STATE OF CONNECTICUT v. MICHAEL HINES
Supreme Court of Connecticut
May 25, 1982
SPEZIALE, C. J., PETERS, HEALEY, PARSKEY and SHEA, JS.
There is no error.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.
Argued January 6—decision released May 25, 1982
Suzanne Zitser, assistant public defender, with whom, on the brief, were Jerrold H. Barnett, public defender, and Joette Katz, assistant public defender, for the appellant (defendant).
Linda K. Lager, assistant state‘s attorney, with whom, on the brief, were Arnold Markle, state‘s attorney, and Michael Dearington, assistant state‘s attorney, for the appellee (state).
Many of the facts concerning the offense are not disputed. About midnight of February 20, 1976, the victim was found in a closet of his apartment by two persons who had heard his cries for help. He had been stabbed in the back with a knife which penetrated his body to a depth of more than four inches causing serious injuries to his chest and spinal cord. After extensive surgery and hospitalization he was partially paralyzed at the time of trial. The defendant admitted that he and a friend had visited the victim at his apartment in East Haven and that he had stabbed the victim with a knife which the defendant had previously shown to the victim.
The version given by the victim at the trial was that no quarrel occurred before the assault that evening. He testified that the defendant, whom he knew but had not seen for eight or nine months, unexpectedly came to his apartment with a friend to use the telephone. After they left, the defendant returned about five minutes later to use the phone again. After completing the second telephone call the defendant requested a piece of wire. Id. The victim went to a closet where he kept his tools and, as he bent down in the closet, the defendant stabbed him with a knife which had been previously shown to him. The victim fell down inside the closet and the defendant slammed the closet door shut. The defendant sprayed a can of mace around the edges of the closet door and then fled from the premises.
I
The defendant claimed not only that he acted in self-defense but also that his mental deficiency was so great that he could not have formed the specific intent “to cause serious physical injury to another person” as required by
The defendant has not claimed, either at trial or before us, that this evidence was sufficient to raise the defense of insanity. See
In the instructions on self-defense the trial court gave the defendant substantially what he requested and he has no quarrel with that aspect of the charge. We have no occasion, therefore, to decide whether the requested instruction, which seems to employ a subjective test involving the mental characteristics of the actor rather than the objective standard of the “reasonable man,” was appropriate. See
The state claims that there is no “explicit” authority allowing proof of mental retardation to negate an element of the crime and that to do so would allow a diminished mental capacity defense going beyond the confines of the defense of insanity under
During the period when murder was classified into two degrees, we followed the rule that a person who was so intoxicated at the time he killed someone that “he was incapable of conceiving and carrying into execution a deliberate plan to kill, or was mentally incapable of intent or premeditation, or was beyond the power of self-control at the time” would not be guilty of murder in the first degree, for lack of the necessary mental state. State v. Davis, 158 Conn. 341, 352, 260 A.2d 587 (1969); State v. Dortch, 139 Conn. 317, 323, 93 A.2d 490 (1952); State v. Johnson, 40 Conn. 136, 143 (1873). We have also recognized that mental deficiency or abnormality resulting from factors other than intoxication might properly be considered in deciding
The state also argues that “[e]ven had the defendant offered proof of his mental condition to negate the intent element, rather than for the avowed purpose of proving the subjective reasonableness of his self-defense claim, it is questionable whether he was entitled to a jury instruction to that effect.” In its argument maintaining that there is no explicit authority allowing proof of mental retardation to negate an element of the
The defendant excepted to the trial court‘s failure to give one of his requested charges concerning the use, by the jury, of the evidence concerning the defendant‘s mental retardation.2 Counsel indicated that this request pointed out the applicability of that evidence to the case in two ways. He admitted that the court gave that portion of the request “with regard to the issue of self-defense in terms of
The defendant was entitled to have the jury correctly and adequately instructed. Mack v. Perzanowski, 172 Conn. 310, 312, 374 A.2d 236 (1977). “‘The test to be applied to any part of a charge is whether the charge considered as a whole presents the case to the jury so that no injustice will result.’ State v. Mullings, 166 Conn. 268, 275, 348 A.2d 645 [1974]; Siladi v. McNamara, 164 Conn. 510, 515, 325 A.2d 277 [1973]. It is well established that individual instructions are not to be judged in artificial isolation from the overall charge. State v. Crawford, 172 Conn. 65, 69, 372 A.2d 154 [1976]; State v. Ralls, 167 Conn. 408, 422, 356 A.2d 147 [1974].” State v. Roy, 173 Conn. 35, 40, 376 A.2d 391 (1977); see State v. Holmquist, 173 Conn. 140, 151, 376 A.2d 1111, cert. denied, 434 U.S. 906, 98 S. Ct. 306, 54 L. Ed. 2d 193 (1977). A charge must be considered as to its probable effect on the jury in guiding them to a correct verdict in the case. State v. Harris, 172 Conn. 223, 226, 374 A.2d 203 (1977); Amato v. Desenti, 117 Conn. 612, 617, 169 A. 611 (1933).
The trial court charged on the testimony of the experts who testified “to the ability of the defendant to comprehend.” The court charged: “Now, we also have witnesses, expert witnesses. Now, these
II
The defendant also claims that the example given by the court in its charge on the law of self-defense had the effect of directing a verdict against him on that issue. We do not agree.
During the course of its instructions on self-defense, the court stated: “Now, let me give an example. Suppose Mr. Smith attacks me with a knife and suppose I repel him by taking the knife away from him, I would not be justified in that instance in then placing the knife in his body, because the danger is now past.” The defendant
In this case, then, the prosecutor has the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Michael Hines not only intended to stab Thomas Barry in the bac, [sic] but also prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Hines knew and understood that by doing so he would be inflicting serious physical injury on Barry, on Mr. Barry, and that Mr. Hines actually intended at the time to inflict serious physical injury on Thomas Barry in that way.” (Emphasis added.) “When a mental element is a constituent of a crime, the character of that element must be identified.” State v. Bitting, 162 Conn. 1, 5, 291 A.2d 240 (1971). The court did so in this case. The charge, read as a whole, identifies the specific intent required for the crime charged.
