State v. Manfredi

555 A.2d 436, 17 Conn. App. 602, 1989 Conn. App. LEXIS 61
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedMarch 7, 1989
Docket5693
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 555 A.2d 436 (State v. Manfredi) 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. Manfredi, 555 A.2d 436, 17 Conn. App. 602, 1989 Conn. App. LEXIS 61 (Colo. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

Dupont, C. J.

The defendant appeals from the judgment of conviction, following a jury trial, of manslaughter in the first degree, in violation of General Statutes [604]*604§ 53a-55 (a) (2).1 The defendant claims that the trial court erred (1) in compelling him to submit to a series of pretrial psychiatric examinations, (2) in instructing the jury that they could use defense and prosecution expert testimony to find that he possessed the requisite intent to commit murder, (3) in denying his request to have his counsel present at the court ordered psychiatric examinations, and (4) in denying his request to have the court ordered psychiatric examinations recorded. We find no reversible error.

The facts are virtually undisputed. Shortly after 6 a.m. on March 8,1985, a 1979 Oldsmobile registered to the defendant’s wife was found to have crashed into a utility pole in West Hartford. Officers of the West Hartford police department found the body of the defendant’s wife’s on the front floor of the car, with her arms twisted unnaturally and several gashes on the right rear of her head. The police department undertook a day long investigation, studying the car and the West Hartford home of the defendant and his wife, where both had resided with their three young sons. As part of that investigation, photographs were taken of the car and portions of the defendant’s home, including the garage and master bedroom. The defendant was questioned by the police, an autopsy was performed, and later that evening the home was searched pursuant to a warrant. Several hours later, the defendant was arrested on a warrant charging him with the murder [605]*605of his wife. After a trial the jury returned a verdict of guilty of manslaughter in the first degree pursuant to General Statutes § 53a-55 (a) (2). The defendant was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment. Other facts relevant to the issues in this appeal will be discussed below.

I

The defendant first claims that the trial court erred in compelling him to submit to a series of pretrial psychiatric examinations conducted pursuant to Practice Book § 760,2 in violation of his federal constitutional privilege against self-incrimination, as guaranteed by the fifth amendment to the United States constitution and made applicable to the states through the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment; Malloy v. Hogan, 378 U.S. 1, 84 S. Ct. 1489, 12 L. Ed. 2d 359 (1981); and his privilege against self-incrimination contained in article first, § 8, of the constitution of Connecticut. The following facts are relevant to this claim. On March 11,1985, the defendant was arraigned before the court, Doyle, J. The defendant was advised of his Miranda rights,3 bond was set at $150,000, and the defendant was ordered, over his objection, not to see or communicate with his children until further court review. On March 13,1985, a further hearing on bond was held before the court, Purtill, J. In support of his plan for the posting of bond, which called in part for the defendant’s temporary hospitalization upon his [606]*606release, the defendant presented the testimony of psychiatrist Walter Borden. Borden, who had briefly visited the defendant two days before, testified that the defendant was “in a state of confusion, emotional confusion, depression, grief, [and] shock.” On that basis, he concluded that even though the defendant did not present a danger to himself or others and was not likely to flee the jurisdiction if released, “he should be in a psychiatric hospital for a relatively short period of time.” When questioned by the court, Borden confirmed that the defendant was in need of temporary hospitalization “given his state of mind right now.” Accepting Borden’s conclusion that “at the present time [the defendant] has . . . problems [for which] he should be in some type of institution, where he can be treated,” the court ordered that, as a condition of his bond, the defendant was to enter a hospital and remain there for as long as his treating physician required. The next day, the bond arrangements were finalized. The order regarding the defendant’s hospitalization was continued and clarified to include a requirement that the defendant could not leave the hospital without notifying the court.

On March 26, 1985, the state moved the court, E. Y. O’Cormell, J., for a psychiatric examination of the defendant under Practice Book § 760 and for an order under Practice Book § 6674 seeking a continuance of the court’s prior order prohibiting the defendant from seeing or communicating with his children. The defendant simultaneously moved for permission to see his children. The hearing also involved the bond condition requiring the defendant to report to the court before [607]*607his release from the hospital. At the hearing on these motions, the state argued that this was “an appropriate case” under Practice Book § 760 for a psychiatric examination because the defendant might later rely upon the defenses of extreme emotional disturbance or insanity. See Practice Book §§ 758 and 759.5 Citing the defendant’s hospitalization as evidence of this possibility, the state claimed that an examination should be conducted “as soon as possible” to “protect the state’s interest.” Having just been given the state’s motion, defense counsel stated that he was not prepared to address it. Expressing concern as to the parameters and purpose of any examination, the defendant argued that Practice Book § 760 was not applicable to the case as no decision had yet been made concerning possible defenses.

[608]*608The court stated that it would like to have “the benefit of the psychiatric examination in passing on” the defendant’s motion to see his children, and the state’s motion under Practice Book § 667. In support of his motion to see his children, the defendant had submitted letters from Borden6 and psychiatrist Bruce Grey-son. The state opposed the defendant’s motion, relying on Practice Book § 667, on a tape recording of an interview with the children, and on the fact that the defendant was currently being “treated by two psychiatrists.” Observing that the defendant’s hospitalization and the reports submitted by the defendant “may impinge” upon its determination of the motions before the court, the court granted the state’s motion for a psychiatric examination of the defendant over his objection. The only specification in the court’s order was that the examination be conducted by psychiatrist Peter Zeman, if he was available. The court, after viewing the taped interview with the defendant’s children, granted the state’s § 667 motion and denied the defendant’s motion for permission to see his children on the ground that contact with the children “could cause confusion or otherwise be a disturbing influence to the children, which would interfere with the orderly administration of justice.”

On March 27,1985, the defendant moved for a protective order concerning the upcoming court ordered examination.

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Bluebook (online)
555 A.2d 436, 17 Conn. App. 602, 1989 Conn. App. LEXIS 61, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-manfredi-connappct-1989.