228 Conn. 281 | Conn. | 1994
Lead Opinion
A jury found the defendant, Angel Medina, Jr., guilty of the crimes of murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54a,
The jury could reasonably have found the following facts. On September 13,1986, at approximately 11:45 a.m., the Bridgeport police responded to a telephone
Ramirez met police officers Kevin Meizies and James Sheffield at the door to her home, and informed them that they would find the defendant in the kitchen and that he had a gun in his left rear pants pocket. Upon entering the kitchen, Meizies found the defendant standing with his hands in the air. He appeared to be upset and frightened. Meizies attempted to calm him and to distract him long enough to remove the gun. As Meizies was undertaking to disarm him, the defendant uttered “The devil made me do it,” “[I] killed the devil,” and “I am God.” Meizies asked the defendant “if he was all right, what’s the matter,” and reached around him and removed the gun from the defendant’s rear pants pocket. The .38 caliber weapon contained five spent cartridges.
Because the defendant continued to be upset, Meizies and Sheffield transported him, in handcuffs, to Bridgeport Hospital for observation. While en route to the hospital, the defendant continued to talk about both God and the devil and stated that “Mary gave me the drugs.” The officers left the defendant at the hospital and returned to the police station.
Shortly after the defendant had departed for the hospital, Ramirez and her husband proceeded to the
In the bedroom, the police found the victim’s body seated on a bar stool with the right side of her head on the bar. There were four bullet holes in the closet door behind the victim. On top of the bar were white powder and drug paraphernalia.
An autopsy of the victim’s body revealed that she had died from two bullet wounds that had been inflicted approximately four to six hours prior to the discovery of her body. One bullet had passed through her arm and into her chest. The other bullet had entered directly into her chest and passed through her heart and lung into her spine, severing the spinal cord. This bullet had
After the trial court, Reilly, J., had found probable cause to continue the prosecution of the defendant for the crime of murder, the defendant, on October 28, 1987, was found incompetent to stand trial by the trial court, Curran, J., and sent to Whiting Forensic Institute. Subsequently, on February 8,1988, he was found competent to stand trial and pretrial hearings on various of the defendant’s motions ensued. A jury of twelve found the defendant guilty of all charges and the trial court, W. Sullivan, J., rendered judgment of conviction sentencing him to a term of imprisonment of fifty-one years.
I
The defendant first invokes the protections of the fifth and fourteenth amendments to the constitution of the United States, and article first, § 8, of the Connecticut constitution,
A
The state acknowledges that the police had not informed the defendant of his Miranda rights prior to the statements he made either in his sister’s kitchen or on his way to Bridgeport Hospital. The state maintains, however, that Miranda warnings were not required because at no time was the defendant subjected to police interrogation. We agree with the state.
“Although the Miranda warnings were originally effective in state prosecutions only because they were a component of due process of law under the fourteenth amendment . . . they have also come to have independent significance under our state constitution. . . . The warnings represent the belief, deep-seated in the Anglo-American legal tradition, that a person accused of a crime may be convicted only if exacting measures have been taken to assure that the accused has been treated with the most scrupulous fairness by agents of the government.” (Citations omitted.) State v. Ferrell, 191 Conn. 37, 40-41, 463 A.2d 573 (1983); see also State v. Barrett, 205 Conn. 437, 447, 534 A.2d 219 (1987). It is well settled, however, that a defendant is
“[T]he defendant has the initial burden of showing that he was subjected to custodial interrogation”; id.; before the state must prove that adequate warnings of the rights that inhere in the privilege against compelled self-incrimination were given to the defendant and that the defendant’s waiver of his rights was constitutionally valid. State v. Rasmussen, 225 Conn. 55, 76, 621 A.2d 728 (1993); see also State v. Weidenhof, 205 Conn. 262, 267, 533 A.2d 545 (1987); State v. Gray, 200 Conn. 523, 531-33, 512 A.2d 217, cert. denied, 479 U.S. 940,107 S. Ct. 423, 93 L. Ed. 2d 373 (1986). Unless it was clearly erroneous, we will accept the trial court’s factual finding that the defendant was not the subject of a custodial interrogation. We will also, however, carefully review the record to determine whether the trial court’s finding is founded on substantial evidence. See State v. Rasmussen, supra, 76-77.
Two conditions, therefore, give rise to the requirement of advice of rights under Miranda: (1) the suspect must be in the custody of law enforcement officials; and (2) the suspect must be subjected to interrogation. State v. Vitale, 197 Conn. 396, 411, 497 A.2d 956 (1985). To determine whether a suspect is in custody so as to require Miranda warnings, we inquire whether a reasonable person, in view of all the circumstances, would have believed that he or she was not free to leave.
We examine first the circumstances surrounding those statements made during the brief interval between the arrival of Meizies and his removal of the gun from the defendant’s rear pants pocket. Meizies, who had been told by Ramirez that the defendant had a gun in his pocket, testified that the defendant had been waving his hands in the air and uttering religious expressions when Meizies confronted him in the kitchen. At that point, Meizies attempted to ascertain why the defendant appeared to be upset and what further action, if any, might be appropriate. Only when Meizies had determined that the defendant in fact had a gun and that his conduct warranted arrest did Meizies secure the weapon and take him into custody. This factual history persuades us that a reasonable person would not necessarily have believed that he or she was not free to leave. The record, therefore, supports the trial court’s determination that the defendant was not
Moreover, even if we assume that the defendant had been in police custody upon Meizies’ entrance into the kitchen, we are not persuaded that Miranda warnings were required. The defendant was standing with his arms in the air and was acting upset and frightened when Meizies walked into the room. In response to this conduct, the officer asked the defendant “if he was all right, what’s the matter, that was about it.” Meizies, who was then unaware of the fatal shooting of the victim, further testified that the defendant had initiated their brief conversation and that “I wasn’t really questioning him, I was just trying to get a little bit of control of the situation . . . basically to try to quell the situation.” Our review of the record discloses police conduct that had only the intent and effect of calming the defendant and maintaining the safety of all at the scene. Because Meizies’ conduct was neither intended nor reasonably likely to provoke an incriminatory response from the defendant; see State v. Rosado, supra, 253-54; State v. Palmer, supra, 62-63; State v. Copeland, 205 Conn. 201, 207-208, 530 A.2d 603 (1987); State v. Evans, 203 Conn. 212, 227, 523 A.2d 1306 (1987); State v. Vitale, supra, 408-12; the officer’s prudent efforts to evaluate and ameliorate the situation, after the defendant had initiated the exchange; see State v. Doehrer, 200 Conn. 642, 645-48, 513 A.2d 58 (1986); did not constitute interrogation requiring Miranda warnings.
The defendant argues also that the trial court should have suppressed his incriminatory statements made en
The defendant maintains that his statements to the transporting officers should have been suppressed nevertheless because those statements were the product of the earlier “interrogation” in the kitchen. We already have determined, however, that the defendant was neither in custody nor the subject of police interrogation when he made the incriminatory statements in the kitchen. Accordingly, we conclude that the trial court properly denied the defendant’s motions to suppress his statements and for a new trial.
The defendant claims, in the alternative, that the trial court improperly denied his motion to suppress his incriminatory statements because they were not voluntary. He argues that his capacity for self-determination was critically impaired because of his mental state at the time that he made the statements to the police. The defendant invokes applicable provisions of both the federal and state constitutions.