“The test to be applied to any part of a charge is whether the charge considered as a whole presents the case to the jury so that no injustice will result.” State v. Mullings, supra, 275; see State v. Rose, supra, 687-88; Siladi v. McNamara, supra, 515. “The main charge and supplemental instructions are to be read and considered as a whole.” State v. Edwards, 163 Conn. 527, 537, 316 A.2d 387 (1972); see State v. Johnson, 139 Conn. 89, 93, 90 A.2d 905 (1952). Individual instructions are, of course, not to be judged in artificial isolation from the overall charge. See, e.g., State v. Holmquist, supra, 151; State v. Roy, supra, 40. For an erroneous part of a charge to be reversible error, the court must consider the charge as a whole, and “it must be determined, in appeals not involving a constitutional question, if it is reasonably probable that the jury
Although it is well settled that the trial court may, in its discretion, call the attention of the jury to the evidence or lack thereof bearing on any point in issue and comment on the weight of the evidence, it may do so only “so long as it does not direct or advise the jury how to decide the matter.” State v. Mullings, supra, 274. “It must always be borne in mind that litigants have a constitutional right to have issues of fact decided by the jury and not by the court.” Ardoline v. Keegan, 140 Conn. 552, 555, 102 A.2d 352 (1954); see Heslin v. Malone, 116 Conn. 471, 477, 165 A. 594 (1933).
Common sense, and more to the point, fairness, must acknowledge that the use of a proper example in jury instructions serves to make less abstract and more comprehensible the meaning of a complex legal concept or term. The same considerations, however, would indicate that a jury may give undue weight to examples because they are easier to understand and may even simply compare the defendant‘s actions with the example. “To prevent these adverse effects, the trial judge must clearly indicate that the examples are only examples, and that the jury must determine guilt or innocence by following the jury instructions as a whole.” (Emphasis in original.) People v. Shepherd, 63 Mich. App. 316, 322, 234 N.W.2d 502 (1975); see People v. Murphy, 28 Mich. App. 150, 160, 184 N.W.2d 256 (1970).4 “An illustration is not objec-
tionable merely because ‘it bore hardly upon the defendant,’ or ‘only because the transaction of which he was charged was one of like character, and indicative of the same intent.’ Allis v. United States, 155 U.S. 117, 15 S. Ct. 36, 38, 39 L. Ed. 91 [1894]. In considering whether an illustration is fair or prejudicial, it is necessary to consider the instructions as a whole and all the facts and circumstances surrounding the trial and shown by the evidence, such as the complexity or simplicity of the issues and the multiplicity of facts.” Luteran v. United States, 93 F.2d 395, 401 (8th Cir. 1937), cert. denied, 303 U.S. 644, 58 S. Ct. 642, 82 L. Ed. 1103 (1938). “The extent to which a judge will use hypothetical examples and discuss particular possible factual issues must be left largely to his discretion.” Commonwealth v. Thurber, 418 N.E.2d 1253, 1257 (Mass. 1981). (Jury instructions giving various examples of necessity in passing upon that “defense” in a prosecution for the crime of escape held not to limit doctrine of necessity too narrowly and take away from jury the question whether the defendant‘s conduct was reasonable.)
The trial court, on a number of occasions, instructed the jurors that they were the judges of the facts in issue. It charged them that no matter what the court said about the facts or evidence, they were the judges of the facts and the evidence. At the outset of the charge, it stated: “My chief concern in the facts in the case is to refer to them
The challenged example was given during the course of the main charge. After the jury had retired, it requested written copies of the assault statutes in the first, second and third degrees “and the provisions for self-defense as given in the Judge‘s Charge.” In thereafter instructing the jury on self-defense, the court did not restate the example which had been excepted to after its main charge.
The court‘s instructions, which included the example in question, did not have the effect of taking the decision on the issue of self-defense away from the jury. It was merely an example; the court specifically said it was. See People v. Shepherd, supra. The factual circumstances in the evidence concerning it were left for the jury to pass upon. The example cannot be said to be an unfair statement of
There is no error.
In this opinion SPEZIALE, C. J., and PARSKEY, J., concurred.
SHEA, J. (dissenting). I disagree with the portion of the majority opinion which concludes that the charge as given by the trial court provided sufficient “practical guidance” to the jury with respect to its consideration of the evidence of the defendant‘s “mental retardation in deciding whether he was capable of forming the specific intent necessary to constitute the crime charged,” as requested. The remark of the majority that the charge upon this subject, an excerpt of which is
The majority regards this passing reference to “intent to commit the crime” as sufficient compliance with a request for an instruction that the evidence of mental retardation be considered in deciding whether the defendant had the capacity to form the specific intent necessary for the crime. I do not. “It is the law of this state that a request to charge which is relevant to the issues of a case and which is an accurate statement of the law must be given.”
The majority opinion concedes the validity of the point of law made in the defendant‘s request and does not dispute that he was entitled to that instruction. The earlier discussion of specific intent as an element of the crimes involved, which omitted any reference to mental retardation, cannot be deemed
Accordingly, I dissent.
In this opinion PETERS, J., concurred.
STATE OF CONNECTICUT V. JEROME MARTIN
SPEZIALE, C. J., PETERS, HEALEY, PARSKEY and WRIGHT, JS.
Argued January 7—decision released May 25, 1982
F. Mac Buckley, for the appellant (defendant).
