupants of the automobile and identifying himself as “state police,” entered the residence through the unlocked front door. While inside the residence, he observed a shoe that matched the one he had found at the crash scene. Bums discovered the defendant, who appeared to be intoxicated, lying on a bed in the residence. When Bums and Olson were unable to wake the defendant, who appeared to have difficulty breathing, they called for emergency medical personnel. After medical personnel arrived on the scene and attempted to awaken the defendant, the defendant awoke and became very agitated. Using profane language, the defendant ordered the troopers and the medical personnel to leave his residence. The defendant declined medical treatment. The troopers asked the defendant to sign the written release indicating that he had declined medical treatment as well as a summons for evasion of responsibility. The defendant refused. Bums told the defendant that [300]*300he would leave the residence if the defendant signed the documents. Bums also told the defendant that he had the authority to make a custodial arrest for evasion of responsibility if the defendant did not sign the summons.

The defendant, continuing to express his displeasure with the presence of the troopers and the medical personnel, declined to sign the documents as instructed. Bums attempted to handcuff the defendant, but the defendant resisted and physically straggled with Bums and Olson as they attempted to restrain him. Bums sprayed the defendant with pepper spray during the straggle, and the defendant and Bums fell to the ground. After the troopers handcuffed the defendant, the defendant hurled saliva at Olson two times, leaving his saliva on Olson’s leg. Additional facts will be set forth as necessary.

I

First, the defendant claims that the court improperly denied his motion to suppress evidence that the police discovered after they had entered his residence. We need not resolve the defendant’s claim that the entry was unlawful because the defendant has not demonstrated that his conviction was tainted by any fruits of the alleged unlawful entry. Accordingly, we reject the defendant’s argument that he is entitled to a new trial on the basis of this claim.

The defendant’s motion to suppress, filed March 17, 2008, sought the suppression of “all evidence” seized and “all arrests” made at the defendant’s home. The defendant argued that the police entered his home without a warrant, in the absence of exigent circumstances, and that evidence was obtained in violation of his state and federal constitutional rights against unreasonable search and seizure. During the suppression hearing, the state presented testimony from Bums, and the defense [301]*301presented testimony from Femald, Gilmore and the defendant. We will set forth the evidence that is relevant and material to the ruling under review.

At the suppression hearing, Bums testified that he responded to the accident scene, where he met with Vitello, who provided him with a written statement. Vitello’s statement, admitted into evidence, provides in relevant part: “On [February 3, 2006] at approximately 1:30 a.m., I was traveling eastbound on Forsyth Rd. in Salem when I saw a silver colored 2-door sedan (possibly a Honda) . . . traveling at a high rate of speed westbound on Forsyth Rd. The car lost control on the sharp turn at the Salem/Montville line, after which the car went off the right side of the road and hit a guardrail pole. The car then continued across the road and collided with a guardrail pole off the left side of the road. I heard a female scream real loud after which [time] she got out of the car and began to walk westbound on Forsyth Rd.

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State v. Jay
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
4 A.3d 865, 124 Conn. App. 294, 2010 Conn. App. LEXIS 443, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-jay-connappct-2010.