1
We review first the defendant’s federal constitutional claim that “[t]he use of an involuntary statement of a defendant in a criminal trial violates a defendant’s right to due process of law. . . .As a prerequisite to admissibility the state is required to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that under all the circumstances admissions by an accused were voluntarily made. Lego v. Twomey, 404 U.S. 477, 489, 92 S. Ct. 619, 30 L. Ed. 2d 618 (1972) . . . .” (Citations omitted.) State v. Kane, 218 Conn. 151, 160, 588 A.2d 179 (1991). Under the federal due process clause, however, the defendant must establish that his lack of voluntariness was the result of improper police activity. “The measure of voluntariness [under the federal constitution] is whether a review of all the circumstances surrounding the elicitation of the statement reveals that the conduct of the law enforcement officials involved was such as to overbear the will of the accused to resist and bring about a statement not freely determined.” State v. Rosado, supra, 254-55. A statement by the defendant that is the product of police coercion, therefore, may not be used by the state against that defendant. Colorado v. Connelly, 479 U.S. 157, 163-64, 107 S. Ct. 515, 93 L. Ed. 2d 473 (1986); State v. Roman, 224 Conn. 63, 69, 616 A.2d 266 (1992), cert. denied, U.S. ,
The defendant’s claim of coercive interrogation by the police is unsupported by the evidence.
2
The defendant requests that we determine the contours of his right against compelled self-incrimination in accordance with the guarantees of article first, § 8, of the Connecticut constitution.
The defendant’s written motion to suppress statements
A thorough review of the record reflects that the litigation of the defendant’s voluntariness claim focused exclusively on the issue of whether the police were required to advise the defendant of his Miranda rights. At the conclusion of the evidentiary hearing on the defendant’s motion to suppress tangible evidence
At the conclusion of the pretrial suppression hearing, the defendant’s argument,
At trial, defense counsel renewed his motion to suppress the statements made by the defendant while he was en route to Bridgeport Hospital.
At no time thereafter did the defendant argue or identify any claim of involuntariness other than his claim under Miranda, or otherwise alert the court that he was pressing any such claim.
A defendant “can prevail on a claim of constitutional error not preserved at trial only if all of the following conditions are met: (1) the record is adequate to review the alleged claim of error; (2) the claim is of constitutional magnitude alleging the violation of a fundamental right; (3) the alleged constitutional violation clearly exists and clearly deprived the defendant of a fair trial; and (4) if subject to harmless error analysis, the state has failed to demonstrate harmlessness of the alleged constitutional violation beyond a reasonable doubt. In the absence of any one of these conditions, the defendant’s claim will fail.” (Emphasis in original.) State v. Golding, supra, 239-40. “We have also held that we remain free to dispose of the claim by focusing on whichever condition is most relevant in the particular circumstances.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Stanley, 223 Conn. 674, 689, 613 A.2d 788 (1992). We conclude that the record of the proceedings below is not adequate for our review of the defendant’s claim that the admission of his statements at trial violated his rights under the state constitution.
The trial court never ruled on the issue of the voluntariness of the defendant’s statements under the state constitution because, as we have determined, that issue was not properly raised. We do not know, therefore, whether the trial court, after conducting a full evidentiary hearing and applying the state constitutional standard now urged by the defendant, would have found the defendant’s statements to have been involuntary.
II
The defendant concedes that he caused the death of the victim. He claims, however, that the trial court improperly denied his motions for a judgment of acquittal
A defendant acts “intentionally” in causing the death of another when he or she has the conscious objective to cause another’s death. General Statutes §§ 53a-3 (11) and 53a-54a. “Intent involves ‘a mental process which ordinarily can be proven only by circumstantial evidence.’ ” State v. Rasmussen, 225 Conn. 55, 74, 621 A.2d 728 (1993); see also State v. Salz, 226 Conn. 20, 32-33, 627 A.2d 862 (1993). “The law recognizes no distinction between circumstantial evidence and direct evidence so far as probative force is concerned. . . . Intent is a question of fact, the determination of which should stand unless the conclusion drawn by the trier is an unreasonable one.” (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Bzdyra, 165 Conn. 400, 403, 334 A.2d 917 (1973); see also State v. Rasmussen, supra. “Intent may be inferred from the nature of any weapons used, the manner in which they were used and the nature and number of wounds inflicted.”
“ ‘That the jury might have drawn other possible inferences from [the evidence] is not sufficient to undermine its verdict, since proof of guilt must be established beyond a reasonable doubt, not beyond a possible doubt.’ ” State v. Grant, 219 Conn. 596, 604, 594 A.2d 459 (1991), quoting State v. Sinclair, 197 Conn. 574, 578, 500 A.2d 539 (1985). Upon appellate review, “[w]e . . . review the evidence presented at trial, construing it in the light most favorable to sustaining the facts . . . impliedly found by the jury.” State v. Jarrett, 218 Conn. 766, 770-71, 591 A.2d 1225 (1991); see also State v. Salz, supra, 30-31; State v. Famiglietti, 219 Conn. 605, 609, 595 A.2d 306 (1991).
The jury heard the testimony of the state’s chief medical examiner that the victim had died from gunshot wounds fired from a .38 caliber handgun and that one of the bullets had entered her chest, passed through her heart and severed her spinal cord. Four bullets pierced the closet door in front of which the victim’s body was discovered. The state also presented evidence that the defendant had left the scene when the victim was dead or in extremis and that he apparently made no effort to seek medical assistance for her. In addition, the jury heard testimony of intrigue and jealousy concerning the defendant, the victim and the victim’s former boyfriend, Gerald Wallisa,
Although it is true, of course, that the state’s proof of the defendant’s guilt must exclude every reasonable supposition of innocence, a mere hypothesis of innocence will not suffice. State v. Morrill, 193 Conn. 602, 611, 478 A.2d 994 (1984); see also State v. Salz, supra, 29. And, “[although some evidence may be inconsistent with the state’s theory of the case, the jury is not bound to credit only that evidence to the exclusion of evidence consistent with the state’s theory. State v. Pinnock, 220 Conn. 765, 775-76, 601 A.2d 521 (1992).” State v. Salz, supra, 29-30. The defendant’s assertion that he is entitled to a judgment of acquittal “springs from his supposition of inferences that the jury could have drawn while ignoring inferences consistent only with his guilt that the jury did reasonably draw.” Id., 30. Because the circumstances surrounding the death of the victim permitted the jury to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant had intended to cause the victim’s death, the trial court properly denied the defendant’s motion for a judgment of acquittal.
Ill
The defendant also claims that the trial court improperly denied his motion for a judgment of acquittal because the evidence he introduced at trial established, as a matter of law, his affirmative defense of insanity
The defense relied primarily on the testimony of three experts and a deputy sheriff. Jeremy August, a psychiatrist who had examined the defendant at his request, testified: that the defendant was suffering from a bipolar affective disorder, a manic depressive illness; that persons suffering from this illness experience periods of relatively normal functioning that may be interrupted by episodes of depression or mania; and that the defendant’s belief that he was on a special mission from God to purge evil from the world is typical of those who suffer from the illness. August concluded that on September 13, 1986, the defendant had been unable to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law.
Melvin Roy, a clinical psychologist, administered a battery of psychological tests to the defendant after he had been incarcerated. He diagnosed the defendant as having an affective bipolar disorder in partial remission. Elizabeth Augustine, also a clinical psychologist, administered psychological tests to the defendant and reviewed information supplied by August and Roy. She diagnosed the defendant as having a bipolar disorder and concluded that he had been unable to conform his behavior to the requirements of the law or to appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions on September 13, 1986.
David Villa served as a deputy sheriff at the Bridgeport courthouse on September 15,1986, the date of the defendant’s arraignment. He testified that the defendant’s behavior “was the most bizarre episode I’ve ever seen in fifteen years of service,” and that the defendant giggled and laughed and told Villa that he was God.
