State v. Osimanti, 299 Conn. 1

Defendant Jason Osimanti killed victim John Barnum after a street altercation on July 14, 2005 in Bridgeport during an encounter at Custom Creations and adjacent lot.
Defendant retrieved a four-inch painter's hook/Sheetrock knife from his car; Barnum retrieved a mallet and attacked; fight continued with multiple separations.
Rodriguez, shop owner, intervened and attempted to separate them; later, stabbing occurred in the street; Barnum died from stab wounds to the chest.
Osimanti claimed self-defense; he was charged with murder and convicted of manslaughter in the first degree after a jury trial.
Appellate Court affirmed; issues on evidence about victim’s domestic violence history, self-defense jury instructions, and juror bias inquiry were raised in Osimanti’s certified appeal.
Trial court had precluded certain evidence about victim’s domestic violence history and protected-order violation; jury instructed on initial aggressor and retreat; juror bias was questioned after a juror disclosed Latin Kings connections.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
admissibility of victim's violent-history evidence	Osimanti contends exclusion of victim's DV history and protective-order violation prejudiced defense	State argues court properly excluded as remote/unrelated, already admitted other violent evidence; cross-examination narrowed but sufficient	Harmless error; no reversal required
self-defense jury instructions on initial aggression and retreat	Osimanti says instruction conflated retreat with withdrawal, misled on initial aggressor	State contends instruction properly conveyed law and was not misleading	Instruction affirmed; not misleading; proper under 53a-19
juror-bias inquiry adequacy	Osimanti argues court failed to adequately probe juror bias after Latin Kings connections were disclosed	State maintains inquiry was adequate and juror could be fair and impartial	Inquiry not abusive; juror could remain impartial

State v. DeJesus, 260 Conn. 466 (2002) (trial court broad discretion on evidentiary rulings)
State v. Miranda, 176 Conn. 107 (1978) (evidence of victim's violent character admissible in self-defense)
State v. Carter, 228 Conn. 412 (1994) (victim's violent-conviction record admissible under discretion; limits on remoteness)
State v. Maxwell, 29 Conn.App. 704 (1992) (broad discretion over admissibility of violent-character evidence)
State v. Brown, 235 Conn. 502 (1995) (jury-impartiality inquiries; broad discretion of trial court)
State v. Rhodes, 248 Conn. 39 (1999) (burden of proving actual prejudice in juror misconduct; Remmer considerations)
Remmer v. United States, 347 U.S. 227 (1954) (presumption of prejudice for juror exposure; not always controlling)
United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725 (1993) (Remmer presumption vitality; standard of prejudice varies)
State v. Jurado, 109 Conn. App. 628 (2008) (adequacy of juror-questioning in bias matters)