Justia Criminal Law Opinion Summaries

Lopez-Gay, with Sabato and others, was at a Danbury nightclub, when her cell phone was stolen. She used an application on her computer to track its location to the Danbury Mall. Danbury police were unable to find it. That day, Sabato asked Mason to drive him to the mall and sold Mason the cell phone. Because the phone was password-protected, Mason was unable to use it. Mason took the phone to a friend, in Newtown, who worked servicing cell phones. Meanwhile, Lopez-Gay again used the tracking application and called the Newtown Police. Mason relinquished the phone when confronted, then sent Sabato a text message telling him that he was at the police station. Sabato replied, telling Mason not to write a statement. After discovering that Mason had made a statement, Sabato sent Mason threatening Facebook messages. Sabato was convicted of attempt to interfere with an officer G.S. 53a-167a (a)1; 53a- 49 (a) (2), and intimidating a witness, G.S. 53a-151a (a) (1). The Connecticut Supreme Court affirmed the intimidation conviction, but reversed the conviction of attempt to interfere with an officer. Fighting words are the only form of speech proscribed by Section 53a-167a, and Sabatot’s text message contained no such language. The state was precluded from arguing that it constituted a true threat, having never pursued such a theory at trial. Merely asking Mason not to give a statement was constitutionally protected and outside the purview of the statute. View "State v. Sabato" on Justia Law

The petitioner was convicted by a three-judge​ panel and sentenced to death for the murder of a police officer in December, 1992. The Connecticut Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and sentence in 2003 and the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari. The petitioner filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, claiming that trial and appellate counsel rendered constitutionally ineffective assistance by failing to raise or sufficiently present several claims. The habeas court rejected each claim. On appeal, the petitioner raised 13 separate issues, most concerning his death sentence, and a few related to his capital felony conviction. The Connecticut Supreme Court reversed his death sentence, citing its decisions in State v. Santiago (2015) and State v. Peeler (2016). The court rejected claims that the criminal trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because the state used a short-form information to charge him; that trial counsel rendered constitutionally ineffective assistance with respect to testimony by an individual who was with petitioner at the time of the murder and who, he alleged, was treated with leniency; and that international law precluded his conviction for a capital felony. View "Reynolds v. Comm'r of Corr." on Justia Law

After a court trial, Defendant was convicted of breach of the peace in the second degree and harassment in the second degree. The Appellate Court reversed Defendant’s conviction for breach of the peace on the grounds of insufficient evidence and affirmed her harassment conviction. Both the State and Defendant appealed. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding that the Appellate Court (1) erred in concluding that there was insufficient evidence to support Defendant’s breach of the peace conviction; (2) did not err in concluding that there was sufficient evidence to support Defendant’s harassment conviction; and (3) did not abuse its discretion in declining to consider Defendant’s constitutional claims on the ground that they were inadequately briefed. View "State v. Buhl" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of several crimes arising from his sexual assault of his three biological children, a daughter and two sons. The Appellate Court reversed, concluding that the trial court abused its discretion by permitting the three cases to be tried jointly and by allowing a dog to be present with the daughter during her testimony. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the trial court properly exercised its discretion (1) in permitting the three cases to be tried together because the evidence in each case was cross admissible; and (2) in permitting a dog to sit near the daughter during her testimony to provide comfort and support. View "State v. Devon D." on Justia Law

Defendant challenged the Appellate Court's conclusion that he is not entitled to a new trial even though the record provides no support for the ruling of the trial court requiring that he remain shackled during his criminal trial. The court agreed with defendant that he should not have been shackled throughout the trial, but the court concluded that defendant has failed to establish that he was harmed by the shackling because, so far as the record reveals, the jury never saw the restraints. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "State v. Brawley" on Justia Law

Defendant was charged with a number of crimes in connection with the abduction of his former wife. The trial judge found Defendant competent to represent himself at trial and permitted Defendant to represent himself. A jury subsequently convicted Defendant of all but one of the charges against him. The Supreme Court remanded the case to the trial court with direction to reconsider Defendant’s competency to represent himself in light of a new standard that the Court adopted in Defendant’s direct appeal. On remand, the trial judge concluded that Defendant had been competent to represent himself at the time of his trial. The Appellate Court reversed, concluding that the trial court’s remand hearing was procedurally flawed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the Appellate Court’s decision to resolve the appeal sua sponte on the basis that the remand hearing was procedurally flawed violated Blumberg Associates Worldwide, Inc. v. Brown & Brown of Connecticut, Inc. Remanded to the Appellate Court with direction to consider the issue raised in Defendant’s appeal. View "State v. Connor" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of assault in the second degree. Defendant appealed, arguing that the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress his statements to the police made during his booking violated his Fifth Amendment rights and that he was subjected to custodial interrogation without Miranda warnings at the crime scene. The Appellate Court affirmed, holding that the public safety exception to Miranda, as articulated in New York v. Quarles, applied. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that, based on the circumstances of this case, the public safety exception applied. View "State v. Smith" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of both intentional and reckless assault in the first degree. Defendant filed a motion for a new trial, arguing that the convictions were legally inconsistent. The trial court denied the motion. The Appellate Court reversed, concluding that Defendant’s convictions for intentional and reckless assault were legally inconsistent. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) Defendant’s convictions were not legally inconsistent under the State’s argument that the assault occurred in two reckless and intentional phases, respectively; and (2) Defendant had sufficient notice that he could be convicted of both reckless and intentional assault, and therefore, the manner in which Defendant was convicted satisfied the requirements of due process. View "State v. King" on Justia Law

Petitioner was convicted of sexual assault in the first degree and kidnapping in the first degree. Thereafter, in State v. Salamon and Luurtsema v. Comm’r of Corr. (Luurtsema II), the Supreme Court overruled its overly broad interpretation of its kidnapping statutes and determined the holding in Salamon applied retroactively to collateral attacks on final judgments. Petitioner subsequently filed a second petition for a writ of habeas corpus arguing that there was constitutional error in the kidnapping instruction pursuant to Salamon and Luurtsema II. The habeas court granted a new trial on the kidnapping charge and rejected the Commissioner of Correction’s assertion that Petitioner’s failure to challenge the Court’s long-standing interpretation of kidnapping in his criminal proceedings led to his procedural default. The Appellate Court affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) Luurtsema II’s retroactivity decision compels the conclusion that challenges to kidnapping instructions in criminal proceedings rendered final before Salamon are not subject to the procedural default rule; and (2) Petitioner was entitled to a new trial on the kidnapping charge because the omission of a Salamon instruction was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. View "Hinds v. Comm’r of Corr." on Justia Law

Defendant entered a guilty plea under the Alford doctrine to one count of sexual assault in the first degree. At the sentencing hearing, Defendant requested that he be permitted to withdraw his plea. The trial court denied the motion. Defendant appealed, arguing that the trial court erred in denying his oral motion to withdraw his plea “without any type of inquiry or evidentiary hearing as to the underlying basis of [his] motion.” The Appellate Court affirmed, concluding that the inquiry conducted by the court was sufficient. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea without conducting a further inquiry into the underlying basis of Defendant’s motion. View "State v. Anthony D." on Justia Law