The state’s evidence in derogation of the defendant’s insanity defense consisted of the cross-examination of the defendant’s witnesses and the introduction of various exhibits. On cross-examination, August testified that the pattern of the illness “is one of recurring episodes with relatively good interepisodic functioning” and that “[t]he frequency of manic . . . episodes is largely individual . . . so that one person might have a manic episode once every ten years . . . [or] once every two months . . . [or] hourly.” Although he did not agree with the diagnosis, August conceded that, upon the defendant’s transfer from the Bridgeport Correctional Center to Fairfield Hills State Hospital, he had been diagnosed as a malingerer.
The state also elicited the testimony of a rebuttal witness, Gerald Wallisa, who had lived with the victim for two years. In late August, 1986, Wallisa and the victim moved into the defendant’s apartment. Soon thereafter, the three became involved in an argument and the defendant threatened to kill Wallisa and told him to move out, which he did. A short while later Wallisa returned to visit the victim. The defendant approached them, grabbed the victim and proceeded to drag her down a driveway. The defendant persisted in this conduct notwithstanding the victim’s screams and protests that the defendant was hurting her.
The state also relies on evidence introduced in its case-in-chief to support its contention that the jury reasonably could have found the defendant’s conduct resulted not from a mental disease or defect but instead from his voluntary ingestion of cocaine and alcohol. A witness, Walter Young, testified that he had known the defendant for six years and that in September, 1986, he had been remodeling a bathroom on the second floor of the apartment building at 605 Hallett Street, in which the defendant lived. Young stated that he had last seen the defendant and the victim between midnight and 2 a.m. on September 13,1986, seated at the
It is apparent, therefore, that the jury reviewed conflicting evidence on the issue of the defendant’s mental capacity at the time he fatally shot the victim. The evaluation of such conflicting evidence on the issue of legal insanity is the province of the finder of fact. State v. Perez, 182 Conn. 603, 610, 438 A.2d 1149 (1981). “[W]e have repeatedly stated that our review of the conclusions of the trier of fact ... is limited. . . . This court will construe the evidence in the light most favorable to sustaining the trial court’s [judgment] and will affirm the conclusion of the trier of fact if it is reasonably supported by the evidence and the logical inferences drawn therefrom. . . . The probative force of direct and circumstantial evidence is the same. . . . The credibility of expert witnesses and the weight to be given to their testimony and to that of lay witnesses on the issue of sanity is determined by the trier of fact.” (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Steiger, 218 Conn. 349, 378-79, 590 A.2d 408 (1991).
Although expert witnesses testified on behalf of the defendant and the state called none, that alone is not a sufficient basis to disturb the verdict on appeal; see, e.g., State v. Evans, 203 Conn. 212, 237-38, 523 A.2d 1306 (1987); State v. Perez, supra, 608-10; for the jury “can disbelieve any or all of the evidence on insanity and can construe that evidence in a manner different
The judgment is affirmed.
In this opinion Peters, C. J., Callahan and Borden, Js., concurred.
General Statutes § 53a-54a provides in relevant part: “murder, (a) A person is guilty of murder when, with intent to cause the death of another person, he causes the death of such person ....
“(c) Murder is punishable as a class A felony . . . .”
General Statutes § 21a-277 provides in relevant part: “penalty for ILLEGAL MANUFACTURE, DISTRIBUTION, SALE, PRESCRIPTION, DISPENSING, (a) Any person who manufactures, distributes, sells, prescribes, dispenses, compounds, transports with the intent to sell or dispense, possesses with the intent to sell or dispense, offers, gives or administers to another person any controlled substance which is a hallucinogenic substance other than marijuana, or a narcotic substance, except as authorized in this chapter, for a first offense, shall be imprisoned not more than fifteen years and may be fined not more than fifty thousand dollars or be both fined and imprisoned; and for a second offense shall be imprisoned not more than thirty years and may be fined not more than one hundred thousand dollars, or be both fined and imprisoned; and for each subsequent offense, shall be imprisoned not more than thirty years and may be fined not more than two hundred fifty thousand dollars, or be both fined and imprisoned. . . .
“(c) No person shall knowingly possess drug paraphernalia in a drug factory situation as defined by subdivision (20) of section 21a-240 for the unlawful mixing, compounding or otherwise preparing any controlled substance for purposes of violation of this chapter.”
General Statutes § 21a-240 (20) provides: “(A) ‘Drug paraphernalia’ refers to equipment, products and materials of any kind which are used, intended for use or designed for use in planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting, manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, preparing, testing, analyzing, packaging, repackaging, storing, containing or concealing, or injecting, ingesting, inhaling or otherwise introducing into the human body, any controlled substance contrary to the provisions of this chapter . . .
“(B) ‘Factory’ means any place used for the manufacturing, mixing, compounding, refining, processing, packaging, distributing, storing, keeping, holding, administering or assembling illegal substances contrary to the provisions of this chapter, or any building, rooms or location which contains equipment or paraphernalia used for this purpose.”
The defendant appeals directly to this court pursuant to General Statutes § 51-199 (b) (3) which provides in relevant part: “The following matters shall be taken directly to the supreme court ... (3) an appeal in any criminal action involving a conviction for a capital felony, class A felony, or other felony ... for which the maximum sentence which may be imposed exceeds twenty years . . . .”
This case was originally argued on April 30,1993, and decided on August 24,1993. On October 4,1993, the defendant filed motions: (1) for permission to file a late motion; (2) for reconsideration of the decision and resubmission to a reconstituted court; and (3) for permission to file those motions under seal. On October 7,1993, we granted the first two motions and denied the third. The case was reargued on November 2, 1993.
The dissent asserts that we should not have granted the defendant’s motion for reconsideration of this case by a reconstituted court without a more detailed factual record. We note, however, that the dissenter, along with all of the other members of this court who considered the defendant’s motion, voted to grant that request. Only after the parties had been notified of our ruling on the defendant’s motion did the dissenter inform the members of this court that, upon his sua sponte reconsideration of the motion, he had decided to change his vote. No request for reconsideration of our decision has ever been filed.
We disagree with the dissent because, in the particular circumstances of this case, we are fully satisfied that the appropriate course was to have granted the defendant’s motion for reconsideration by a reconstituted court due to a conflict of interest of one of the justices who originally decided the case. These circumstances included the justice’s acknowledgment both that he should have disqualified himself from participation in this case for the reasons stated in the defendant’s motion, and that reconsideration of the case by a reconstituted court was the proper resolution of the issue. We further considered the fact that the state did not oppose the defendant’s motion, and that the entire matter is, upon the request of the Chief Justice of this court, presently sub judice before the judicial review council.
We also disagree with the dissent that our action in this case may somehow tend to undermine the credibility of our judgments in other cases. We are satisfied that the fear expressed by the dissent that, as a result of our action in these rare circumstances, “all of our judgments would become suspect,” is wholly without basis.
These objects subsequently tested positive for the presence of cocaine.
The police also conducted a warrantless search of the defendant’s home upon locating the victim’s body. The items seized pursuant to that search, a .12 gauge shotgun and three spent cartridges, were suppressed by the trial court upon motion of the defendant because their seizure did not fall into any recognized exception to the requirement that a search be conducted only with a warrant issued upon probable cause. See Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 219, 93 S. Ct. 2041, 36 L. Ed. 2d 854 (1973); State v. Badgett, 200 Conn. 412, 423, 512 A.2d 160, cert. denied, 479 U.S. 940, 107 S. Ct. 423, 93 L. Ed. 2d 373 (1986).
