1 Conn. Cir. Ct. 183 | Conn. App. Ct. | 1962
Each of the defendants is a minor and was presented in court on two separate informa-tions charging him with multiple violations of General Statutes § 53-126, entitled “wilful injury to . . . personal property,” as follows: CR-11-133, Robert F. Nacsin, between the dates April 30, 1960, and February 21, 1961, sixty counts, set forth in a bill of particulars; CR-11-136, Robert F. Nacsin, between the dates May 23, 1960, and November 28, 1960, eight counts; CR-11-130, Jerome A. Filek, between the dates April 30, 1960, and February 21, 1961, twenty-eight counts, set forth in a bill of particulars; CR-11-138, Jerome A. Filek, between the dates May 23, 1960, and November 28, 1960, eight counts; CR-11-132, Kenneth J. Tellier, between the
These defendants were arrested after a wave of vandalism struck the area of Windham and the surrounding countryside. This orgy of destruction was widespread and continued over a period of eleven months. The acts of the defendants consisted in driving about late at night in a motor vehicle operated by the defendant Naesin, and throwing stones against the windows of parked motor vehicles, shattering the windshields and windows; throwing stones against and breaking the show windows of a gasoline station and two stores; throwing paint on parked automobiles; upsetting and damaging rural mailboxes; and breaking glass windows, light bulbs, and fixtures in a power plant.
Upon being questioned, when taken into custody, as to the reason for committing such acts, one defendant indicated that he enjoyed reading the reports of these events in the newspapers, and another stated that he could assign “no particular reason, just nothing to do.”
Owing to the age of the defendants, the court, before imposing sentence, referred the cases to the family relations officer to conduct an investigation and file a report. Upon receipt of the report, the court sentenced each defendant to the state reformatory and then granted a motion to defer the execution of sentence for one week under bond. On the continuance date, additional counsel appeared and were heard by the court on motions to open the judgments and to modify the sentences imposed. The motions were denied. Each defendant appealed. The assignments of error are substantially the same in each case. Each defendant assigns error in the
The defendants urge that the Appellate Division of the Circuit Court has the power to review a sentence imposed by the trial court — a power similar to that exercised by the Review Division of the Superior Court. This claim is without merit. The powers vested in the Appellate Division of the Circuit Court are specifically set forth in the statutes creating the court (General Statutes §§51-264, 51-265), which, inter alia, provide that appeals from any final judgment are limited expressly to review of errors of law. § 51-265. The sentence in a criminal case, if within the limits fixed by statute for the crime charged, will not be disturbed on appeal unless there was an abuse of discretion. State v. LaPorta, 140 Conn. 610, 612. Where the penalty imposed is within the limits fixed by statute, a contention on appeal that it is excessive is simply an appeal for clemency to a court which has no discretionary jurisdiction in the matter. State v. Chuchelow, 128 Conn. 323, 324.
The defendants assign error in that the trial court failed to follow the recommendations of the family relations officer in imposing sentences on
The trial court properly enlisted the aid of the family relations officer to make an investigation and report prior to the imposition of sentence. Cir. Ct. Rule 2.5.1. There is a “wide field open to the trial judge in obtaining information, after conviction, relevant to mitigation or aggravation of the seriousness of the offense.” State v. Chuchelow, supra; State v. Van Allen, 140 Conn. 39, 44. The trial court was not obliged to follow the recommendation of the family relations officer contained in the report concerning the sentences to be imposed by the court, and the failure to do so is not an abuse of discretion. The court had the details of the numerous offenses charged, and it also had before it the serious consideration of the protection of society from similar offenses in the future. State v. Levy, 103 Conn. 138, 148.
In the instant cases, the trial court imposed a general or gross sentence which does not exceed the maximum which could have been imposed had the same sentence been pronounced severally on each of the counts, the presumption being that the trial court intended to cumulate the punishment referable to the particular counts. An -examination of each of the several informations discloses that as to each defendant against whom two separate in-formations were filed, the trial court signed the disposition on each information and indicated that the judgment was a sentence to the state reformatory for an indeterminate period. It is clear that the trial court imposed two separate sentences to the state reformatory on each defendant, but nothing is said
The underlying purpose of the appeals in these cases appears to be to have the Appellate Division find that the imposition of the sentences by the trial court was an abuse of discretion. The sentences being within the limits fixed by the statute, the contention is simply an appeal for clemency to the Appellate Division, which has no discretionary jurisdiction in the matter. State v. Van Allen, supra; State v. Chuchelow, supra; State v. Horton, 132 Conn. 276, 278.
There is no error.