State v. Andino, 173 Conn. App. 851

On Sept. 29, 2010 Victor Andino and Jorge Aponte argued in a New Britain apartment parking lot; the argument escalated, gunshots were heard, and Aponte was shot in the left shoulder.
Witnesses observed a stick and a machete/knife during the altercation; bystanders heard threats and gunshots; Aponte was treated at Hartford Hospital and did not testify at trial.
Police obtained an arrest warrant; on Oct. 18, 2011 Andino was arrested, taken to the detective bureau, and interviewed by Detective Jonathan Webster.
Webster testified he read Miranda rights aloud, had Andino initial and sign a written waiver form, and that Andino waived rights and admitted he shot Aponte in the course of an altercation (self-defense claim). Andino disputed that he signed the forms and denied making the inculpatory statements.
Trial court denied Andino’s motion to suppress the oral statement, credited Webster’s testimony about the verbal advisement and waiver despite noting signature discrepancies, and admitted the statements at trial.
Jury convicted Andino of first‑degree assault and criminal possession of a firearm; the court later found him a persistent serious felony offender. Andino appealed, challenging suppression and sufficiency (corpus delicti/corroboration) for the firearm possession conviction.

Issue	State's Argument	Andino's Argument	Held
Whether the court erred in denying suppression of Andino’s oral statements (Miranda waiver)	Webster credibly advised rights orally and in writing; Andino knowingly, voluntarily waived and spoke	Signatures on waiver form differ from exemplars; therefore waiver finding and Webster’s testimony are unreliable	Trial court’s credibility findings deferred to; substantial evidence supports verbal advisement and valid waiver — suppression denial affirmed
Whether evidence was insufficient to support criminal possession of a firearm because the confession lacked independent corroboration (corpus delicti)	The statement was corroborated by independent evidence: witnesses heard threats and gunshots, Andino was present and involved in dispute, victim treated for gunshot wound, and Andino admitted obtaining the gun from an associate	The firearm possession conviction rests solely on Andino’s confession without independent corroboration; corpus delicti required exclusion of confession	Court found adequate corroboration under corpus delicti rule; consideration of confession was proper and sufficiency challenge fails — conviction upheld

Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (U.S. 1966) (advisement and waiver of Fifth Amendment rights required for custodial interrogation)
Anderson v. Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564 (U.S. 1985) (trial court credibility findings entitled to great deference; appellate review limited)
State v. Reynolds, 264 Conn. 1 (Conn. 2003) (state bears burden to prove waiver was voluntary, knowing, intelligent)
State v. Santiago, 245 Conn. 301 (Conn. 1998) (valid waiver determined from totality of circumstances)
State v. Hafford, 252 Conn. 274 (Conn. 2000) (corpus delicti rule: confession requires independent corroborative evidence, though not enough alone to establish corpus delicti)
State v. Uretek, Inc., 207 Conn. 706 (Conn. 1988) (failure to object to admission of statements forecloses raising corpus delicti claim on appeal)
State v. Leniart, 166 Conn. App. 142 (Conn. App. 2016) (corroboration rule treated as evidentiary; unpreserved corpus delicti objections usually not reviewable)