State v. Rice

936 A.2d 694
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedOctober 23, 2007
Docket28465
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 936 A.2d 694 (State v. Rice) 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. Rice, 936 A.2d 694 (Colo. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

936 A.2d 694 (2007)
105 Conn.App. 103

STATE of Connecticut
v.
Jerome RICE.

No. 28465.

Appellate Court of Connecticut.

Argued October 23, 2007.
Decided December 25, 2007.

*695 Mary Anne Royle, special public defender, for the appellant (defendant).

Michele C. Lukban, senior assistant state's attorney, with whom, on the brief, were John A. Connelly, state's attorney, and Eva B. Lenczewski, supervisory assistant state's attorney, for the appellee (state).

FLYNN, C.J., and HARPER and PETERS, Js.

FLYNN, C.J.

The defendant, Jerome Rice, appeals from the judgment of conviction, following a trial by jury, of one count of murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54a(a). On appeal, the defendant claims that the trial court improperly (1) denied his motion for a judgment of acquittal for insufficient evidence where the state failed to *696 establish the essential element of intent to kill and (2) denied his motion to suppress his signed confession where it was not knowingly and voluntarily given because he had not slept for two days and had been under the undue influence of alcohol when he signed it. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The following facts reasonably could have been found by the jury. On October 23, 2003, the defendant, accompanied by his friend, Frank Orr, drove from the defendant's home in New York to Waterbury to see his son and his son's mother, Tosha McClashie. After arriving, Norris McClashie, Tosha McClashie's brother, who also was a friend of the defendant, asked the defendant and Orr to go out on the town with him so that he could purchase some marijuana. They took the defendant's automobile. Sometime after they left the house, the defendant removed his Taurus nine millimeter handgun from the trunk of his automobile and placed it into his jacket pocket. While driving around in the automobile, the three men drank some forty ounce beers and may have shared a marijuana cigarette. They stopped at a few locations before ending up at Buddies Billiards (Buddies). While at Buddies, Norris McClashie (McClashie) was approached by his friend, Jose Lopez, who asked McClashie for a ride home. McClashie asked the defendant if they could drop Lopez off at home, and the defendant agreed. When they left Buddies, at approximately 12:30 a.m. on the morning of October 24, the defendant and Orr sat in the front seat, and McClashie and Lopez sat in the backseat of the defendant's automobile. At some point during the ride, Lopez took out some cocaine and asked McClashie if he wanted some. The defendant became very angry and told Lopez that he did not want drugs in his automobile, and Lopez gave the defendant a sarcastic response. Shortly thereafter, Lopez asked the defendant to stop the automobile because he had to relieve himself. The defendant stopped, and Lopez walked to the rear of the automobile. The defendant exited the vehicle and walked behind the vehicle as well. McClashie then heard two bangs, and the defendant returned to the driver's seat. When the defendant began to drive away, McClashie asked the defendant what had happened and if he had shot Lopez. The defendant did not respond. McClashie asked the defendant to return to the scene to get Lopez and take him to a hospital, but the defendant again said nothing. The defendant drove normally and took McClashie home, telling him not to say anything about what had transpired. The defendant and Orr then drove back to New York. McClashie telephoned the defendant later in the day and asked him if Lopez was dead, and the defendant stated that he had shot Lopez in the chest and in the head. McClashie then asked the defendant why he had shot Lopez, and the defendant responded that he had never liked Lopez.

Later in the evening, McClashie gave a statement to the police. A warrant was issued for the defendant's arrest, and members of the Waterbury police department went to New York to execute the warrant. During the night of October 25, 2003, at approximately 11:30 p.m., the defendant was arrested at his New York apartment, where the police also found the gun that was used to kill Lopez. The police took the defendant to the 105th precinct in New York City. Within approximately twenty minutes, the defendant confessed to shooting Lopez and signed a written confession. He was returned to Connecticut to face trial. The defendant was tried, found guilty by the jury and was sentenced to fifty-three years imprisonment, with three years of special probation. *697 This appeal followed. Additional facts will be set forth where necessary.

I

The defendant first claims that the court improperly denied his motion for a judgment of acquittal, in which he claimed that the state presented insufficient evidence to prove that he had the necessary intent to shoot and kill Lopez. He argues that the evidence demonstrated that he was intoxicated at the time of the shooting and that he had smoked marijuana, which negated the element of intent. We disagree.

"The standard of review we apply to a claim of insufficient evidence is well established. In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction we apply a two-part test. First, we construe the evidence in the light most favorable to sustaining the verdict. Second, we determine whether upon the facts so construed and the inferences reasonably drawn therefrom the [finder of fact] reasonably could have concluded that the cumulative force of the evidence established guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. . . .

"We note that the jury must find every element proven beyond a reasonable doubt in order to find the defendant guilty of the charged offense, [but] each of the basic and inferred facts underlying those conclusions need not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. . . . If it is reasonable and logical for the jury to conclude that a basic fact or an inferred fact is true, the jury is permitted to consider the fact proven and may consider it in combination with other proven facts in determining whether the cumulative effect of all the evidence proves the defendant guilty of all the elements of the crime charged beyond a reasonable doubt. . . .

"Moreover, it does not diminish the probative force of the evidence that it consists, in whole or in part, of evidence that is circumstantial rather than direct. . . . It is not one fact, but the cumulative impact of a multitude of facts which establishes guilt in a case involving substantial circumstantial evidence. . . . In evaluating evidence, the [finder] of fact is not required to accept as dispositive those inferences that are consistent with the defendant's innocence. . . . The [finder of fact] may draw whatever inferences from the evidence or facts established by the evidence it deems to be reasonable and logical. . . .

"Finally, [a]s we have often noted, proof beyond a reasonable doubt does not mean proof beyond all possible doubt . . . nor does proof beyond a reasonable doubt require acceptance of every hypothesis of innocence posed by the defendant that, had it been found credible by the [finder of fact], would have resulted in an acquittal. . . . On appeal, we do not ask whether there is a reasonable view of the evidence that would support a reasonable hypothesis of innocence. We ask, instead, whether there is a reasonable view of the evidence that supports the [finder of fact's] verdict of guilty." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Calabrese, 279 Conn. 393, 402-403,

Related

Rice v. Commissioner of Correction
204 Conn. App. 513 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2021)
State v. Ames
157 A.3d 660 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2017)
State v. Gibson
969 A.2d 784 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2009)
State v. KHUTH
958 A.2d 218 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2008)
State v. Outlaw
949 A.2d 544 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2008)
State v. Linarte
944 A.2d 369 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2008)
State v. Houle
940 A.2d 836 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
936 A.2d 694, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-rice-connappct-2007.