The fifth amendment to the United States constitution provides in relevant part: “No person shall be . . . compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law . . . .” The fifth amendment is applicable to state criminal prosecutions by virtue of the fourteenth amendment. Malloy v. Hogan, 378 U.S. 1, 84 S. Ct. 1489, 12 L. Ed. 2d 653 (1964).
Article first, § 8, of the Connecticut constitution provides in pertinent part: “No person shall be compelled to give evidence against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law . . . .”
The defendant did not testify at the suppression hearing or at trial, and therefore there is no evidence regarding whether he subjectively believed that he was free to leave.
The state also proposes that the public safety exception to the requirement of Miranda warnings applies to this case. New York v. Quarles, 467 U.S. 649, 104 S. Ct. 2626, 81 L. Ed. 2d 550 (1984). Because we affirm the trial court’s denial of the defendant’s motion on other grounds, we need not address this issue.
The trial court initially denied the defendant’s motion to suppress the statements made to the police in the kitchen and on the way to the hospital because “the defendant at that time was not a suspect.” That ruling, without more, would not properly have resolved the defendant’s claim, however, because the defendant, though not a murder suspect, would have been entitled to Miranda warnings had he been subjected to custodial interrogation. The trial court, however, more properly addressed the defendant’s claim in its later ruling on the defendant’s renewed motion to suppress, stating “[the defendant] was not under arrest; so they don’t have to give rights unless the person is under arrest or suspected of a crime for which he’s going to be interrogated or arrested.” Although this ruling was cast in terms of arrest, rather than custody, it is sufficiently clear that the intent of the trial court was to focus on the appropriate factors. Moreover, absent a request for articulation, we read an ambiguous trial record to support, rather than undermine, the trial court’s judgment.
Our review of the record indicates that the defendant’s federal constitutional claim that his statements were the product of police coercion was not raised by him before the trial court. The sole focus of his suppression claim, rather, was the requirement of Miranda warnings, and the sole issue litigated was whether the defendant had been subjected to custodial interrogation. At no time did the defendant argue that the statements were the result of police overreaching. The suppression rulings also reflect the trial court’s understanding that the Miranda, claim was the only issue to be resolved. We nonetheless conclude that the record is adequate for review of the defendant’s federal constitutional claim that his statements were involuntary because his claim focuses on coercive interrogation. In the particular circumstances of this case, therefore, the factual findings concerning custodial interrogation provide a sufficient basis for review of the unpreserved claim concerning police coercion. The defendant may not prevail on this claim, however, because he has not established a violation of his federal constitutional rights. State v. Golding, 213 Conn. 233, 239-40, 567 A.2d 823 (1989).
See footnote 7.
In Colorado v. Connelly, 479 U.S. 157, 167, 107 S. Ct. 515, 93 L. Ed. 2d 473 (1986), the court held that “coercive police activity is a necessary predicate to the finding that a confession is not ‘voluntary’ within the meaning of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,” and the admissibility of a defendant’s statement that is not the product of police overreaching is instead “a matter to be governed by the evidentiary laws of the forum.”
Exclusive of the prayer for relief, the defendant’s motion to suppress statements reads in full: “The defendant moves pursuant to Section 821 of the Connecticut Practice Book, the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments [to] the United States Constitution, and Article One, Sections Seven and Eight of the Connecticut Constitution, to suppress any and all statements of the defendant, written or oral, made to any agents of the State and any testimony in relation to said statements.
“In support thereof, the defendant alleges:
“a. Said statements were not made knowingly and voluntarily.
“b. Said statements were made without the assistance of counsel.
“c. The procurement of said statements was in violation of the defendant’s rights as enumerated in the constitutional provisions herein cited,
“d. Said statements were the product of an illegal detainment.”
See footnote 6.
The following is the complete text of the closing remarks of defense counsel at the suppression hearing: “It’s clear that [the defendant] was in custody at the time at the Boston Avenue address. There’s been testimony that he wasn’t free to leave when the police officers arrived, that his responses at the scene resulted from questioning of the police officer, what happened, that there was a complaint of the breach of the peace. Breach of the peace is a crime. There was an expectation of having to deal with that, there’s also an expectation that the person who was searched would have a weapon on him. There were two police officers present at the time and stayed with him at all times thereafter. The individual clearly was showing unusual behavior to the point where Officer Meizies believed that there was a psychological or mental problem requiring him to be taken to a hospital.
“We would contend that the questioning initiated by Officer Meizies resulted in the statements indicated in the State’s disclosure; and that these statements should be suppressed because they were not made knowingly and voluntarily, that my client was not advised of his rights pursuant to the Constitution and Miranda; that the officer should have informed my
“We would ask Your Honor to suppress the statements in the— that allegedly were made by my client to this officer.”
Defense counsel stated: “Just in response, Your Honor, I believe the Court should find that under the circumstances that the defendant would reasonably believe that he was in custody with the police officers present, eventually he was cuffed, put in the back of a police car, even after allegedly incriminating statements were made, he was never warned of his Miranda rights and I think that the statements should be suppressed, Your Honor.”
The following is the complete statement of the court in connection with its ruling on the defendant’s motion to suppress statements: “Gentlemen, there are two motions that I have to act on. One is a motion to suppress statements—that motion is denied—in which statements I heard were in the sister’s house and in the police car and at that time, according to the testimony, and according to the facts that were presented to me, the defendant at that time was not a suspect. To my knowledge, there’s no confession here nor any statement concerning the facts signed by the defendant.”
Defense counsel stated: “I would object to the use of the statement, Your Honor, inasmuch as the circumstances that [the defendant] found himself imder were such that would suggest to a person that he was under arrest. That he was in an interrogatory situation. That he had been asked questions already. That he wasn’t warned”; and, “[T]he argument that I would make is that there was an arrest for breach of the peace, that there apparently were grounds for an arrest for breach of the peace, that there was a custodial—that my client was taken into custody, that he had been
Defense counsel did not reargue his suppression motion with respect to the statements made by the defendant in the kitchen. He did, however, object to those statements as hearsay, and the trial court overruled that objection. That ruling is not a subject in this appeal.
The court stated as follows: “[The police] were called down [to the Ramirez home] and ... he was not under arrest; so they don’t have to give rights unless the person is under arrest or suspected of a crime for which he’s going to be interrogated or arrested.”
The defendant asserts that the reference to article first, § 8, of the Connecticut constitution in his motion to suppress statements, together with the police testimony concerning the defendant’s bizarre behavior at the time he made the statements, reasonably should have alerted the trial court of the defendant’s state constitutional claim that the statements were involuntary due to his mental condition. We disagree.
Article first, § 8, is the very provision under which Miranda warnings have “come to have an independent significance under our state constitution.” State v. Ferrell, 191 Conn. 37, 40-41, 463 A.2d 573 (1983); State v. Falby, 187 Conn. 6, 11 and n.1, 444 A.2d 213 (1982). The simple invocation of that constitutional provision, therefore, was not sufficient to have placed the court on notice that the defendant was making a voluntariness claim other than his Miranda claim. Nor can we conclude that the testimony of the police officers concerning the defendant’s unusual behavior, elicited during the hearing on the defendant’s Miranda claim, somehow satisfied the defendant’s obligation to articulate his claims with clarity and specificity. As we have indicated, the record reflects that the defendant did not raise the state constitutional claim in the trial court and it was neither the responsibility nor the province of the court to have done so.
