State v. Judkins

296 A.2d 4, 6 Conn. Cir. Ct. 649, 1972 Conn. Cir. LEXIS 31
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedApril 14, 1972
DocketFile No. CR 14-125371
StatusPublished

This text of 296 A.2d 4 (State v. Judkins) 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. Judkins, 296 A.2d 4, 6 Conn. Cir. Ct. 649, 1972 Conn. Cir. LEXIS 31 (Colo. Ct. App. 1972).

Opinion

Dearington, J.

The defendant was charged in three counts with the crimes of interfering with a police officer, assault on a police officer, and resisting a police officer, in violation of § 53-165 of the G-eneral Statutes. On a trial to the jury, the defendant was found not guilty on the first and second counts and guilty of resisting a police officer as charged in the third count. He has appealed from the judgment rendered on the guilty verdict. Three assignments of error have been pursued on the appeal: (1) denial of the defendant’s motion for a directed verdict; (2) instructions to the jury on the weighing of the credibility of the defendant; and (3) instructions to the jury on the defendant’s constructive knowledge that [650]*650police officers were present. Other assignments of error, not pursued in the brief, are treated as having been abandoned. French v. Oberreuter, 157 Conn. 181, 184; Maltbie, Conn. App. Proc. § 167.

After the state and the defense rested, the defendant moved for a directed verdict on the ground that the facts presented were insufficient as a matter of law to convict and that the conviction went against the weight of the evidence. The court denied the motion. “[T]he court may direct a verdict of not guilty in a criminal case when the reasoning mind could not reasonably reach a conclusion other than that the evidence, under the law, is not sufficient to justify a finding of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The trial court should not direct a verdict of not guilty unless the judge is clearly of the opinion, upon the best consideration and judgment he can give the matter, that under the law the evidence compels such a direction.” State v. Torello, 100 Conn. 637, 643; see General Statutes § 54-89. “This power should, however, be carefully used,” Maltbie, op. cit. § 203, p. 252. The correctness of the court’s ruling on the motion must be tested by the evidence set forth in the certified transcript. Practice Book § 960.

Prom the evidence before them, the jury could reasonably have found the following facts beyond a reasonable doubt. The defendant, accompanied- by his wife, was attending a rock and roll concert at the Loft, a music coffeehouse located at 419 Farmington Avenue in the city of Hartford, on the evening of February 7,1971. The Loft is located on the second floor and is reached by a staircase ascending from the ground floor. At around 11 p.m., three members of the Hartford police, Detective Edward Cody, Officer Martin Haley and Officer Little, arrived in civilian clothes and informed the owner, Michael Suss-man, that the Loft was overcrowded and thereupon [651]*651arrested Mm for violating a city ordinance. The ordinance permitted an attendance in the Loft of 72 people, and it was claimed that over 150 were in attendance. The owner was instructed to go into the hall where a band was playing, stop the music, and advise the people that the hall was closed and that they must leave. Sussman complied by going to the bandstand, stopping the music, and announcing over the loudspeaker system that the police were there, the place must be closed because of regulations, and the people must leave. The defendant approached Cody and inquired why the place was being closed, and Cody replied that it was because a city ordinance on overcrowding was being violated. The defendant left and entered another room. In the meantime people were leaving through each of two doors leading out of the two rooms occupied by the Loft. The defendant returned to Cody and said, “You lousy cops, you’re always spoiling people’s good times. You’re using the law to oppress people.” Cody replied, “Go ahead, just leave, you’re blocking the door.” The defendant replied, “I don’t have to leave if I don’t want to.” The officer thereupon arrested the defendant, who said, “You can’t arrest me,” and grabbed Cody with both hands, pulling him in such a way as to move both of them toward the stairway. Officer Haley was at the top of the stairway and grabbed Cody to prevent him from tumbling down the stairs. Cody, Haley and the defendant then proceeded down the stairs, with the defendant struggling, until they reached the ground floor, where handcuffs were placed on the defendant. During the struggle on the stairs Cody received lacerations on his right arm and injuries to the muscle tendons near the elbow. He was treated at the Hartford Hospital and the Hartford Health Clinic and remained away from work for two and one-half weeks.

[652]*652The defendant claims that there was an insufficiency of evidence to convict him and that the court erred in denying his motion for a directed verdict. He argues that there was no evidence of resistance, without which there could be no conviction. Section 53-165 provides: “Any person who obstructs, resists, hinders, endangers or interferes with any police officer . . . in the performance of Ms duties shall be subject to the penalties provided in section 53-16.” The defendant cites State v. Neubauer, 2 Conn. Cir. Ct. 169, State v. Harris, 4 Conn. Cir. Ct. 534, and State v. Seiden, 6 Conn. Cir. Ct. 42, to the effect that there must be a showing of hindrance or interference with an officer while he is engaged in the performance of his duties. The defendant contends that Ms actions could only be construed as an attempt to maintain' Ms balance. The evidence indicated that Cody was trying to clear the hall and that the defendant was blocking the door. Not only was the defendant blocking the door but his remarks to the officer tended to show his bellicose attitude. There was evidence that he physically grabbed the officer with each hand and pulled him in the direction of the stairs, causing each to stumble. The violence of the struggle is indicated by the injuries Cody received as they went down the stairs. No issue is raised that the room was overcrowded and a city ordinance was biffing violated. The officers were in the process of enforcing the ordinance, and the evidence indicates that the defendant forcibly resisted their efforts. “ ‘ [T] o resist’ an officer is to oppose him by direct, active, and more or less forcible means . . . .” 58 Am. Jur. 2d 871, Obstructing Justice, § 24. Ballentine, Law Dictionary (2d Ed.), defines resisting an officer as “[t]he active and direct use of force in preventing or attempting to prevent an officer . . . from lawfully discharging his duties.” The evidence, if the jury accepted it, as they were privileged to do, would be [653]*653sufficient to warrant a finding of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and tbe court was justified in denying tbe defendant’s motion for a directed verdict.

Tbe defendant further claims, under his first assignment of error, that the “conviction went against the weight of the evidence.” It is a function of the jury to weigh the evidence, not this court. State v. Smith, 149 Conn. 487, 489; State v. Lougiotis, 130 Conn. 372, 375. The question of credibility of the witnesses was, of course, for the jury to determine. State v. White, 155 Conn. 122, 123.

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Related

State v. White
230 A.2d 18 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1967)
State v. Bester
167 N.W.2d 705 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1969)
State v. Smith
181 A.2d 446 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1962)
State v. Annunziato
221 A.2d 57 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1966)
French v. Oberreuter
251 A.2d 67 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1968)
People v. Boren
72 P. 899 (California Supreme Court, 1903)
State v. Lougiotis
34 A.2d 777 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1943)
State v. Palko
191 A. 320 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1937)
State v. Fiske
28 A. 572 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1893)
State v. Torello
124 A. 375 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1924)
State v. Schleifer
130 A. 184 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1925)
State v. Rogers
163 P. 912 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1917)
Griffin v. California
380 U.S. 609 (Supreme Court, 1965)
State v. Neubauer
197 A.2d 93 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1963)
State v. Harris
236 A.2d 479 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1967)
State v. Seiden
263 A.2d 277 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1969)
State v. Finkelstein
191 S.W. 1002 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1917)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
296 A.2d 4, 6 Conn. Cir. Ct. 649, 1972 Conn. Cir. LEXIS 31, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-judkins-connappct-1972.