State v. Rodriguez, 2013 WL 5275892

Vega, once pregnant by Rodriguez, and Caamano become involved after Vega moves back to Connecticut; custody dispute leads to joint custody arrangement for their daughter.
On Sept. 28, 2008, Rodriguez confronted Vega at Vega's mother's East Hartford home, pushed Vega into her car, and demanded her to remove the child from the car seat.
Caamano intervenes to calm the situation; Rodriguez then punches Caamano, and the two men wrestle; Vega and Caamano fear further violence as the defendant threatens to retaliate.
Officer Otis observes Caamano with injuries; Rodriguez claims self-defense and that Caamano threw the first punch; police arrest Rodriguez.
Charges: two counts of assault in the third degree and two counts of threatening in the second degree; one count of risk of injury to a child; trial occurs in April 2010; the jury convicts Rodriguez as to Caamano-related counts, acquits as to Vega-related counts.
Defense seeks to reopen evidence for newly discovered testimony from Caamano; court denies; Caamano later is not found unavailable.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the court erred in denying opening the evidence for new evidence	Rodriguez argues denial violated fair trial/right to present defense	Rodriguez contends newly discovered evidence would mitigate charges	Claim not reviewable; record inadequate; no reversal
Whether Caamano was an unavailable witness under § 8-6(4) and properly unexcluded	Romotely asserts Caamano unavailable; testimony should be admissible as statement against penal interest	Court properly found Caamano not unavailable	Even if mischaracterized, no prejudice shown; ruling upheld
Whether there was sufficient evidence to convict for threatening in the second degree	Caamano feared imminent serious physical injury from Rodriguez's threats and actions	Verbal threat lacking showing of fear/imminent injury	Evidence sufficient; defendant reasonably placed Caamano in fear of imminent serious physical injury

State v. Golding, 213 Conn. 233 (1989) (test for unpreserved constitutional error)
State v. Kitchens, 299 Conn. 447 (2011) (Golding prongs applicability clarified)
State v. Schiappa, 248 Conn. 132 (1999) (unavailability and hearsay backdrop in criminal prosecutions)
State v. Lopez, 254 Conn. 309 (2000) (standard for determining prejudice in unavailability rulings)
State v. Gibson, 75 Conn. App. 103 (2003) (threats analysis and inference of imminent serious physical injury)
State v. Snead, 41 Conn. App. 584 (1996) (threats and fear element in menacing conduct cases)
State v. Nival, 42 Conn. App. 307 (1996) (scar evidence and determination of serious disfigurement)
State v. Anderson, 74 Conn. App. 633 (2003) (scar evidence admissibility and impact on corroboration)