As we stated in State v. Golding, 213 Conn. 233, 240, 567 A.2d 823 (1989), “[t]he defendant bears the responsibility for providing a record that is adequate for review of his claim of constitutional error. If the facts revealed by the record are insufficient, unclear or ambiguous as to whether a constitutional violation has occurred, we will not attempt to supplement or reconstruct the record, or to make factual determinations, in order to decide the defendant’s claim.”
That the defendant may have suffered from a mental illness at the time he made the incriminating statements does not necessarily mean that those statements were involuntary, even upon application of the state constitutional standard urged by the defendant. In resolving the voluntariness issue, the trial court would have been required to determine whether, notwithstanding any such mental illness, the statements were the product of the defendant’s essentially free and rational choice. See State v. Gonzalez, 206 Conn. 213, 223, 537 A.2d 460 (1988). The trial court never decided that issue, however, because it was not asked to do so.
The dissent argues that, in determining whether the record is sufficient for review, this court must apply a de novo standard of review to the question of the voluntariness of incriminating statements by a defendant because such a question is one of law rather than fact. In so doing, the dissent employs a standard of review that has never been adopted by this court, and that is contrary to all of our precedents regarding the question of the voluntariness of statements by a defendant.
As we also noted in State v. Stanley, 223 Conn. 674, 690, 613 A.2d 788 (1992), “deciding this issue on this record would be contrary to our usual and prudent practice of only deciding a constitutional claim when it is necessary to the determination of the case.”
The defendant moved for acquittal both at the close of the state’s case and also at the close of evidence.
General Statutes § 53a-12 (b) provides: “When a defense declared to be an affirmative defense is raised at a trial, the defendant shall have the burden of establishing such defense by a preponderance of the evidence.”
General Statutes § 53a-13 provides in relevant part: “(a) In any prosecution for an offense, it shall be an affirmative defense that the defendant, at the time he committed the proscribed act or acts, lacked substantial capacity, as a result of mental disease or defect, either to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to control his conduct within the requirements of the law.
“(b) It shall not be a defense under this section if such mental 'disease or defect was proximately caused by the voluntary ingestion, inhalation or injection of intoxicating liquor or any drug or substance, or any combination thereof, unless such drug was prescribed for the defendant by a licensed practitioner, as defined in section 20-184a, and was used in accordance with the directions of such prescription.”
As a preliminary matter, the defendant argues that appellate review of a claim of evidentiary insufficiency should be limited to the evidence on the record at the close of the state’s case. He advocates, therefore, that we abandon the so-called “waiver rule,” announced in State v. Rutan, 194 Conn. 438, 440, 479 A.2d 1209 (1984), which provides that if the defendant elects to introduce evidence after the trial court denies his motion for a judgment of acquittal, appellate review “encompasses the evidence in
The defendant requested that the trial court instruct the jury on the lesser included offenses of manslaughter in the first degree, manslaughter in the second degree with a firearm, and criminally negligent homicide; see General Statutes §§ 53a-55 (a) (1) and (2), 53a-56a and 53a-58; and the court did so.
Wallisa’s testimony is summarized in part III of this opinion.
The jury also heard testimony from Walter Young; see part III of this opinion; that the defendant had steadily consumed cocaine and alcohol for several days prior to the fatal shooting on September 13,1986, and on that date as well. Although it is clear that the “defendant’s intoxication is relevant to the determination of his capacity to form a specific intent to commit a crime”; State v. Vinal, 198 Conn. 644, 658, 504 A.2d 1364 (1986); the jury could reasonably have determined that the defendant, even if intoxicated at the time of the shooting, was capable of forming the specific intent required to commit the crime of murder. See, e.g., State v. Traficonda, 223 Conn. 273, 279, 612 A.2d 45 (1992).
August defined malingering as “the conscious manipulation of facts and details for self-serving ends. Basically lying about your condition so that people will believe [that you suffer from the feigned condition].”
See State v. Perez, 182 Conn. 603, 609-10, 438 A.2d 1149 (1981). In Perez, the defendant claimed that he lacked the mental capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct and to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. The state, which at that time bore the burden of establishing the defendant’s sanity beyond a reasonable doubt, did not call any expert witnesses and relied instead upon its cross-examination of the defendant’s psychiatric expert and the documents introduced through that expert witness. We held that “[t]he trier was entitled ... to find that the state had met its burden of proving the defendant’s sanity beyond a reasonable doubt by introducing the medical records of his stay at Whiting [Forensic Institute], These records are fully probative even though they were introduced as part of the cross-examination of [the defense expert] rather than as part of the state’s case-in-chief.” Id.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
I
I must first address a preliminary matter that greatly concerns me. The court has arrived at this juncture by granting a motion to vacate our judgment of August 24,1993, in State v. Medina, 227 Conn. 456 (1993) (Medina I), and reconsider the case with a reconstituted court (motion).
G. Douglas Nash, chief of legal services for the office of the chief public defender, filed the motion for reconsideration on behalf of the defendant, Angel Medina, Jr. The motion merely stated in a conclusory fashion that there may have been a conflict of interest between the assistant public defender who represented the defendant on his Medina I appeal and a justice of this court, as follows: “The undersigned [Nash] has had conversations with [the assistant public defender who argued Medina i]. As a result, certain facts have come to my attention such that I reasonably believe it was a conflict of interest for [one of the justices of this court] to participate in the decision of this case. See Rules of Professional Conduct, terminology (‘reasonably believes’). As an officer of the court, I herein state that I reasonably believe the facts stated to me were true and they are such that [the justice] should be disqualified from this case. . . . [Rules of Professional Conduct], 5.1 (b), 5.1 (c) (1); Code of Judicial Conduct, Canon 2B, 3C (1) (a). ... I therefore respectfully move the Court to vacate the decision and resubmit the case to the Court. The undersigned only moves that [the justice] be disqualified from the reconstituted Court. This conflict does not affect any other Justice.”
Nevertheless, the situation in the present case differs significantly from the situation where a judge merely recuses himself or herself prior to the announcement of a judgment. Although I do not agree with the outcome of Medina I, this court rendered a judgment in that case. I do not believe that a judgment should be vacated and the case reargued without there being good and sufficient reason on the record. The bare fact that a justice believes, in hindsight, that he should have recused himself from a case prior to judgment being rendered is not a sufficient ground to justify vacating a judgment after it is rendered. See, e.g., Timm v. Timm, 195 Conn. 202, 205, 487 A.2d 191 (1985) (failure to raise the disqualification issue before judgment
The other justices of this court have not been advised of the specific predicate facts underlying the “conflict,” nor has the extent of the “conflict” been described to us. On the basis of the scant record before us, the majority nevertheless granted the motion for reconsideration, which was filed thirty days after the expiration of the time permitted by the rules.
In the present case, the state’s attorney for Fairfield County, whose office assumed the responsibility for representing the state in Medina I, took no position on the motion. Nevertheless, the office of the chief state’s attorney for the state of Connecticut voiced the same concerns that I express herein when it took the following position in regard to other cases allegedly involving a conflict between the same assistant public defender and the same justice: “I have been, and continue to be, uninformed as to the conflict of interest alleged by Attorney Nash. The state is therefore handicapped in responding to his assessment of the impact
I have no doubt that a certain amount of confidentiality is required for this branch of government to perform its decision-making duties. But in a democracy, confidentiality must be kept to the bare minimum that is needed in order for this court to function. I believe that the line is crossed when we publicly announce a decision of this court, then vacate it under a veil of confidentiality. Both the public and the other justices have a right to know the predicate facts that are the basis for the reconsideration of a judgment. The public needs to know what this branch of government is “up to” just
Accordingly, before considering the motion we should have required, at the very least, an affidavit from the assistant public defender or from Nash setting forth sufficient underlying facts to justify vacating the judgment and ordering a reconsideration of the case.
