State v. White

906 A.2d 728, 97 Conn. App. 763, 2006 Conn. App. LEXIS 419
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedOctober 3, 2006
DocketAC 25840
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 906 A.2d 728 (State v. White) 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. White, 906 A.2d 728, 97 Conn. App. 763, 2006 Conn. App. LEXIS 419 (Colo. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

Opinion

DUPONT, J.

The defendant, Phillip C. White III, appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered after [765]*765a jury trial, of kidnapping in the second degree with a firearm in violation of General Statutes § 53a-94a (a)2 and burglary in the second degree with a firearm in violation of General Statutes § 53a-102a (a).3 On appeal, the defendant claims that (1) there was insufficient evidence to support a conviction for kidnapping in the second degree with a firearm, (2) the trial court improperly instructed the jury on the element of intent for both the kidnapping and burglary charges, (3) the court improperly failed to instruct the jury on criminal trespass in the second degree, as a lesser included offense of burglary in the second degree with a firearm, and (4) the court improperly instructed the jury on the elements of burglary in the second degree, permitting the jury to return a nonunanimous verdict.4 We reverse the judgment of conviction on count two, burglary in the second degree with a firearm, and remand the case for a new trial on that charge, and we affirm the judgment of conviction on count one, kidnapping in the second degree with a firearm.

[766]*766The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. On June 24, 2003, the complainant was alone inside her parents’ home in the town of Fairfield. At approximately 4 p.m., the defendant approached the front door and rang the doorbell. The complainant answered the door, and the defendant informed her that he was selling magazine subscriptions to earn money for college. The defendant asked the complainant to look at a brochure to determine if she was interested in purchasing any of the magazines. The complainant informed the defendant that she could not pinchase anything because her parents were not home. She recommended that he return sometime around 6 p.m. when her parents would be home from work.

The defendant asked the complainant if he could use the bathroom. The complainant hesitated. The defendant explained that he really had to use the bathroom. Without invitation, the defendant brushed by the complainant, who was standing in the doorway, and walked straight down the hallway of the foyer toward the bathroom located off the kitchen. The defendant remained in the bathroom for approximately thirty seconds. When he emerged from the bathroom, the defendant walked slowly toward the complainant. While the defendant was in the bathroom, the complainant did not hear the bathroom door shut or the water running from the bathroom plumbing. The complainant remained near the front doorway while the defendant was in the bathroom.

The defendant, again, asked the complainant to look at the magazine brochure. The complainant briefly looked at the brochure, handed it back to the defendant and told him that she had not heard of any of the magazines on the list. The defendant took the brochure, walked toward the door and closed the door. Placing his hand in the rear pocket of his trousers, the defendant told the complainant that he had a gun and ordered her to sit on a couch in the den adjacent to the foyer. The complainant entered the den and sat on the couch [767]*767closest to the foyer. The defendant asked her what time her parents would arrive home. Though the complainant had told him earlier that her parents would be home at approximately 6 p.m., this time she told the defendant that they would arrive at approximately 5:30 p.m., hoping that he would believe that her parents would arrive sooner. The defendant then asked if anyone else was home, and she told him that no one else was home at the time.

After approximately three minutes, the defendant told the complainant to stand up because he wanted to go upstairs. Walking sideways facing the complainant, the defendant slowly approached the stairwell just off the den. After taking several slow steps, the defendant placed his hand on the complainant’s elbow to hurry her along. As the defendant touched the complainant’s arm, she began to scream and cry. The defendant told the complainant to be quiet, and she attempted to leave the house via the front door. The defendant blocked the doorway, as the complainant continued to scream. The defendant suddenly stopped and said that he was just playing. The defendant then called the complainant a “scaredy-ass,” opened the front door and ran out of the house. Approximately ten minutes elapsed from the time the defendant first arrived at the home to the time that he departed.

The complainant closed the door and locked it. She immediately called a friend, who lived up the street, to warn her that the defendant was running in her direction. She was unable to contact her friend. The complainant then unsuccessfully called both of her parents. Finally, she reached her boyfriend by telephone and told him what had happened. She then called the police and gave a brief description of the defendant.

Within approximately ten minutes, Officer Joseph Kalson of the Fairfield police department arrived at the [768]*768home. The complainant again gave a description of the defendant, and Kalson broadcast over the police radio that the original description was correct. Officer Christopher Ioli of the Fairfield police department also responded to the call. Ioli observed the defendant jogging on a street. By the time that Ioli had turned his vehicle around and turned down that street, the defendant was sitting on the front lawn of a house. According to Ioli, the defendant was sweating and appeared slightly nervous. Ioli conducted a patdown search for weapons but found none. The complainant was transported to that location, where she identified the defendant, and the defendant was taken into custody.

I

The defendant’s first claim is that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to sustain the conviction for kidnapping in the second degree with a firearm. Specifically, the defendant claims that the state failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt one of the elements of the crime, namely, that he had the specific intent to cause the result of preventing the complainant’s liberation by physical force or intimidation. If the defendant is correct, he may not be tried again for this crime and is entitled to a judgment of acquittal on the charge of kidnapping in the second degree with a firearm. See State v. Iovieno, 14 Conn. App. 710, 726, 543 A.2d 766, cert. denied, 209 Conn. 805, 548 A.2d 440 (1988).

“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 [769]*769doubt.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Ledbetter, 275 Conn. 534, 542, 881 A.2d 290 (2005), cert. denied, 547 U.S. 1082, 126 S. Ct. 1798, 164 L. Ed. 2d 537 (2006). “This court cannot substitute its own judgment for that of the jury if there is sufficient evidence to support the jury’s verdict. ...

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
906 A.2d 728, 97 Conn. App. 763, 2006 Conn. App. LEXIS 419, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-white-connappct-2006.