State v. KeatonState v. Keaton
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Convicted of murder and criminal possession of a fireаrm in connection with the shooting death of the victim, the defendant appealed to this court. While investigating the shooting, the police interviewed the defendant. At the outset of the interview, the defendant informed the interviewing detectives that his father had spoken with an attorney on his behalf and that the attorney would not be available until later that day. The defendant then asked the detectives whether he was under arrest or whether he was free to leave. In response, they told the defendant that they could not provide him with any answers to his questions unless he executed a written waiver of his rights under Miranda v. Arizona (384 U.S. 436). When the detectives asked the defendant to initial and sign the written waiver, he specifically indicated that he wanted his attorney. As the detectives began to leаve the interrogation room, they informed the defendant that they were questioning him in connection with a murder investigation. Thereafter, the defendant agreed to speak to them without his attorney present, and they read him his Miranda rights from a second waiver of rights form, which the defendant initialed and signed. During the remainder of the interview, the defendant admitted that he was in the vicinity of the shooting when it occurred and identified himself in a compilation of video footage captured around the time of the shooting from video cameras mounted on public streets and in still photographs derived from that footage. At trial, defense counsel did not object to the testimony of one of the interviewing detectives describing the defendant’s interview and the waiver of his rights. Moreover, when the prosecutor sought to admit into evidence a video recording of the police interview and the waiver of rights form, defense counsel stated that he had no objection to their admission. On appeal, the defendant claimed that the admission of the compilation of video footage violated his constitutional right of confrontation and, in seeking reversal of his conviction, urged this court to invoke its supervisory authority to either adopt a prophylactic rule requiring the police, upon learning that a suspect is represented by counsel, to immediately cease questioning until counsel is present, or to conclude that the defendant’s right to counsel was violated under the circumstances of this case. Held:
The defendаnt’s claim that the trial court had violated his constitutional right of confrontation by admitting the compilation of video footage, insofar as a computer program was used to manipulate the unedited video footage in order to create the compilation and he was entitled to cross-examine the program’s developer, failed under the third prong of State v. Golding (213 Conn. 233), as defense counsel affirmatively waived the defendant’s claim.
Alternatively, the record was inadequate for this court to review the defendant’s confrontation claim, as the record did not reveal whether the video compilation, which was a synchronized sequence of discrete images, constituted hearsay or whether it was testimonial in nature.
The defendant’s claim that the police had violated his constitutional right to counsel by improperly questioning him without his attorney present was unpreserved and, therefore, was not reviewable under Golding, as defense counsel stated “[n]o objеction” in response to the admission into evidence of the recorded police interview and the waiver of rights form, and the defendant’s conviction was not subject to reversal under the plain error doctrine.
Moreover, this court declined the defendant’s request to exercise its supervisory authority to reverse the defendant’s conviction, either by adopting a prophylactic rule requiring the police, upon learning during a custodial interrogation that a suspect is represented by counsel, to immediately cease all questioning until counsel is present, or by reaching the merits of the defendant’s claim that his right to counsel was violated.
This court was not persuaded that existing constitutional safeguards, announced in cases such as Edwards v. Arizona (451 U.S. 477) and State v. Purcell (331 Conn. 318), thаt protect a suspect’s right to counsel in situations in which the suspect, during interrogation, asks for counsel or makes an equivocal request for counsel, were inadequate or that a more stringent rule was necessary for the fair administration of justice.
Procedural History
Substitute information charging the defendant with the crimes of murder and criminal possession of a firearm, brought to the Superior Court in the judicial district of Hartford and tried to the jury before Schuman, J.; verdict and judgment of guilty, from which the defendant appealed. Affirmed.
Laila M. G. Haswell, senior assistant public defender, with whom, on the brief, was Daniel J. Krisch, assigned counsel, for the appellant (defendant).