II
Today, the majority upholds the defendant’s conviction for the crime of murder, even though it may have been predicated on a confession made while the defendant was mentally ill, in violation of our state constitution. The defendant’s pretrial motion sought to suppress statements made when he was apprehended on the day of the victim’s death and when he was being escorted to the hospital. At that time, the defendant stated: “The devil made me do it”; “I killed the devil”; “I am God.” The defendant argues before this court that these statements were involuntary because they were made while he was insane; therefore their admission into evidence violated his right to due process under article first, § 8, of the Connecticut constitution.
Before setting forth my dissent in regard to the merits of the defendant’s claim, which is essentially the same as my dissent in Medina I, I find it necessary to make some additional comments on another matter of great importance. The majority refuses to review the defendant’s state constitutional claim on the grounds that it was not raised before the trial court, and that there is an insufficient record to review the claim under
Nevertheless, we profess to do justice. Is it just to refuse to review a claim made under the state constitution that could have a substantial bearing on whether the defendant is guilty of intentional homicide, merely because the public defender
The state constitutional issue in the present case had been raised in this court at least two years prior to the defendant’s trial. State v. Gonzalez, 206 Conn. 213, 222, 537 A.2d 460 (1988) (“[t]his court has not had occasion to decide whether, in light of the recent United States Supreme Court decision in Colorado v. Connelly, [479 U.S. 157, 107 S. Ct. 515, 93 L. Ed. 2d 473 (1986)], a claim of involuntariness in the absence of any allegations of police overreaching may be successfully pursued under our state constitution”). The issue has been suggested by this court as early as 1986. State v. Smith, 200 Conn. 465, 478, 512 A.2d 189 (1986); see also State v. Northrop, 213 Conn. 405, 419, 206, 568 A.2d 439 (1990); State v. Barrett, 205 Conn. 437, 452, 534 A.2d 219 (1987). Indeed, the assistant state’s attorney identified the issue for the defense at trial, but the trial public defender failed to recognize it. In an attempt to ascertain what direction the public defender was
The failure to raise the issue is not necessarily the fault of the trial public defender. For the most part, “[t]hese competent and dedicated attorneys carry heavy caseloads . . . .” Jackson v. Commissioner of Correction, 227 Conn. 124, 139, 629 A.2d 413 (1993) (Berdon, J., dissenting). The state must take its share of the blame when an attorney on its payroll fails to raise a constitutional issue that has been identified since 1986. Id., 140. An indigent defendant like Mr. Medina has no right to compel the state to engage counsel of
Although, under the facts of this case, I believe that the requirements of State v. Golding, supra, 239-40, are satisfied so that we may review the defendant’s claim, the time is ripe for reconsideration of that doctrine. At the very least, as I indicate below, the first requirement for appellate review of an unpreserved claim under Golding—that is, that “the record is adequate to review the alleged claim of error”—should be relaxed in a case such as this where the missing record can be supplied through a mere hearing before the trial judge. It seems incredible to me that this state can supply the defendant with an attorney to fulfill its constitutional obligations, and then hold the accused responsible for that attorney’s procedural defaults when there is not even a suggestion that his defaults were calculated to gain a tactical advantage.
Despite defense counsel’s failure to raise the state constitutional issue before the trial court, I believe that the record is sufficient to warrant review under Golding. The record is replete with evidence of the defendant’s seriously impaired mental condition. It is undisputed that the defendant suffered from bipolar affective illness (manic depressive illness) with psychotic features. At least one expert witness testified without contradiction that the defendant had suffered from this mental illness on the day that both the murder was committed and the statements the defendant sought to suppress were made.
In determining whether the record is sufficient for review, the majority ignores the standard of review for
We undertook this precise review in State v. Barrett, supra. In Barrett, on remand from the United States Supreme Court, we reviewed for the first time under the state constitution whether the statements of the accused were admissible when the defendant’s request for counsel was equivocal. Chief Justice Peters writing for an unanimous court stated: “[W]e have before us transcripts and exhibits that provide a trial record affording us a sufficient basis for addressing the defend
The following facts are relevant to the determination of whether the statements are admissible. On September 13, 1986, Bridgeport police officers Kevin Meizies and James Sheffield responded to a telephone call from the defendant’s sister, Lucy Ramirez, who was concerned and frightened because her brother had come to her home and was acting “like a madman.” The officers arrived at the Ramirez residence to find the defendant standing in the kitchen with his hands in the air and a gun in his rear pants pocket. Meizies
The officers were so concerned about the defendant’s behavior that they transported him to the Bridgeport Hospital emergency room. On the way to the hospital, the defendant continued with his bizarre behavior, mumbling unintelligibly, continuing to say that he was God and that he had killed the devil, and that “Mary gave me the drugs.”
In addition, as the majority acknowledges, David Villa, who was on duty as deputy sheriff at the Bridgeport courthouse when the defendant was arraigned, and who had observed the defendant for six hours, testified that the defendant’s behavior “was the most bizarre episode I’ve ever seen in fifteen years of service.” Villa testified that the defendant’s eyes were “bugged out . . . extended out a lot further than a normal person would. They were blood shot, puffy around the lids and actually [had] the appearance that they were bulging out of his head.” Villa further testified that “the defendant told me directly that he was the devil. On many occasions. He also told me that he was God.” According to Villa, the defendant engaged in a cyclical pattern of behavior, which continued for approximately six hours, being “quiet and almost withdrawn in tears at the back of the cell,” then becoming loud, “screaming in a high voice that he was the devil,” and “thrashing around in the cell.” Villa testified that the defendant “would . . . go in for a few moments
Prior to trial, on September 30,1987, the trial court granted the defendant’s motion for a psychiatric examination. After evaluating the defendant, the clinical team, comprised of social workers, psychiatrists and psychologists, determined that the defendant was not competent to stand trial. They specifically noted that “a major concern to team members was the defendant’s religious delusional system which now substantially interferes in his current competency to stand trial.” The clinical team also documented that the defendant had “indicated that he believes he is a gifted child, has special powers and may be one of Jesus’ followers. He has little concern over what could happen with his human body and twenty years or life imprisonment does not really matter to him. He somewhat philosophized that none of us could really be around even two days from now. He believed that he had died and had come back to life at about the same time that [the victim] was found dead. He has powers and his actions that resulted in his arrest are ‘beyond the recollection of man’s knowledge.’ He then went on to state that time actually went backwards for everyone in August and September of last year. He states that he knows this as it was written in one book and that most people are not aware that time had in fact gone backwards. ... He did make reference to killing the devil, being very vague as to who the devil was. This coincides with the arrest incident report that made reference to a similar statement.”
After the defendant was found incompetent, he was admitted to Fairfield Hills State Hospital. On Novem
At trial, the defendant offered the testimony of three experts—Jeremy August, a psychiatrist, and Elizabeth Augustine and Melvin Roy, clinical psychologists. August diagnosed the defendant as having bipolar affective illness, formerly known as manic depressive illness, with psychotic features. August explained that when bipolar affective illness becomes quite severe, “thinking is disrupted, delusional ideas such as being God or being Satan or being possessed by the devil become prominent; and when that happens, then you have the extra diagnosis of psychotic features.” He further testified that he had observed such psychotic features in the defendant when they met in 1987, and noted that the defendant “believed that he was in a special relationship with God and that he had a mission to kill the devil.” Finally, August testified that the defendant was suffering from bipolar affective illness on the date of the murder.
