250 Conn. 172 | Conn. | 1999
Lead Opinion
Opinion
The dispositive issue in this appeal is whether the Appellate Court properly concluded that the trial court had abused its discretion in striking the
On appeal to the Appellate Court, the defendant claimed, inter alia, that the trial court improperly excluded certain testimony of the defendant’s expert witness regarding behavioral changes caused by the use of a drug known as “illy”
We conclude that the Appellate Court improperly determined that the trial court had abused its discretion in striking the testimony of the defendant’s expert witness regarding the substance known as illy and its effects.
The Appellate Court determined that the jury reasonably could have found the following facts. “On September 3, 1994, the defendant spent the evening drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana and illy. The next day, the defendant went to a cookout hosted by friends
Minutes later, the defendant came upon a blue Mustang with tinted windows, and a high speed chase ensued. “The defendant positioned the Miata alongside the driver’s side window of the Mustang. Cinicola took the pistol from the defendant and fired [a total of] four shots at the Mustang. . . . One of the bullets struck the driver in the head, either killing or incapacitating him instantly and causing him to lose control of the car. The Mustang crashed into a nearby office building. The defendant also lost control of the Miata, which [then crashed into] a utility pole located seventy feet from the Mustang. The last portion of the chase and shootout was observed by three New Haven police officers who were [stationed] near the location of the car crashes.” Id., 680-81.
The police officers found Cinicola on the sidewalk next to the Miata and the defendant trapped in the
“The murder weapon was recovered near the Miata and tests revealed Cinicola’s left index fingerprint [on it]. ... No weapon was found in the Mustang, and evidence later revealed that the defendant knew all four occupants and was a close friend of the two who were killed and that none of them was connected to the Stickup Boys. The tinted windows of the Mustang had prevented the defendant and Cinicola from identifying the occupants of the Mustang.” Id., 682.
At trial, the defendant sought to introduce the expert testimony of Jeremy August, a psychiatrist, who was to testify regarding the behavioral effects caused by the use of the drug illy. Although August did testify regarding the behavioral effects of the components of illy — namely, methanol, phencyclidine (PCP), and formaldehyde — he stated that he could not testify as to the effects of these components in combination. August testified that illy was a nonuniform mixture of a variety of chemical substances, and that he had no knowledge as to the mixture ratio of the elements in the substance allegedly ingested by the defendant. He stated that “[i]lly is not like a prescription drug so . . . the clinical presentation depends on how much each of the individual ingredients you have and the extent to which you’ve been taking the substance.” He also testified that he had neither examined the defendant nor reviewed his medical records, and that he could not testify as to the behavioral effects, if any, experienced by the defendant
The defendant presented ample evidence of his drug use and the effects therefrom through his own testimony and that of his companions, Terrence Williams, Judale Wynkoop and Joseph Threatt.
The defendant claims that the trial court abused its discretion by excluding the testimony of his expert witness. Specifically, the defendant claims that the exclusion of August’s testimony improperly precluded him from presenting the defense of intoxication. We disagree.
Concerning expert testimony specifically, we note that “the trial court has wide discretion in ruling on the admissibility of expert testimony and, unless that discretion has been abused or the ruling involves a clear misconception of the law, the trial court’s decision will not be disturbed. State v. Campbell, 225 Conn. 650, 654, 626 A.2d 287 (1993); State v. Kemp, 199 Conn. 473, 476, 507 A.2d 1387 (1986); State v. Palmer, 196 Conn. 157, 166, 491 A.2d 1075 (1985); Siladi v. McNamara, 164 Conn. 510, 513, 325 A.2d 277 (1973); Coffin v. Laskau, 89 Conn. 325, 330, 94 A. 370 (1915).” State v. Esposito, 235 Conn. 802, 834, 670 A.2d 301 (1996). “Expert testimony should be admitted when: (1) the witness has a special skill or knowledge directly applicable to a matter in issue, (2) that skill or knowledge is not common to the average person, and (3) the testimony would be helpful to the court or jury in considering the issues.”