Jonathan M. Sousa, assistant state’s attorney, with whom, on the brief, were Sharmese L. Walcott, state’s
Opinion
DANNEHY, J. A jury found the defendant, Antoine Keaton, guilty of murder in violation of
The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. On July 12, 2019, the defendant and the victim, Anthony Wright, attended a nighttime street vigil in Hartford. During the vigil, the victim socialized with friends at a street intersection, while thе defendant stood with a group of individuals on the stoop of a nearby apartment building. After spending some time on the stoop, the defendant walked to a package store, purchased a small bottle of alcohol, and returned to the stoop. Approximately fifty minutes later, the defendant left the stoop and walked toward the intersection where the victim was speaking with his friends. Upon reaching the intersection, the defendant fired a gun at the victim, who collapsed. The defendant immediately fled the scene, and the victim was later pronounced dead.
During the investigation, the Hartford police obtained closed-circuit camera footage from street cameras located throughout the city. Investigators then used a cоmputer
At trial, the prosecutor introduced into evidence both the Milestone video compilation and the video recording of the defendant’s police interview. The prosecutor argued that the Milestone compilation, together with the defendant’s identification of himself as the individual wearing a white T-shirt, established that he was the shooter who killed the victim. The jury found the defendant guilty of murder and criminal possession of a firearm. The court rendered judgment in accordance with the jury’s verdict and sentenced the defendant to fifty-five years of imprisonment. The defendant appeals directly to this court pursuant to
I
The defendant first claims that the trial court violated his confrontation rights under the sixth amendment to the United States constitution1 by improperly admitting into evidence the Milestone compilation of footage captured by the street cameras. He contends that, because
The following additional facts are pertinent to our resolution of this claim. On the first day of trial, Steven Citta, a detective with the Hartford Police Department, was called to testify regarding the Milestone program and the video compilation. Detective Citta explained that the Hartford police have access to a series of street cameras throughout the city and that the footage from the cameras is uploaded and stored at the Capitol Command City Center (C4). Once recorded and saved, the police are unable to add or omit anything to or from the footage. He explained that C4 uses the Milestone program, which allows the police to create video compilations based on the stored footage. The Milestone software allows the police to select which saved camera footage they want to include, along with the time parameters of the footage, and then it “automatically formats” and “scrunches [the footage] down” so that the separate video feeds appear as one synchronized video. Detective Citta testified that, during the investigation, the police selected stored footage from five cameras that had captured the intersection where the shooting occurred, as well as the surrounding
After Detective Citta testified on direct examination, the prosecutor offered the Milestone compilation into evidence. In response, defense counsel stated, “[n]o objection,” and the trial court admitted the Milestone compilation as a full exhibit. The trial court asked defense counsel if he would like to cross-examine Detective Citta, to which defense counsel replied, “[n]o questions, Your Honor.” The prosecutor then called Detective Pethigal, who testified about the events depicted in the Milestone compilation and to previously showing the defendant still photographs taken from the video. In closing argument, defense counsel referred to the Milestone compilation as evidence establishing that multiple people near the vigil had worn a white T-shirt and blue shorts that matched those of the suspect.3
In addressing a confrontation clause claim, well established principles guide our analysis. “The confrontation clause bars admission of testimonial statements of a witness who did not аppear at trial unless [the witness] was unavailable to testify, and the defendant had a prior opportunity for cross-examination.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Villanueva, 352 Conn. 439, 470, 337 A.3d 734 (2025), quoting Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 53-54, 124 S. Ct. 1354, 158 L. Ed. 2d 177 (2004). The confrontation clause “bars only the introduction of hearsay—meaning, out-of-court statements offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Smith v. Arizona, 602 U.S. 779, 785, 144 S. Ct. 1785, 219 L. Ed. 2d 420 (2024). In addition, it “applies only to testimonial hearsay“—a category whose contours have been “variously described.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Id., 784. Although “there is no comprehensive definition of testimonial,” courts “largely [have] focused on the reasonable expectation of the declarant that, under the circumstances, his or her words later could be used for prosecutorial purрoses.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Bester, 353 Conn. 720, 732, 347 A.3d 146 (2025). Thus, “the threshold inquiries [for purposes of] a confrontation clause analysis are whether the statement was hearsay, and if so, whether the statement was testimonial in nature . . . . These are questions of law over which our review is plenary.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Villanueva, supra, 470.
