State v. Thomas

772 A.2d 611, 62 Conn. App. 356, 2001 Conn. App. LEXIS 121
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedMarch 20, 2001
DocketAC 20235
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 772 A.2d 611 (State v. Thomas) 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. Thomas, 772 A.2d 611, 62 Conn. App. 356, 2001 Conn. App. LEXIS 121 (Colo. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

Opinion

ZARELLA, J.

The defendant, Damian Thomas, appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of four counts of felony murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54c1 and one count of carrying a pistol without a permit in violation of General Statutes § 29-35.2 On appeal, the defendant claims that (1) the evidence was insufficient to support the felony murder conviction, (2) the court’s failure to instruct the jury, sua sponte, on the defense of extreme emotional disturbance constituted plain error and (3) the court violated his constitutional right against double jeopardy by convicting him of four counts of felony murder when there were only two homicide victims. We affirm the judgment of the trial court in part and reverse it in part.

[358]*358The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. On December 25, 1997, the defendant was at the Alley Cat Night Club in New Haven with Holbert Brown, Ricardo Beckford and Corey Merritt. At approximately 1 a.m., they left the nightclub and drove around New Haven. When they entered the NewhalMUe section of New Haven, the defendant asked the driver, Brown, to pull the car over. The defendant exited the car alone and proceeded around the comer to a residence at 622 Winchester Avenue.

Several people were standing outside the residence. Anthony Mitchell, Tavis Anderson and Ronnie Washington were on the porch of the residence. Joe Foskey and Jevon Langley were on the steps of the porch. The defendant approached the residence with a gun in his hand and stated, “Stick up” and “nobody move.” Mitchell, Anderson and Washington ran into the residence. Mitchell and Washington hid in separate bedrooms in the residence while Anderson fled out the back door. From the bedroom, Mitchell observed the defendant follow Foskey and Langley into the living room of the house. The defendant stated to Langley and Foskey, “Lay down. Give me everything. Don’t look up.” Mitchell witnessed the defendant shoot Langley, who lay on the floor. Mitchell heard another shot, but could not see at whom the defendant shot. Shortly thereafter, Mitchell heard another shot outside. Mitchell later identified the defendant from a photographic array as the person who “killed two people.” He also identified the defendant at trial.

Washington, who was hiding in the bedroom, could see Langley, but could not see Foskey. Twice he heard the defendant say “to run everything,” which is street parlance for give me everything.3 Langley refused to [359]*359comply with the defendant’s order. Washington then saw the defendant shoot Langley. He did not see the defendant shoot Foskey, but he heard the shot. He heard another shot fired after the defendant left the house. Washington was unable to identify the defendant as the person who shot Langley and Foskey.

After the shootings, the defendant ran to the waiting car, jumped in it and directed Brown to drive away. Merritt, who was seated in the backseat, observed the defendant with a .41 caliber handgun. Merritt had seen the defendant with this handgun on previous occasions.

Foskey and Langley died from bullet wounds. The bullets were .41 caliber and had been fired from the same gun. On January 20, 1998, the police arrested the defendant. The defendant confessed to the shootings at the police station. He testified at trial, however, that he did not commit the crimes and that the police had coerced his confession.

The jury found the defendant guilty of four counts of felony murder and one count of carrying a pistol without a permit based on a March 8,1999 information. The court then imposed the following sentence on May 28, 1999: Count two of felony murder based on the death of Foskey during a robbery, sixty years; count three of felony murder based on the death of Langley during a robbery, sixty years, concurrent with the sentence imposed on count two; count four of felony murder based on the death of Foskey during a burglary, sixty years, consecutive to the sentence imposed on counts two and three; count five of felony murder based on the death of Langley during a burglary, sixty years, consecutive with the sentence imposed on counts two and three and concurrent with count four; and count eight of carrying a pistol without a permit, five years, [360]*360concurrent with the sentence imposed on counts two, three, four and five.4 The total effective sentence was 120 years. This appeal followed.

I

The defendant first claims that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction for felony murder. Although the defendant concedes that there was sufficient evidence to establish that he intended to kill the victims, he contends that there was insufficient evidence for the jury to find that he intended to rob or burglarize the victims. In essence, the defendant contends that the jury assumed an underlying felony where there was none and he was, therefore, wrongfully convicted under our felony murder statute. The defendant did not preserve this insufficiency of the evidence claim at trial. He seeks review, however, under the plain error doctrine pursuant to Practice Book § 60-5.5 6We find no merit to the defendant’s claim.

We begin by noting that the defendant’s unpreserved sufficiency of the evidence claim is not reviewable under the plain error doctrine, but rather is reviewable under State v. Golding, 213 Conn. 233, 239-40, 567 A.2d 823 (1989), because it involves a fundamental constitutional right. “Although the defendant failed to raise this claim at trial, our Supreme Court has stated that unpreserved sufficiency of the evidence claims satisfy the requirements of State v. Golding, [supra, 213 Conn. 233] . . . and are therefore reviewable because such claims implicate a defendant’s federal constitutional right not to be convicted of a crime upon insufficient proof.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Scott, 55 [361]*361Conn. App. 660, 664, 740 A.2d 441 (1999), cert, granted on other grounds, 252 Conn. 918, 744 A.2d 439 (2000); see also State v. Roy, 233 Conn. 211, 212, 658 A.2d 566 (1995).6

“The standard of review employed in a sufficiency of the evidence claim is well settled. [W]e apply a two part test. First, we construe the evidence in the fight 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. . . . This court cannot substitute its own judgment for that of the jury if there is sufficient evidence to support the jury’s verdict.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Montgomery, 254 Conn. 694, 732, 759 A.2d 995 (2000).

We note that “[f]elony murder occurs when, in the course of and in furtherance of another crime, one of the participants in that crime causes the death of a person who is not a participant in the crime.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Id., 733.

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Bluebook (online)
772 A.2d 611, 62 Conn. App. 356, 2001 Conn. App. LEXIS 121, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-thomas-connappct-2001.