After performing a battery of psychological tests on the defendant, Melvin Roy concluded that the defendant “has a serious affective [bipolar] disorder in partial remission.” Roy described affective bipolar disorder as “a serious disturbance in mood which affects the individual’s behavior drastically ... in other words, a psychotic disorder.” Roy testified that although the defendant had not been psychotic when tested, he had
Elizabeth Augustine testified that she had begun testing the defendant, but had been unable to complete the usual battery of tests, which takes approximately eight or nine hours, because the defendant had become agitated and was unable to concentrate or pay attention after approximately three hours. Augustine testified that during the testing, the defendant’s “behavior and thinking was not within normal limits. He was stimulated by things that would not provoke bizarre thinking in normal individuals.” Augustine testified that the defendant’s behavior had included “rapid speech, agitation, bodily agitation, getting up, pacing, sitting down, getting up, pacing, sitting down, getting up, pacing. Once again, sitting down. Inability to sit still. Coming out with more bizarre statements and delusion material.” She also testified that the defendant was “hyper-religious,” and that he had stated “I am spirit and flesh. I am Holy Ghost.” Finally, Augustine testified that the defendant’s behavior was consistent with a person undergoing a manic phase of bipolar affective illness with psychotic features.
Although the state introduced evidence that the defendant had ingested drugs before he had made the statements at the Ramirez residence, there is also overwhelming evidence of the defendant’s serious mental illness. Indeed, no expert witness testified for the state that the defendant was in fact competent. As the majority acknowledges, the evidence established “that the defendant was suffering from a bipolar affective disorder, a manic depressive illness; that persons suffering from this illness experience periods of relatively normal functioning that may be interrupted by episodes of depression or mania; and that the defendant’s belief that he was on a special mission from God to purge evil from the world is typical of those who suffer from the
Because the voluntariness of the statement is a legal question, there was overwhelming evidence before the trial court of the defendant’s mental illness, and the state did not produce any live medical or other professional evidence to indicate that the defendant was mentally incompetent, I believe that the record is adequate to review the defendant’s state constitutional claim.
Alternatively, I would remand this case to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing and for written findings. See State v. Ellis, 227 Conn. 902, 630 A.2d 73 (1993). Even if the record were not adequate, I would relax the rule under State v. Golding, supra, and review the claim because the defendant asserts the violation of a fundamental constitutional right and the record can be augmented simply by a hearing before the trial judge. In State v. Ellis, supra, 903, this court on its own, without a request from either party, remanded the case “to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing and written findings . . . .” (Emphasis added.) Likewise, in State v. Pollitt, 199 Conn. 399, 416, 508 A.2d 1 (1986), this court remanded the case to the trial court for a hearing to determine whether Brady materials were withheld from the defendant. Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S. Ct. 1194, 10 L. Ed. 2d 215 (1963). Moreover, in State v. Patterson, 227 Conn. 448, 629 A.2d 1133 (1993), we remanded the case to the three judge court for an articulation of the facts upon which the court based its decision. Indeed, a remand is particularly appropriate and fair in view of the trial court’s decision on the motion to suppress, which indicated the court did not even reach the Miranda issues that were
I agree with the majority that under the federal due process clause, the fact that the defendant’s confessions or admissions were made while he was insane does not affect their admissibility. In Colorado v. Connelly, 479 U.S. 157, 167, 107 S. Ct. 515, 93 L. Ed. 2d 473 (1986), a majority of the United States Supreme Court held that “coercive police activity is a necessary predicate to the finding that a confession is not Voluntary’ within the meaning of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment” even though the admissions were made by the defendant when he was mentally ill.
Nevertheless, on the basis of my analysis in State v. Stanley, 223 Conn. 674, 696, 613 A.2d 788 (1992) (Berdon, J., dissenting), which noted that prior to the adoption of the state constitution in 1818, the common law required that the prosecution prove the voluntariness of a confession beyond a reasonable doubt, I conclude that Colorado v. Connelly, supra, must be rejected under the state due process clause. In Stanley, I noted that “[t]he right to have the involuntary confession excluded, under the state constitution, is embraced in the following constitutional clause: No person shall be compelled to give evidence against himself .... Conn. Const., art. I, § 8 (1965). This clause is virtually identical to the one that appeared in our first formal constitution of 1818; Conn. Const., art. I, § 9 (1818); and that of the federal constitution. U.S. Const., amend. V. What is thereby protected from govern
“The value the framers of our state constitution placed on the right to remain silent is evident and important in determining the contours of the state constitutional protection. State v. Geisler, [222 Conn. 672, 685, 610 A.2d 1225 (1992)]. Zephaniah Swift, a leading jurist ... of 1818, wrote in his treatise on the law that ‘the confession must be perfectly voluntary: for if the least degree of influence appear to be exercised over the prisoner’s mind, to induce him to disclose his guilt, the whole will be rejected.’ (Emphasis added.) 2 Z. Swift, A Digest of the Laws of the State of Connecticut (1823) p. 408. Justice Swift also pointed out in his treatise on evidence that voluntary confessions ‘are deemed to be the most conclusive evidence . . . .’ Z. Swift, A Digest on the Law of Evidence (1810) p. 133. He also noted, however, that ‘[t]here is, perhaps, no part of evidence in which there is so much misrepresentation and fabrication, as in testifying to the confession of a party.’ Id., p. 149.
“Common law precedent also leads me to the conclusion that our state constitution requires a higher standard of proof of voluntariness of a confession. E. Peters, ‘Common Law Antecedents of Constitutional Law in Connecticut,’ 53 Alb. L. Rev. 259, 263 (1989). Blackstone, in formally shaping the contours of our common law, wrote: ‘[I]ndeed, even in cases of felony
This analysis, which requires that the state prove the voluntariness of a confession beyond a reasonable doubt, has equal application when the confession was made by a person who is mentally ill. I believe that, under our state constitution, we should adopt the reasoning of Justice Brennan in his dissent in Connelly, as follows: “The absence of police wrongdoing should not, by itself, determine the voluntariness of a confession by a mentally ill person. The requirement that a confession be voluntary reflects a recognition of the importance of free will and of reliability in determining the admissibility of a confession, and thus demands an inquiry into the totality of the circumstances surrounding the confession.” Colorado v. Connelly, supra, 176. Justice Brennan explained the requirements of reliability as follows: “Minimum standards of due process should require that the trial court find substantial indicia of reliability, on the basis of evidence extrinsic to the confession itself, before admitting the confession of a mentally ill person into evidence. To hold otherwise allows the State to imprison and possibly to execute a mentally ill defendant based solely upon an inherently unreliable confession.” Id., 183.
In sum, in order to establish that a confession by a mentally ill person was voluntary and is therefore admissible, our state constitution mandates that the state prove: (1) that the statements were made by the defendant of his own free will; and (2) that there was
In view of the substantial evidence of the defendant’s mental illness in this case, and that there was no other corroborative evidence to indicate that the defendant intended to kill the victim, I would hold that the statements were not voluntary. Accordingly, as I indicated in Medina I, I would order that the statements be suppressed and remand for a new trial. In the alternative, I would remand this matter to the trial court for the purposes of hearing evidence and to make the necessary findings as to voluntariness of the statements. See State v. Pollitt, supra, 416-17. Nevertheless, as I indicated in part I of this dissent, I would not have vacated the judgment in Medina I until such time as this court had before it a complete record to justify such action.
Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.
