137 Conn. App. 696
Conn. App. Ct.2012Background
- Defendant Carlos Gonzalez was convicted by jury of possession of narcotics with intent to sell by a person not drug-dependent under § 21a-278 (b).
- Gonzalez challenged the court’s failure to give a special credibility instruction for a cooperating witness and to hold a pretrial reliability hearing.
- The cooperating witness, Carlos Colon, testified about obtaining cocaine and guiding police to Gonzalez during a controlled operation initiated after Colon agreed to cooperate with police.
- Trial evidence showed the narcotics were recovered when a car was stopped in New Britain and a package was found; a drug-sniffing dog alerted to both the package and Gonzalez.
- During proceedings, the court proposed a compromise credibility instruction and described its rationale; no objections were lodged by either party.
- The defense did not preserve specific trial objections to jury instructions or to pretrial reliability hearings, but argued for supervisory relief to create such rules.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether trial court credibility instruction and reliability hearing should be required for cooperating witnesses. | State opposed extending rule; no mandatory special instruction or pretrial reliability hearing. | Gonzalez urged a new rule under supervisory authority to require such instruction and hearing. | Court declined to extend Arroyo to cooperating witnesses; refused supervisory rule. |
| Whether the supervising authority should create new rules to address cooperating-witness reliability. | State argues against new rule; existing framework suffices. | Gonzalez seeks policy-based rule to prevent miscarriages from cooperating-witness testimony. | Court refused to create a rule extending exceptions to cooperating witnesses. |
Key Cases Cited
- State v. Arroyo, 292 Conn. 558 (2009) (recognizes jailhouse informant credibility exception and special instruction duty)
- State v. Patterson, 276 Conn. 452 (2005) (accomplice-witness caution instruction framework)
- State v. Colon, 272 Conn. 106 (2004) (accomplice-witness considerations and cautions)
- State v. Ortiz, 252 Conn. 533 (2000) (general rule against singling out state witnesses for motive without exceptions)