State v. Opio-Oguta

CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedSeptember 23, 2014
DocketAC34684
StatusPublished

This text of State v. Opio-Oguta (State v. Opio-Oguta) 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. Opio-Oguta, (Colo. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

****************************************************** The ‘‘officially released’’ date that appears near the beginning of each opinion is the date the opinion will be published in the Connecticut Law Journal or the date it was released as a slip opinion. The operative date for the beginning of all time periods for filing postopinion motions and petitions for certification is the ‘‘officially released’’ date appearing in the opinion. In no event will any such motions be accepted before the ‘‘officially released’’ date. All opinions are subject to modification and technical correction prior to official publication in the Connecti- cut Reports and Connecticut Appellate Reports. In the event of discrepancies between the electronic version of an opinion and the print version appearing in the Connecticut Law Journal and subsequently in the Con- necticut Reports or Connecticut Appellate Reports, the latest print version is to be considered authoritative. The syllabus and procedural history accompanying the opinion as it appears on the Commission on Official Legal Publications Electronic Bulletin Board Service and 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 repro- duced and distributed without the express written per- mission of the Commission on Official Legal Publications, Judicial Branch, State of Connecticut. ****************************************************** STATE OF CONNECTICUT v. EDGAR OPIO-OGUTA (AC 34684) Alvord, Sheldon and Harper, Js. Argued February 4—officially released September 23, 2014

(Appeal from Superior Court, judicial district of Hartford, geographical area number fourteen, Randolph, J.) Katherine C. Essington, assigned counsel, for the appellant (defendant). James M. Ralls, assistant state’s attorney, with whom, on the brief, were Gail P. Hardy, state’s attor- ney, and Robert Mullins, senior assistant state’s attor- ney, for the appellee (state). Opinion

HARPER, J. The defendant, Edgar Opio-Oguta, appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of criminal violation of a protective order in violation of General Statutes § 53a-223 and disorderly conduct in violation of General Statutes § 53a-182 (a) (1). On appeal, the defendant argues that the court (1) improperly enlarged the offense of criminal violation of a protective order by including uncharged miscon- duct in its jury charge; (2) improperly failed to charge the jury that criminal violation of a protective order is a general intent crime; and (3) abused its discretion in admitting into evidence a recording of the victim’s 911 telephone call. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. The victim met the defendant in May, 2010. The victim moved in with the defendant and became the defendant’s girlfriend for two or three months. After the victim and the defendant separated, the defendant continued to call the victim and send her text messages. In June, 2010, prior to the end of their relationship, the victim obtained a protective order requiring the defendant to stay away from the victim’s residence and not to contact her.1 After the protective order was issued, the defendant continued to call the victim and her children. The victim did not report these instances to the police, however, because she did not feel physi- cally threatened by them. In November, 2010, the victim moved to a residence in Hartford with her boyfriend, Chol Mangor, and his cousin, Ring Yak. On the afternoon of January 8, 2011, the victim and Mangor were napping in the bedroom of their residence, and Yak and a few of his friends were in the living room, when the defendant came into the bedroom with a beer bottle in his hand and asked to speak to Mangor. When Mangor told the defendant to leave, the defendant threw the beer bottle, missing Mangor’s head and hitting the wall. The victim called the police, who arrived and arrested the defendant. The defendant was charged with criminal violation of a protective order in violation of § 53a-223 and disor- derly conduct in violation of § 53a-182 (a) (1). The jury found the defendant guilty of both charges, upon which the court imposed a total effective sentence of three years incarceration, execution suspended after sixteen months, with three years of probation.2 Additional facts will be set forth as they pertain to each claim. I The defendant first argues that the court improperly enlarged the offense of criminal violation of a protective order in its charge to the jury. The following facts are relevant to this claim. Count one of the second amended long form information alleged, in pertinent part, that ‘‘on or about January 8, 2011, at approximately 3:15 p.m., [the] defendant . . . did go to the residence of the protected party . . . and did harass her and did cause contact that did cause her annoyance and alarm, said conduct in violation of [§] 53a-223.’’ At the conclusion of the evidence, a charge confer- ence took place on the record. During this conference, the court reviewed its proposed charge with counsel. The court also considered requests to charge submitted by the defendant. The court’s proposed charge regard- ing criminal violation of a protective order did not indi- cate that the state had alleged that the defendant called or texted the victim in violation of the protective order, and this was not discussed during the charge confer- ence. In the court’s final charge, however, the court stated: ‘‘The state alleges that the defendant harassed the complaining witness. The state also alleges that the defendant did not stay away from the residence of the protected person, and the state also alleges that the defendant called or texted the protected person in viola- tion of the protective order.’’ (emphasis added.)3 The defendant argues that by including the language regard- ing phone calls and text messages, the court improperly enlarged the offense of criminal violation of a protective order. The state contends that although this added lan- guage potentially enlarged the offense, the evidence and instructions as a whole guided the jury to a proper verdict. We initially note that the defendant did not object to the court’s charge on criminal violation of a protective order and seeks review of this unpreserved claim pursu- ant to State v. Golding, 213 Conn. 233, 239–40, 567 A.2d 823 (1989), or the plain error doctrine.4 Pursuant to Golding, ‘‘a defendant can prevail on a claim of constitu- tional error not preserved at trial only if all of the follow- ing conditions are met: (1) the record is adequate to review the alleged claim of error; (2) the claim is of constitutional magnitude alleging the violation of a fun- damental right; (3) the alleged constitutional violation clearly exists and clearly deprived the defendant of a fair trial; and (4) if subject to harmless error analysis, the state has failed to demonstrate harmlessness of the alleged constitutional violation beyond a reasonable doubt.’’ Id. 239–40. Because the record in this case is adequate for review and the defendant’s claim impli- cates his right to be sufficiently informed of the nature of the charges against him, pursuant to the federal and state constitutions; see State v. Dunstan, 145 Conn. App. 384, 395 and n.8, 74 A.3d 559, cert. denied, 310 Conn. 958, 82 A.3d 626 (2013); we will proceed to review the merits of the defendant’s claim pursuant to Golding. ‘‘[E]nlargement cases involve claims that the trial court expanded the state’s information by instructing the jury on statutory or factual alternatives not charged in the information. . . .

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Bluebook (online)
State v. Opio-Oguta, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-opio-oguta-connappct-2014.