Our analysis is supported by a review of the well established rules of evidence. “Relevant evidence is evidence that has a logical tendency to aid the trier in the determination of an issue. . . . One fact is relevant to another if in the common course of events the existence of one, alone or with other facts, renders the existence of the other either more certain or more probable. . . . Evidence is irrelevant or too remote if there is such a want of open and visible connection between the evidentiary and principal facts that, all things considered, the former is not worthy or safe to be admitted in the proof of the latter. . . . Evidence is not rendered inadmissible because it is not conclusive. All that is required is that the evidence tend to support a relevant fact even to a slight degree, so long as it is not prejudicial or merely cumulative.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Coleman, supra, 241 Conn. 788-89.
We conclude that the trial court was within its discretion in determining that August’s testimony regarding the behavioral effects of using illy did not satisfy the test articulated in State v. Correa, supra, 241 Conn. 354. “The defendant’s rights to confront and cross-examine witnesses and to present a defense do not give him the right to have admitted any evidence he chooses.” State v. Negron, 221 Conn. 315, 328, 603 A.2d 1138 (1992). In the present case, the expert’s testimony was not based upon an examination of the defendant himself or a review of his pertinent medical records, nor was it premised upon an examination of the substance allegedly ingested by the defendant. Additionally, the testimony was not based upon an analysis of the behavioral effects of illy in general. Instead, August’s testimony was limited to the behavioral effects of methanol, PCP and formaldehyde, separate substances which, as August admitted, might have very different effects when
After a careful review of the record we conclude that, despite his claim to the contrary, the defendant was not precluded from presenting evidence of his defense of intoxication. He was permitted to pursue his defense of intoxication by means of his own testimony aud that of his other witnesses. Accordingly, we conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by excluding the testimony of August and, therefore, we uphold the defendant’s conviction.
The judgment of the Appellate Court is affirmed.
In this opinion CALLAHAN, C. J., and BORDEN and MCDONALD, Js., concurred.
The specific questions certified in this appeal are: “1. Did the Appellate Court properly conclude that the trial court abused its discretion in striking the testimony of the defendant’s expert witness regarding the substance known as ‘illy’ and its effects?
“2. If the answer to question one is yes, did the Appellate Court properly conclude that the trial court’s error was harmless?” State v. Billie, 244 Conn. 933, 717 A.2d 231 (1998).
General Statutes § 53a-8 provides: “(a) A person, acting with the mental state required for commission of an offense, who solicits, requests, commands, importunes or intentionally aids another person to engage in conduct which constitutes an offense shall be criminally liable for such conduct and may be prosecuted and punished as if he were the principal offender.
“(b) A person who sells, delivers or provides any firearm, as defined in subdivision (19) of section 53a-3, to another person to engage in conduct which constitutes an offense knowing or under circumstances in which he should know that such other person intends to use such firearm in such conduct shall be criminally liable for such conduct and shall be prosecuted and punished as if he were the principal offender.”
General Statutes § 53a-55 (a) provides in relevant part: “A person is guilty of manslaughter in the first degree when: (1) With intent to cause serious physical injury to another person, he causes the death of such person or of a third person ... or (3) under circumstances evincing an extreme indifference to human life, he recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to another person, and thereby causes the death of another person.”
General Statutes § 53-202k provides: “Any person who commits any class A, B or C felony and in the commission of such felony uses, or is armed with and threatens the use of, or displays, or represents by his words or conduct that he possesses any firearm, as defined in section 53a-3, except an assault weapon, as defined in section 53-202a, shall be imprisoned for a term of five years, which shall not be suspended or reduced and shall be in addition and consecutive to any term of imprisonment imposed for conviction of such felony.”
We note for clarification that the Appellate Court concluded that § 53-202k is a sentence enhancement provision, rather than a substantive offense. That court’s treatment of the conviction under § 53-202k, however, is not now before this court.