Golding review of confrontation clause claims is often unavailable because the claim was either waived at trial or the record is inadequate for review on appeal. See State v. Bester, supra, 353 Conn. 729 (observing that Golding review in this context is available for “narrow class of unpreserved but not affirmatively waived confrontation clause claims . . . when a constitutional violation is apparent from an adequate record“). “A waived claim, as opposed to an unpreserved claim, does not satisfy the third prong of the Golding test because, in such circumstances, we simply cannot conclude that injustice [has been] done to either party . . . or that the alleged constitutional violation . . . exists and . . . deprived the defendant of a fair trial . . . .” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Culbreath, 340 Conn. 167, 179, 263 A.3d 350 (2021). “A defendant, or his counsel, may abandon the defendant’s constitutional right to confrontation, either expressly or impliedly by . . . deliberate action.” (Internal
“To be effective . . . defense counsel’s waiver must be knowing and intelligent.” State v. Culbreath, supra, 340 Conn. 181. In our adversary system, a trial court is entitled to presume that counsel is familiar with the relevant constitutional principles and acts competently to safeguard a defendant’s constitutional rights. See, e.g., State v. Holness, 289 Conn. 535, 544, 958 A.2d 754 (2008). As a result, we have held that dеfense counsel effectively waives a claim under the confrontation clause if he or she affirmatively states to the court that they do not object to the admissibility of a particular piece of evidence. See, e.g., State v. Iverson, 352 Conn. 422, 436-37, 336 A.3d 1212 (2025) (defense counsel waived confrontation clause claim when he responded, “‘[n]o, Your Honor,‘” to court’s inquiry of whether he objected to admission of autopsy report); State v. Hinton, supra, 352 Conn. 204-205 (defense counsel waived confrontation clause claim when he responded, “[u]nder that [ground], no, Your Honor,” and, “[n]o objection,” to court’s question of whether he objected to admission of recorded interview under State v. Whelan, 200 Conn. 743, 753, 513 A.2d 86, cert. denied, 479 U.S. 994, 107 S. Ct. 597, 93 L. Ed. 2d 598 (1986)); see also State v. Culbreath, supra, 182 (defense counsel affirmatively waived constitutional claim under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694 (1966), when he stated, “‘[n]o objection,‘” to admission of defendant’s recorded interview and written statements). To hold “otherwise would require the trial court to canvass defense counsel with respect to counsel’s understanding of the relevant constitutional principles before accepting counsel’s agreement on how to proceed . . . [and] there is nothing in our criminal law that supports such a requirement.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Bellamy, 323 Conn. 400, 419, 147 A.3d 655 (2016).
In the present case, defense counsel affirmatively waived the defendant’s confrontation clause claim.
Our conclusion that defense counsel waived the defendant’s confrontation clause claim is buttressed by counsel’s tactical use of the Milestone compilation at trial. On direct examination of Detective Citta, the prosecutor established the foundation for the admission of the Milestone compilation and offered it in evidence. Defense counsel neither challenged the admission of the Milestone compilation nor questioned Detective Citta about its contents, purposes, or creation. Instead, defense counsel utilized the Milestone compilation in his closing argument, arguing to the jury that the defendant was not the оnly individual in the vicinity of the shooting dressed in blue shorts and a white T-shirt. These decisions by defense counsel suggest that his affirmative waiver to the admission of the Milestone compilation was based in part on trial strategy.
