State v. Pieger

680 A.2d 1001, 42 Conn. App. 460, 1996 Conn. App. LEXIS 415
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedAugust 6, 1996
Docket13747
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 680 A.2d 1001 (State v. Pieger) 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. Pieger, 680 A.2d 1001, 42 Conn. App. 460, 1996 Conn. App. LEXIS 415 (Colo. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinions

HENNESSY, J.

The defendant, Marc A. Pieger, after a trial to the court, appeals from his conviction of evading responsibility in violation of General Statutes § 14-224 (a).1 The defendant claims that the court improperly [462]*462(1) denied his motion for judgment of acquittal, (2) found him guilty of evading responsibility, (3) denied his second motion for articulation and (4) directed him to make a “charity donation.”

The trial court found that on March 29, 1992, at approximately 9 p.m., the defendant was the owner and operator of a motor vehicle that struck and seriously injured Tammy Sheldon as she crossed Noble Avenue in Bridgeport. The trial court further found that the defendant left the scene of the accident without stopping to render assistance or to give his name and address to a police officer or a witness. The trial court also found that the defendant knew he was involved in an accident based on its finding that the defendant drove his vehicle around Sheldon as she lay in the highway.

I

The defendant first claims that the trial court improperly denied his motion for judgment of acquittal. The gravamen of the claim is that the corpus delicti rule barred consideration of the defendant’s admissions to Detective Terrance Lambert2 because the state had not [463]*463presented sufficient independent evidence connecting the defendant to the accident.* *3 The defendant argues that without the admissions the evidence is insufficient to prove that the defendant had been involved in the accident.

“ ‘ “It is a well-settled general rule that a naked extrajudicial confession of guilt by one accused of crime is not sufficient to sustain a conviction when unsupported by any corroborative evidence.” (Emphasis added.) State v. Grant, 177 Conn. 140, 144, 411 A.2d 917 (1979).’ State v. Arnold, 201 Conn. 276, 286, 514 A.2d 330 (1986). Properly, the corroborative evidence of the corpus delicti should be presented, and the court satisfied of its material character and adequacy to render any inculpatory statements admissible before they are allowed into evidence. State v. DelVecchio, 191 Conn. 412, 426-27, 464 A.2d 813 (1983). This corroborating evidence, however, may be circumstantial in nature. State v. Arnold, supra.” State v. Harris, 215 Conn. 189, 192-93, 575 A.2d 223 (1990).

“In Connecticut, the corpus delicti rule has two distinct formulations. First, where the crime charged encompasses a specific kind of loss or injury, the state may make use of a defendant’s admission at trial only if it proves, with sufficient corroborating evidence, the [464]*464existence of that specific injury or loss. State v. Tillman, 152 Conn. 15, 20, 202 A.2d 494 (1964). The state does not have to prove the criminality of the underlying loss or injury as an element of the corpus delicti under this formulation. Id. Second, where the crime charged, however, prohibits certain conduct but does not require a specific harm, the state need introduce only substantial independent evidence that would tend to establish the trustworthiness of the defendant’s confession. State v. Harris, [supra, 215 Conn. 194-95].” State v. DesLaurier, 32 Conn. App. 553, 570-71, 630 A.2d 119 (1993), aff'd, 230 Conn. 572, 646 A.2d 108 (1994).

The defendant has based his motion for judgment of acquittal on the second formulation, which requires the state to introduce substantial independent evidence that tends to establish the trustworthiness of the defendant’s statement. The second approach, adopted in State v. Harris, supra, 215 Conn. 194-95, is based on the proposition that the crime charged prohibits certain conduct and does not require a specific harm. The Harris formulation, however, is not applicable to this case. The statute with which the defendant was charged requires that the accident cause serious physical injury, which places it squarely within the first formulation adopted in State v. Tillman, supra, 152 Conn. 20. See General Statutes § 14-224. As such, in order for the state to use the defendant’s admissions at trial it must prove with sufficient corroborative evidence the existence of that specific injury or loss. It need not provide corroborating evidence that the defendant caused the loss or injury.

The victim and her physician both testified as to the victim’s injuries. This testimony led the trial court to find the following: “As a result of being struck by the motor vehicle, Tammy sustained multiple trauma to the body and brain. She also fractured the vertebrae in her neck. The result of the impact left her comatose for a [465]*465long period of time. The injury she sustained was a serious and permanent injury.” This evidence satisfies the requirements set forth in Tillman and “once the existence of the crime charged is established, the confession alone may then be used to provide the link between the criminal act and the accused who admits having committed it.” State v. Grant, 177 Conn. 140, 144, 411 A.2d 917 (1979). We conclude that the trial court did not improperly deny the defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal.

II

The defendant next claims that his conviction should be vacated because the trial court’s judgment of acquittal on the reckless driving count and conviction on the evading responsibility in the operation of a motor vehicle count were inconsistent both factually and as a matter of law. The defendant claims that the trial court’s judgment of acquittal on the charge of reckless driving was based on conflicting testimony concerning the description of the car seen at the scene of the accident. He contends that because the charges were based on the same evidence, if there was confusion as to whether his car1 was being driven recklessly, resulting in the judgment of acquittal, there must be confusion as to whether his car was involved in the evading responsibility violation. The defendant argues that by finding him not guilty of reckless driving, the court, in effect, must have had a reasonable doubt that he drove the car involved in the accident, and, if that was the finding, the court cannot find him guilty of evading responsibility for the same incident. The defendant claims that finding him guilty of evading responsibility and not guilty of reckless driving results in a legal impossibility requiring the judgment of the court to be reversed because both charges involved the same incident.

[466]*466The defendant did not make the “inconsistent verdict” argument to the court at trial, but argues that he is entitled to review of this claim under State v. Golding, 213 Conn. 233, 567 A.2d 823 (1989).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Kenneth K.
232 Conn. App. 657 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2025)
State v. Mendez
197 A.3d 477 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2018)
Haggerty v. Williams
855 A.2d 264 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2004)
State v. Morales
826 A.2d 217 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2003)
State v. Dubrel, No. Cr 97 0070178 (Aug. 30, 2000)
2000 Conn. Super. Ct. 10047 (Connecticut Superior Court, 2000)
State v. Coleman
709 A.2d 590 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1998)
State v. Milner
699 A.2d 1022 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1997)
State v. Kelly, No. Cr 1-52961 (Jul. 1, 1997)
1997 Conn. Super. Ct. 3068 (Connecticut Superior Court, 1997)
(1997)
82 Op. Att'y Gen. 34 (Maryland Attorney General Reports, 1997)
State v. Pieger
683 A.2d 398 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1996)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
680 A.2d 1001, 42 Conn. App. 460, 1996 Conn. App. LEXIS 415, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-pieger-connappct-1996.