When this motion was made available to the justices on October 7,1993, I voted in favor of the motion, as the majority indicates. Nevertheless, shortly thereafter I requested reconsideration of the motion, expressing my concern that we should not have voted on it for the reasons set forth in part I of my dissent. Thereafter, on October 19, 1993,1 addressed the issue in writing as follows: “I continue to be concerned about the action we took on the Medina motion for reconsideration. I believe that before acting on the same we should have required at least an affidavit from the public defender. Once a judgment of this Court is publicly announced and the justice who sat on the case concedes that he or she had a conflict of interest at that time, at the very least, the specific facts that were the basis of the conflict and the time frame should be publicly disclosed before reconsideration is ordered. The reconsideration of the judgment involves the court’s credibility; the public has a right to know why we are reconsidering the judgment and so do we. For these reasons, I may want to write, as part of the Medina opinion, on this issue as well as the procedural posture of the case which led up to the adoption of the motion for reconsideration at conference on October 7,1993. Since I previously indicated that I would not write on this issue, I want to put the other justices on notice that I may do so.” (Emphasis in original.) My efforts to have the court reconsider this motion occurred prior to the oral argument on November 2,1993, of this case, Medina II.
The terminology section of the Rules of Professional Conduct provides in relevant part: “ ‘Reasonable belief or ‘reasonably believes’ when used in reference to a lawyer denotes that the lawyer believes the matter in question and that the circumstances are such that the belief is reasonable.”
Rule 5.1 of the Rules of Professional Conduct provides in relevant part:
“(b) A lawyer having direct supervisory authority over another lawyer shall*313 make reasonable efforts to ensure that the other lawyer conforms to the rules of professional conduct.
“(c) A lawyer shall be responsible for another lawyer’s violation of the rules of professional conduct if:
“(1) The lawyer orders or, with knowledge of the specific conduct, ratifies the conduct involved . . . .”
Canon 2 of the Code of Judicial Conduct provides in relevant part: “B. A judge should not allow the judge’s family, social, or other relationships to influence his or her judicial conduct or judgment. The judge should not lend the prestige of judicial office to advance the private interests of others; nor should the judge convey or permit others to convey the impression that they are in a special position to influence him or her. The judge should not testify voluntarily as a character witness.”
Canon 3 of the Code of Judicial Conduct provides in relevant part: “C. DISQUALIFICATION.
“(1) A judge should disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding in which the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned, including but not limited to instances where:
“(a) the judge has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding
“(d) the judge or the judge’s spouse, or a person within the third degree of relationship to either of them, or the spouse of such a person:
“(i) is a party to the proceeding, or an officer, director, or trustee of a party;
“(ii) is acting as a lawyer in the proceeding . . .
“(iii) is known by the judge to have an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding;
“(iv) is to the judge’s knowledge likely to be a material witness in the proceeding . . . .”
Nevertheless, it is important to point out that although the justice or judge may not come within the degree of relationship prohibited by the rules, a justice or judge also must “disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding in which the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned . . . .” Code of Judicial Conduct Canon 3.C (1); State v. Santangelo, 205 Conn. 578, 602, 534 A.2d 1175 (1987) (“Disqualification of a . . . judge is not dependent on proof of actual bias. The appearance and existence of impartiality are both essential elements of a fair trial.”).
The commentary to Canon 3.C (3) (a) of the Code of Judicial Conduct provides: “According to the civil law system, the third degree of relationship test would, for example, disqualify the judge if the judge’s or the judge’s spouse’s parent, grandparent, uncle or aunt, sibling, or niece’s or nephew’s spouse were a party or lawyer in the proceeding, but would not disqualify the judge if a cousin were a party or lawyer in the proceeding.”
General Statutes § 51-39 (c) provides: “When any judge ... is disqualified to act in any proceeding before him, he may act if the parties thereto consent in open court.”
Practice Book § 4121 provides that a motion for reargument or reconsideration must be filed within ten days from the date the decision on the case is issued. Medina I was issued on August 24, 1993. The motion for reconsideration was not filed until October 4, 1993.
Although we do not have formal rules for the disqualification of a justice of the Supreme Court, the rules of the Superior Court are illuminating. The bare bones motion filed in this case would be insufficient to trigger a disqualification, and therefore reargument, under the rules of the Superior Court. This is because Practice Book § 997 provides that a motion for disqualification must “be accompanied by an affidavit setting forth the facts relied upon to show the grounds for disqualification . . . .” See also McGuire v. Blount, 199 U.S. 142, 143, 26 S. Ct. 1, 50 L. Ed. 125 (1905) (for recusal to be required, there must be facts in the record establishing or offering to establish the basis for disqualification of the judge); State v. Santangelo, 205 Conn. 578, 585, 534 A.2d 1175 (1987).
I take judicial notice of the fact that this matter has been referred by the Chief Justice to the Judicial Review Council for its consideration. The
This excerpt is taken from a letter dated November 1, 1993, to Chief Justice Ellen Peters from Susann E. Gill, supervisory assistant state’s attorney, appellate unit, office of the chief state’s attorney.
The constitution of Connecticut, article first, § 8, provides in relevant part: “No person shall be compelled to give evidence against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law . . . .”
The defendant was represented by a different public defender at trial than on appeal.
The sixth amendment to the United States constitution provides in relevant part: “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right ... to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.”
Article first, § 8, of the constitution of Connecticut provides in relevant part: “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have a right to be heard by himself and by counsel . . . .”
In State v. Stoddard, 206 Conn. 157, 164-65, 537 A.2d 446 (1988), this court recognized this state’s historical commitment to the right to counsel: “This state has had a long history of recognizing the significance of the right to counsel, even before that right attained federal constitutional importance. Until 1836, the common law of England denied the services of counsel to a person charged with a felony for anything but advisory guidance on questions of law. Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45, 60, 53 S. Ct. 55, 77 L. Ed. 158 (1932). This rule was defended largely on the theory that the court itself was counsel for the accused. Id., 61.
“Although in 1708 Connecticut enacted a law prohibiting pleading for hire without the express consent of the court; State v. Gethers, 197 Conn. 369, 389-90 n.19, 497 A.2d 408 (1985); the custom of assigning counsel in all criminal cases quickly became the norm. State v. Davis, 199 Conn. 88, 99, 506 A.2d 86 (1986). By the end of the eighteenth century, the Connecticut legislature had ‘abolished all those odious laws’ arising from the English common law tradition and had assured that any person charged with a crime was ‘entitled to every possible privilege in making his defence, and manifesting his innocence, by the instrumentality of counsel . . . .’ 2 Z. Swift, A System of Laws of the State of Connecticut (1796) p. 399.
“When the customary right to counsel was formally incorporated into the Connecticut constitution in 1818, ‘the advice and services of counsel were regarded as crucial to a criminal defendant at any time, especially given the inability of a defendant to testify in Connecticut in 1818.’ State v. Davis, supra, 99-100. More contemporary developments suggest that this state’s commitment to securing the right to counsel has not diminished
See Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444, 86 S. Ct. 1062, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694 (1966).
Mental health issues in regard to the criminal law have not fared well during the past year. State v. Stanley, 223 Conn. 674, 689, 613 A.2d 788 (1992) (refusal to review under state constitution whether state is required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant’s confession was voluntary); State v. Raguseo, 225 Conn. 114, 126-28, 622 A.2d 519 (1993) (defense of extreme emotional disturbance is determined from the viewpoint of a “reasonable” person in the defendant’s situation); State v. Joyner, 225 Conn. 450, 472, 625 A.2d 791 (1993) (upholding a statute imposing on the defendant in a criminal prosecution the burden of establishing the defense of mental disease or defect).
Today, we add to the list our refusal to reach the issue of whether under our state constitution we will admit incriminating statements made while the defendant was mentally ill.