The defendant contends that the United States Supreme Court’s recent decision in Smith v. Arizona, supra, 602 U.S. 779, precludes any conclusion that defense counsel waived the defendant’s confrontation clause claim because that decision changed the controlling law on the confrontation clause that was in effect at the time of the defendant’s criminal trial. He asserts that Smith outlined the rights that an individual possesses under the confrontation clause, such that defense counsel would have objected or developed the record differently if Smith had been decided prior to trial. We are not persuaded. Although we have explained that, “when the law governing a defendant’s constitutional claim has changed after the defendant’s trial, counsel acting under binding precedent in effect at the time of the trial cannot make a knowing and intelligent waiver of rights affected by the later decision changing the
Additionally, we conclude that record developed at trial is inadequate for this court to review the defendant’s claim. The record does not reveal whether the Milestone compilation, which is a synchronized sequence of discrete images, itself is hearsay. See State v. Villanueva, supra, 352 Conn. 472 (“the overwhelming weight of authority suggests that [photographs] are not hearsay unless the photographs contain words, markings, or some other indicative contention that can reasonably be understood as an assertion“). Further, the record lacks evidence that the compilation was testimonial in nature, as neither Detective Citta’s testimony nor Detective Pethigal’s testimоny explained why it was created or whether it was prepared with litigation in mind. See State v. Bester, supra, 353 Conn. 734-35. As such, the defendant’s claim is also unreviewable under the first prong of Golding.4
II
The defendant next claims that the police violated his right to counsel under Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 484-85, 101 S. Ct. 1880, 68 L. Ed. 2d 378 (1981) and State v. Purcell, 331 Conn. 318, 362, 203 A.3d 542 (2019), by improperly questioning him without his
The following additional facts are relevant to our analysis. On July 15, 2019, the defendant was interviewed by Detectives Pethigal and Newell at the Hartford Police Department because of his suspected involvement in the shooting. At the outsеt of the interview, the defendant informed the detectives that his father had talked to an attorney on his behalf and that the attorney would not be available until later in the day. The defendant did not say whether he had spoken personally to the attorney. During the early portion of the interview, the defendant was primarily concerned with determining whether he was under arrest and whether he could leave the interview. However, the detectives informed the defendant that they could not provide him with any answers unless he executed a written waiver of his Miranda rights.
As the detectives began to exit the interview room, the defendant asked if they could tell him anything, and they replied, “[m]urder.” The defendant then inquired, “[m]urder for what,” and, as Detective Pethigal stood in the doorway facing the defendant, he stated, “[m]urder. We can’t talk to you. You don’t want to talk to us, all right? If you want—if you want to talk to us, you want to change your mind, let us know. But we got to go through this form again. If you want to tell us your side of the story, it’s up to you. But we can’t do anything without you agreeing to speak to us.” The defendant acknowledged that they could talk but stated, “you all are not—you all were not trying to tell mе shit, like . . . .” The detectives told the defendant that they would not talk with him unless he signed the form and agreed to speak to them. The defendant confirmed that he wanted to speak with the detectives and that they would “tell [him]
At trial, Detective Pethigal testified regarding his interview with the defendant. He explained that, during the initial interview, he attempted to review the waiver of rights form with the defendant. He testified that this conversation, however, stopped and was resumed when the defendant indicated that he wanted to know more information about the evidence that the detectives had. Detective Pethigal then explained that he went through a second waiver of rights form with the defendant, which was signed and initialed by the defendant. Defense counsel did not object at any point during the testimony describing the initial intеrview proceeding or the defendant’s waiver. Thereafter, the prosecutor offered the recording of the interview and both waiver of rights forms into evidence, and defense counsel stated, “[n]o objection,” to each one. On cross-examination, defense counsel did not elicit any information about the circumstances leading to the interview or ask any questions about the defendant’s waiver of rights, instead focusing on the failure of the police to request a search warrant for the defendant’s home and the failure of the police to obtain handwritten statements.
