26 Conn. App. 165 | Conn. App. Ct. | 1991
The defendant appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of manslaughter in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-55 (a) (3) and using a motor vehicle without the owner’s permission in violation of General Statutes § 53a-119b. The defendant claims that the trial court improperly (1) determined there was sufficient probable cause to put him on trial on a charge of murder, (2) admitted into evidence certain gruesome photographs of the victim, and (3) limited the scope of voir dire of prospective jurors, all of which prejudiced him. We affirm the trial court’s judgment.
The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. Early on the morning of September 24, 1989, Alfred Allen got out of his car at Main and John Streets in Bridgeport to use a public telephone. While using the telephone, Allen, who had left the car running, saw someone get into the car and drive away. Allen gave chase but was unable to catch up to the car. After returning home, he and his wife, Audra, called police and resumed the search in her car. Near Hamilton Street and Martin Luther King Drive, they saw the defendant in the car talking with a man who was leaning into the car on the passenger side. The defendant then sped away with the victim hanging from the passenger compartment. Allen followed and saw the defendant swerve the car from side to side, apparently attempting to throw the victim off. Allen estimated that the defendant was traveling at a speed of sixty to sixty-five miles per hour while going onto an entrance ramp to Interstate 95.
While on the ramp, the defendant repeatedly swerved the car against the guardrail, shearing off the victim’s legs, after which the victim fell from the car. Two other drivers who had been traveling on the highway that morning also testified that they saw the incident on the entrance ramp. Medical evidence showed that the vie
At trial, the defendant testified that the victim had precipitated the incident by leaning into the car and demanding money and drugs. He testified that the victim had a gun and was threatening to kill him while trying to get into the car. The defendant testified that he was in fear for his life and swerved the car to get the victim off of it. The defendant also testified that he had ingested alcohol and numerous drugs prior to the incident. Finally, a forensic psychiatrist testified that the defendant was intoxicated on the morning of the incident and that the amounts of drugs and alcohol he had ingested would have impaired his judgment and ability to think rationally.
Although the defendant was charged, in a substitute information in the first count, with murder, he was convicted of the lesser included offense of manslaughter in the first degree, as well as the motor vehicle offense. He was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of twenty years, suspended after twelve years.
Prior to trial, the court conducted a hearing in which it found sufficient probable cause to permit the defendant to be tried on the murder charge. At the hearing, the court refused to allow defense counsel to introduce medical testimony in an effort to negate probable cause through a showing that the defendant was intoxicated at the time of the crime and thus lacked the requisite intent to commit murder. During voir dire of prospective jurors, the court also limited defense counsel regarding questions concerned with narcotics and self-defense. At trial, despite defense counsel’s repeated objections, the court admitted into evidence several photographs of the victim’s body and severed legs that depicted his injuries in graphic detail, including one pic
I
The defendant first claims that the court improperly construed the purpose of our probable cause statute, General Statutes § 54-46U,
Further, we disagree with the defendant’s argument that the finding of probable cause to go forward on the murder charge meant the trial and subsequent proceedings were void ab initio. “For a criminal proceeding to be void ab initio, there must be some defect as to the court’s jurisdiction over the subject matter or the person charged.” Id. When the state charges a defendant with murder, it may prosecute him for manslaugh
II
The defendant next claims that the trial court should not have admitted into evidence certain photographs of the victim because they were cumulative of prior oral testimony, as well as being grisly, inflammatory and highly prejudicial.
It is well established that where photographs have a reasonable tendency to prove or disprove a material element of a crime charged or shed light on a material inquiry, they are not inadmissible simply because they may be regarded as “gruesome.” State v. Haskins, 188 Conn. 432, 452, 450 A.2d 828 (1982); State v. Piskorski, 177 Conn. 677, 700, 419 A.2d 866, cert. denied, 444 U.S. 935, 100 S. Ct. 283, 62 L. Ed. 2d 194 (1979); State v. Suarez, 23 Conn. App. 705, 711, 584 A.2d 1194 (1991). To the contrary, photographs are admissible where they have “ ‘a reasonable tendency to prove or disprove a material fact in issue . . . .’ ” State v. Doehrer, 200 Conn. 642, 649, 513 A.2d 58 (1986); State v. DeJesus, 194 Conn. 376, 381, 481 A.2d 1277 (1984); State v. Lopez, 14 Conn. App. 536, 540, 541 A.2d 902 (1988).
