State v. Moody

822 A.2d 990, 77 Conn. App. 197, 2003 Conn. App. LEXIS 244
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedJune 3, 2003
DocketAC 23471
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 822 A.2d 990 (State v. Moody) 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. Moody, 822 A.2d 990, 77 Conn. App. 197, 2003 Conn. App. LEXIS 244 (Colo. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

Opinion

SCHALLER, J.

The defendant, Donald Moody, appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54a (a)1 and assault in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-59 (a) (5).2 The defendant claims that (1) the trial court improperly refused to admit into evidence the full transcript of a defense witness’ statement to police, (2) the prosecutor committed misconduct during cross-examination and closing argument in violation of the defendant’s right to a fair trial and (3) the court failed to investigate adequately whether jurors saw certain notes made by the prosecutor that inadvertently had been given to an alternate juror. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. On November 9, 1994, the victims, Marquis Clark and Frank Doughty, were walking with a third person near' the intersection of George Street and Day Street in New Haven. The defendant was behind the steering wheel of a car stopped at the traffic signal on Day Street. As the victims walked along the sidewalk on Day Street, they and the defendant began shouting at each other. They had just walked past the rear of the defendant’s car when the defendant aimed a handgun over his shoulder and fired eight to ten shots at them [200]*200through the car’s rear windshield. Doughty was shot in the thigh, but survived. Clark was shot in the hand and chest, and died of injuries to his heart and left lung. The third person walking with the victims returned the defendant’s gunfire, striking the defendant in the left leg. Additional facts are set forth as necessary for resolution of the defendant’s claims.

I

The defendant first claims that the court improperly refused to admit into evidence the full transcript of a defense witness’ statement to the police. We are not persuaded.

The following additional facts underlie the defendant’s claim. The defendant’s theory of defense at trial was that he had acted in self-defense when he shot Clark and Doughty. He called Larry Smith as a witness. Smith testified to the following facts. On the morning of November 9, 1994, the defendant and Smith were at the house where the defendant lived with his mother. Around lunchtime, the defendant left the house. When he returned, he appeared upset and stated that he had been approached, threatened and “ruffled up” by somebody at a convenience store on Sylvan Avenue. The defendant asked Smith to return to the store with him. When they arrived at the store, the individuals who earlier had approached the defendant no longer were there. The defendant purchased some food while Smith waited in the car. When the defendant returned to the car, Smith told the defendant that he wanted to go home.

The defendant drove in the direction of Smith’s home, which was located near the comer of George and Day Streets. When the defendant stopped the car near that intersection, Smith opened the passenger side door part way to exit the vehicle. He saw a man standing on the comer pull a gun out of his coat pocket. While Smith was still seated in the passenger seat, the man began [201]*201firing the gun. After seeing the man fire the first shot, Smith ducked down behind the dashboard and heard what he described as “a rain of shots.” At some point during the shooting, Smith caught a glimpse of the defendant holding a gun. The defendant, however, returned fire only after receiving a gunshot wound in his leg. The entire incident, from the time the first shot was fired, lasted approximately fifteen seconds.

After the shooting had ended, the defendant drove himself and Smith to the defendant’s house. On the way there, Smith saw an automatic weapon in the defendant’s lap, but testified that he did not know what happened to the gun after that point. When they arrived at the defendant’s home, Smith helped the defendant out of the car and into the house. Smith then drove off in the car, accompanied by a person known to him only as “Anklehead.” Smith and Anklehead eventually were stopped by the police and taken into custody. Smith was taken to a police station, where he made a tape-recorded statement.

During cross-examination, the state repeatedly questioned Smith about certain inconsistencies between his testimony and his November 9, 1994 tape-recorded police interview. Smith admitted that he had told the police that he did not know the defendant’s first name and admitted that he had lied when he said that. Smith also admitted that he had not told the police that the reason he and the defendant were near the intersection of George and Day Streets was that the defendant was driving Smith home. In addition, Smith admitted that he told police that he had left the defendant’s gun in the car upon arriving at the defendant’s house, contrary to his trial testimony that he did not know what happened to the gun.

Prior to beginning redirect examination of Smith, the defendant filed a motion in limine seeking to introduce [202]*202the full twelve page transcript of the interview (police statement). In support of his motion, the defendant made two arguments. He argued that admission of the police statement was necessary to counter the state’s implication that Smith recently had fabricated his testimony. In addition, the defendant argued that the police statement should have been admitted for purposes of rehabilitation, to place the apparent inconsistencies with Smith’s trial testimony in context so as not to mislead the jury.

The court denied the motion to introduce the full police statement, but stated that it would permit the defendant to introduce certain sections. With regard to the defendant’s argument that admission of the full police statement was necessary to counter an implication that Smith recently had fabricated his testimony, the court concluded that there was “no evidence of recent fabrication either explicit or implicit based on the examination [by the state].” The court also rejected the defendant’s argument that the full police statement was necessary to place Smith’s inconsistencies in context. The court ruled, however, that certain sections of the police statement were admissible for that purpose. Specifically, the court ruled that it would permit the defendant to introduce the section of the police statement relating to Smith’s knowledge of the defendant’s name as well as two sections in which Smith answered questions regarding the gun used by the defendant.3 [203]*203The court specifically stated that those sections of the police statement would be admitted if offered by the defendant.4 Despite the court’s ruling that the three [204]*204excerpts from the police statement were admissible, the defendant never offered them into evidence, nor did he make any subsequent attempt to have the full police statement admitted.

We begin by setting forth the applicable standard of review. “The trial court’s ruling on the admissibility of evidence is entitled to great deference. . . . [T]he trial court has broad discretion in ruling on the admissibility ... of evidence. . . . The trial court’s ruling on evidentiary matters will be overturned only upon a showing of a clear abuse of the court’s discretion. . . . We will make every reasonable presumption in favor of upholding the trial court’s ruling, and only upset it for a manifest abuse of discretion. . . .

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
822 A.2d 990, 77 Conn. App. 197, 2003 Conn. App. LEXIS 244, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-moody-connappct-2003.