General Statutes § 29-35 provides: “(a) No person shall carry any pistol or revolver upon his person, except when such person is within his dwelling house or place of business, without a permit to carry the same issued as provided in section 29-28. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to the carrying of any pistol or revolver by any sheriff, parole officer or peace officer of this state, or sheriff, parole officer or peace officer of any other state while engaged in the pursuit of his official duties, or federal marshal or federal law enforcement agent, or to any member of the armed forces of the United States, as defined by section 27-103, or of this state, as defined by section 27-2, when on duty or going to or from duty, or to any member of any military organization when on parade or when going to or from any place of assembly, or to the transportation of pistols or revolvers as merchandise, or to any person carrying any pistol or revolver while contained in the package in which it was originally wrapped at the time of sale and while carrying the same from the place of sale to the purchaser’s residence or place of business, or to any person removing his household goods or effects from one place to another, or to any person while carrying any such pistol or revolver from his place of residence or business to a place or person where or by whom such pistol or revolver is to be repaired or while returning to his place of residence or business after the same has been repaired, or to any person carrying a pistol or revolver in or through the state for the purpose of taking part in competitions or attending any meeting or exhibition of an organized collectors’ group if such person is a bona fide resident of the United States having a permit or license to carry any firearm issued by the authority of any other state or subdivision of the United States, or to any person carrying a pistol or revolver to and from a testing range at the request of the issuing authority, or to any person carrying an antique pistol or revolver, as defined in section 29-33.
“(b) The holder of a permit issued pursuant to section 29-28 shall carry such permit on his person while carrying such pistol or revolver.”
“Illy is the street name for a drug consisting of a nonuniform mixture of phencyclidine (PCP), wood alcohol, methanol and formaldehyde.” State v. Billie, 47 Conn. App. 678, 680 n.2, 707 A.2d 324 (1998).
The Appellate Court vacated the defendant’s conviction under § 53-202k, and remanded the case to the trial court to resentence the defendant to a total effective term of imprisonment of forty-five years. State v. Billie, supra, 47 Conn. App. 693.
See footnote 3 of this opinion.
Because we conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion, we need not reach, and therefore decline to address, the issue of harmless error.
“A blunt typically is a small cigar that is hollowed out and filled with illy and smoked in the manner of a marijuana cigarette.” State v. Billie, supra, 47 Conn. App. 680 n.3.
Threatt testified that he had been with the defendant “on numerous occasions” during which he and the defendant ingested illegal substances, including illy, and testified that September 4, 1994, was one of these occasions. Threatt further testified that illy causes effects on one’s behavior: “like makes you bug out, like see things.” Specifically, he testified that illy caused behavioral changes in the defendant. “[Y]ou’d be in a conversation with him. He'd talk to you for a little while and then just walk away from you and just leave off and it seemed like he wasn’t really with you.”
The defendant testified that “[t]he [e]ffect [of illy] was like — it felt like I was high than I usually be when I just smoked marijuana. Probably now if you ain’t smoke it with me we wasn’t on the same level of being high, you know. Like if you were sober and I was smoking illy I probably wouldn’t be paying too much attention to what you are saying because it’s like my hearing — I couldn’t hear that good. I only could hear what I’m saying. It’s like I was echoing inside my body. I couldn’t hear- too many people what they was talking to me about.”
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting. The trial court in the present case refused to permit the jurors to consider expert testimony that was necessary in order to enable them to evaluate the sole defense that the defendant had raised. In my view, this ruling constituted an abuse of discretion for two reasons: (1) it contradicted a recent opinion rendered by this court and (2) it violated the defendant’s fundamental right under the federal constitution to present a defense. I would reverse the defendant’s conviction and order a new trial.
In the present case, the defendant, Maurice Billie, was charged with committing a number of serious crimes.