When the trial court determines that possibly gruesome photographs may have a tendency to prejudice or inflame the jury, the court must decide if their probative value outweighs their possibly prejudicial effect. State v. Piskorski, supra, 700-701; State v. Smith, 174 Conn. 118, 122, 384 A.2d 347 (1977). The test for deter
The photographs in this case were relevant to the issue of whether the defendant intended to kill the victim. Viewing the photographs, the jury could properly draw inferences to this effect in order to establish the requisite state of mind needed to convict the defendant of murder. Moreover, the photographs corroborated the testimony of Allen and the two witnesses who saw the incident while driving on the highway, as well as the medical examiner’s explanation of the cause of death. We conclude the photographs were properly admitted.
Ill
Finally, the defendant claims that the trial court improperly restricted the scope of voir dire by limit
During voir dire, the defendant’s counsel attempted to ask several prospective jurors if they personally believed they would have the right to use self-defense to protect themselves in any instance in which they felt threatened. Counsel also asked if they would give equal weight to the testimony of all witnesses, regardless of whether such witnesses have used narcotics, and whether this would prevent the prospective jurors from reaching a fair and just verdict. The state objected to these questions, and the court sustained the objections, asserting that defense counsel had injected collateral issues into the case. The court warned counsel to stay within the parameters of its rulings, stating, “We’re trying to try a collateral issue and it’s going to stop. . . . This man is charged with a homicide. Possession of a stolen car. We’re not going to try the narcotics case in this case. . . . Genetically, we’ll treat the subject; but we’re not getting into the evidence. . . . [T]hat isn’t going to fly, and it won’t be allowed again.”
Our state constitution provides that in all civil and criminal actions tried before a jury, the parties shall have the right to challenge jurors peremptorily, with the number of such challenges to be established by law. Conn, const., art. I, § 19, as amended by art. IV of the amendments to the constitution. There also is a statutory right to a voir dire examination of each prospective juror in a criminal action. See General Statutes § 54-82f. It is settled law in Connecticut that “[t]he right to question each juror individually by counsel shall be inviolate.” Conn, const., art. I, § 19, as amended by art. IV of the amendments to the constitution; see, e.g., State v. Couture, 218 Conn. 309, 318, 589 A.2d 343 (1991); State v. Dolphin, 203 Conn. 506, 511, 525 A.2d 509 (1987); Lamb v. Burns, 202 Conn. 158, 162, 520 A.2d
Although the defendant claims that the court so severely restricted the scope of questioning as to force him to go forward without having been able effectively to ferret out possible prejudices of the jury, our review of the record does not support such a view. Prospective jurors told counsel they would be able to evaluate witnesses’ testimony fairly and objectively, and would follow the court’s instructions in accordance with the law, despite any negative feelings they may have had about narcotics or self-defense. Although the court
It is clear that the court acted within the bounds of its broad discretion in limiting voir dire for the purpose of preventing an inquisition into matters it believed were far afield of the relevant issues. We conclude that the court did not abuse its discretion in restricting the scope of defense counsel’s voir dire.
The judgment is affirmed.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.
General Statutes § 54-46a provides in pertinent part: “(a) No person charged by the state, who has not been indicted by a grand jury prior to May 26,1983, shall be put to plea or held to trial for any crime punishable by death or life imprisonment unless the court at a preliminary hearing determines there is probable cause to believe that the offense charged has been committed and that the accused person has committed it.”
At the probable cause hearing, the court stated: “I can’t lose sight of the purpose of this—the statute. The purpose of this statute is to protect those defendants against the possibility of the state going forward with a murder case without sufficient evidence. The purpose of allowing the defensive material, and the statute is quite clear on this, it should only be allowed if it is conclusive in the court’s mind that it would negate any possibility that he could be the person who committed a crime.”