Because defense counsel affirmatively waived any claim about the admission of the recorded interview and the two waiver of rights forms when he stated, “[n]o objection,”
Under the circumstances of the present case, we decline to invoke our supervisory authority to reverse the defendant’s conviction by adopting the rule he proposes or by concluding that his right to counsel was violated.7 In Miranda v. Arizona, supra, 384 U.S. 478-79, the United States Supreme Court held that a suspect subject to custodial interrogation has the right to consult with an attorney and to have counsel present during questioning, and that the police must explain this right to him before questioning begins. If a suspect effectively waives his right to counsel after receiving the Miranda warnings, law enforcement officers are free to question him. See, e.g., North Carolina v. Butler, 441 U.S. 369, 372-76, 99 S. Ct. 1755, 60 L. Ed. 2d 286 (1979). The United States Supreme Court has explained that the right to counsel established in Miranda was one of a “series of recommended ‘procedural safeguards‘” that “were not themselves rights protected by the [c]onstitution but were instead measures to [e]nsure that the right against compulsory self-incrimination was protected.” Michigan v. Tucker, 417 U.S. 433, 443-44, 94 S. Ct. 2357, 41 L. Ed. 2d 182 (1974); see also Vega v. Tekoh, 597 U.S. 134, 142, 142 S. Ct. 2095, 213 L. Ed. 2d 479 (2022).
After Miranda was decided, the court in Edwards v. Arizona, supra, 451 U.S. 484-85, determined that additional prophylaxis was necessary, aimed at preventing the police from badgering a defendant into waiving his previously asserted Miranda rights. The court held that, if a suspect requests counsel at any time during the interview, he may not be subjected to further questioning until a lawyer has been made availаble or the suspect himself reinitiates communication. Id. Following Edwards, however, there were still some unresolved questions about what a suspect must do to effectively invoke his right to counsel. In Davis v. United States, 512 U.S. 452, 459, 114 S. Ct. 2350, 129 L. Ed. 2d 362 (1994), the court explained that “the suspect must unambiguously request counsel.” The court clarified that, “if a suspect makes a reference to an attorney that is ambiguous or equivocal in that a reasonable officer in light of the circumstances would have understood only that the suspect might be invoking the right to counsel,” law enforcement officers may continue questioning until and unless the suspect clearly requests an attorney. (Emphasis in original.) Id. The court concluded that there was no requirement that law enforcement clarify an ambiguous request for counsel. Id., 461-62.
In Purcell, this court adоpted a more protective prophylactic standard under our state constitution than what the United States Supreme Court required in Miranda v. Arizona, supra, 384 U.S. 478-79, and its progeny. See State v. Purcell, supra, 331 Conn. 321. Specifically, we held that, “if a suspect makes an equivocal statement that arguably [could] be construed as a request for counsel,” all questioning “must cease except for narrow questions designed to clarify the earlier statement and the suspect’s desire for counsel.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Id., 362. Notably, the question in Purcell was not whether the Connecticut constitution provides a broader constitutional right than the federal constitution but
The rule we announced in Purcell is a robust safeguard for defendants—it acts as an additional protection of the constitutional guarantee of the right to counsel. Defendants since Purcell have invoked that precedent in this court to challenge violations of their right to counsel. See, e.g., State v. Johnson, 354 Conn. 96, 108-109, 349 A.3d 260 (2026); State v. Culbreath, supra, 340 Conn. 185-86, 191. We are thus not persuaded that, at this juncture, the existing constitutional safeguards, particularly those established in Purcell and Edwards, are inadequate to protect the rights of defendants or that the defendant’s more stringent rule is necessary for the fair administration of justice. See, e.g., State v. Castillo, 329 Conn. 311, 337, 186 A.3d 672 (2018) (declining to exercise supеrvisory authority when defendant “has not demonstrated that the claimed problem is a pervasive one“).
It bears emphasis that the constitutional protections articulated in Purcell and Edwards were firmly established well before the defendant’s criminal trial. Purcell, decided in March 2019, predated the defendant’s police interview by approximately four months and his trial by more than three years. Defense counsel did not, however, raise those constitutional protections as a basis to suppress the defendant’s statements or to object to the testimony of Detective Pethigal describing the defendant’s interview. Further, the defendant makes no plain error claim, and he affirmatively waived any Golding claim under either Purcell or Edwards when his counsel stated, “[n]o objection,” to the admission of the recorded interview and the two waiver forms, focusing
We decline, therefore, to exercise our supervisory authority to reverse the defendant’s conviction by adopting the bright-line rule he suggests or reaching the merits of his waived claim that his right to counsel was violated.8
The judgment is affirmed.
In this opinion the other justices concurred.