State v. Langley, 128 Conn. App. 213

Langley and James Langley, husband and wife, resided at 126 Woodward Ave., Norwalk; Langley sustained severe burns and later died from them on Dec. 14, 2006.
Police officers responded to reports of an individual burning; Langley confessed deteriorating condition in the driveway and showed burns to his torso.
Defendant agreed to an interview with Detective Maloney; she denied responsibility but made inconsistent statements about their relationship and Langley’s extramarital affair.
No warrant was obtained to enter or search the residence; police and fire personnel conducted a cause-and-origin arson investigation inside the home.
Physical evidence seized included a used match, matchbook, a gasoline-smelling cup, burnt carpet, and other items found near the back door; evidence was collected under a consent/exception framework.
Langley was charged with murder; the jury found her not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter in the first degree; defendant appealed raising suppression, hearsay, and jury instruction issues.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the suppression court erred on the warrantless entry	Langley contends entry/search violated Fourth Amendment principles.	Langley argues ongoing emergency did not justify repeated entries and seizures.	No error; emergency doctrine justified initial entry and plain-view seizures.
Whether Langley’s statements were admissible as excited utterances	Statements about the fire were admissible as excited utterances.	Langley could not observe the startling event due to sleeping; lack of personal observation.	Reasonable inference supported observation; excited utterances properly admitted.
Whether the court properly denied a jury instruction on criminally negligent homicide	Evidence could support a conviction for criminally negligent homicide as a lesser included offense.	There was some evidence to warrant instruction on negligence as a lesser offense.	No basis for Whistnant-based instruction; evidence did not support convicting only of criminally negligent homicide.

State v. Geisler, 222 Conn. 672 (1992) (emergency exception and home-entry analysis)
State v. Magnano, 204 Conn. 259 (1987) (emergency doctrine; plain-view evidence continuation)
State v. Eady, 249 Conn. 431 (1999) (plain-view and continuing-entry rationale)
State v. Wargo, 255 Conn. 113 (2000) (observational test for excited utterances)
State v. Corbin, 260 Conn. 730 (2002) (Whistnant framework for lesser-included offenses)
State v. Whistnant, 179 Conn. 576 (1980) (conditions for right to lesser-included offense instruction)
State v. Davis, 109 Conn.App. 187 (2008) (trial court discretion on excited utterance reliability)