22 Conn. App. 665 | Conn. App. Ct. | 1990
The defendant appeals his conviction, after a trial to the court, of the crime of possessing narcotics with the intent to sell by a person who is not drug-dependent in violation of General Statutes § 21a-278 (b). He claims that the court’s refusal to allow him to cross-examine a state’s witness about prior misconduct impermissibly restricted his constitutional right to confrontation. We disagree.
Before trial, the defendant subpoenaed the personnel files of the two Bridgeport police officers who had arrested him for possessing twenty-five packets of what later proved to be cocaine. The court denied a motion to quash the subpoena and ordered the personnel files to be produced and sealed. The defendant then sought access to all information in the files pertaining to disciplinary actions relevant to the issue of credibility.
On appeal, the defendant claims that the officer’s prior conduct constituted the fraudulent concealment of a criminal act performed in his presence. The defendant argues that his constitutional right to confront witnesses against him required that he be permitted to question the officer about this misconduct that, according to the defendant, negatively reflected on the officer’s credibility and veracity. This claim fails because we do not agree that the officer’s prior misconduct, in these circumstances, is relevant evidence.
The confrontation clause guarantees a defendant a full and fair opportunity to cross-examine witnesses, but it does not guarantee the defense its every wish. State v. Yednock, 14 Conn. App. 333, 339, 541 A.2d 887 (1988). We do not question the right of a criminal defendant fully to cross-examine a police officer who testifies against him and to have available relevant information from police personnel files. See State v. Januszewski, 182 Conn. 142, 170-74, 438 A.2d 679 (1980), cert. denied, 453 U.S. 922, 101 S. Ct. 3159, 69 L. Ed. 2d 1001 (1981). Our courts have never held, however, that irrelevant evidence should be disclosed or admitted. State v. Perry, 195 Conn. 505, 523, 488 A.2d 1256 (1985).
The defendant here had a full and fair opportunity to cross-examine the police officer about the events surrounding the arrest and other relevant matters. We will not interfere with the court’s holding that the officer’s previous violation of department regulations did not call his credibility into question and was too remote in time to have probative value. The court acted properly within its discretion to preclude the defendant’s use of the incident on cross-examination.
The judgment is affirmed.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.