“Expert testimony should be admitted when: (1) the witness has a special skill or knowledge directly applicable to a matter in issue, (2) that skill or knowledge is not common to the average person, and (3) the testimony would be helpful to the court or jury in considering the issues. . . .” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Correa, 241 Conn. 322, 353-54, 696 A.2d 944 (1997). As the Appellate Court cogently explained, the psychiatric expert in the present case “possessed a special knowledge of illy, not common to the average person,
The mantra of the majority opinion is that “the trial court has wide discretion in ruling on the admissibility of expert testimony . . . .” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) This is true. Nevertheless, “[discretion means a legal discretion, to be exercised in conformity with the spirit of the law and in a manner to subserve and not to impede or defeat the ends of substantial justice. In a plain case, this discretion has no office to perform, and its exercise is limited to doubtful cases, where an impartial mind hesitates. . . . State v. Onofrio, 179 Conn. 23, 29, 425 A.2d 560 (1979). Discretion does not mean, as the majority seems to believe, an untrammeled right to do as the trial court wishes. See United States v. Brien, 59 F.3d 274, 277 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 953, 116 S. Ct. 401, 133 L. Ed. 2d 320 (1995) (trial court’s discretion is not carte blanche); State v. Chapple, [135 Ariz. 281, 296, 660 P.2d 1208 (1983)] (discretion does not mean that the court is free to reach any conclusion it wishes). If discretion were as unbridled as the majority seems to believe, a criminal defendant would be playing Russian roulette whenever his case was assigned to a judge: justice would depend upon which chambers he happened to draw. This is not justice. Rather, a trial court’s discretion must be based upon a reasoned consideration of the unique circumstances of each particular case.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. McClendon, 248 Conn. 572, 609-10, 730 A.2d 1107 (1999) (Berdon, J., dissenting). With this analytic framework in mind, I am unable to comprehend
Just a few years ago, a unanimous panel of this court — which included the author of the majority opinion in the present case — held that the trial court had abused its discretion by “excludfing] the testimony of a defense expert regarding the adverse effects of cocaine on the cognitive abilities of a person who ingests the drug . . . .” State v. Barletta, 238 Conn. 313, 316, 680 A.2d 1284 (1996). The result that my colleagues in the majority have reached in the present case cannot be reconciled with Barletta. In fact, the trial court’s ruling in the present case is more egregious than the ruling that the Barletta court found to be an abuse of discretion.
To begin with, the expert testimony in Barletta was highly speculative.
Moreover, Barletta involved expert psychiatric testimony that was offered in order to impeach the credibility of a witness to a crime. Id., 318. In the present case, August would have testified to the defendant’s state of mind. If the jurors had been permitted to consider August’s testimony, they well may have reached the following conclusions: (1) the defendant did not possess the requisite mens rea; (2) the state had failed to establish a necessary element; and (3) the state had failed to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Accordingly, I dissent.
See footnotes 2 through 5 of the majority opinion.
While serving as a member of the Appellate Court, the author of the majority opinion in the present case signed his name to the following proposition: “It cannot be assumed that information relating to the mannerisms and tendencies of intoxicated [persons] is within the common knowledge of the average juror. State v. Holeman, 18 Conn. App. 175, 179, 556 A.2d 1052 (1989); see also State v. Grayton, 163 Conn. 104, 111, 302 A.2d 246, cert. denied, 409 U.S. 1045, 93 S. Ct. 542, 34 L. Ed. 2d 495 (1972).” State v. Kwaak, 21 Conn. App. 138, 156-57, 572 A.2d 1015, cert. denied, 215 Conn. 811, 576 A.2d 540 (1990).
The defendant in Barletta sought to elicit testimony that an eyewitness’ observations were the result of hallucinations. The defense expert was unable to say whether “a person under the influence of cocaine is more likely than not to experience the type of complex visual hallucinations that would affect the reliability of his or her observations . . . .” State v. Barletta, supra, 238 Conn. 321.
The proper inquiry is not whether August would have provided the best of all possible testimony. Instead, the question is simply whether the jury would have been better able to evaluate the defendant’s sole defense — that is, his claim .that he was unable to form the requisite mens rea — if it had been permitted to hear the testimony of apsychiatric expert. Because August knew about the behavioral effects of the drugs that compose illy and the jury probably did not, this latter question must be answered in the affirmative. “A party is not required to offer such proof of a fact that it excludes all other hypotheses; it is sufficient if the evidence tends to make the existence or nonexistence of any oilier fact more probable or less probable than it would be without such evidence. State v. Briggs, [179 Conn. 328, 333, 426 A.2d
The majority emphasizes August’s testimony that “[i]lly is not like a prescription drug, so . . . the clinical presentation depends on how much [of] each of the individual ingredients you have . . . .” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) If we are to be swayed by this fact, then we must adopt the following bright line rule: juries may never have the benefit of expert psychiatric testimony in cases involving the effect of substances prepared by black market apothecaries. Both common sense and our recent opinion in Barletta compel us to reject this rule.
It is for this reason that the trial court’s abuse of discretion in the present case could not possibly have been harmless.
The majority correctly observes that the defendant “testified as to the behavioral changes he has experienced as a result of smoking illy.” On the subject of the clinical presentation of a narcotic substance, it is obvious that the jury would be more likely to credit the testimony of an expert in psychiatry than it would be to credit 1he testimony of a defendant eager to obtain an acquittal.