259 Conn. 374 | Conn. | 2002
Opinion
The defendant, Joe Burgos Vega, appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of two counts of assault in the first degree
The defendant raises several issues on appeal. First, he claims that he was deprived of his federal constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel due to the refusal of the trial court, Gormley, J., to remove his counsel after he had informed the court that he had filed a grievance against his attorney and the attorney had moved to withdraw as defense counsel. The defendant argues this refusal resulted in a per se violation of his right to effective assistance of counsel pursuant to the sixth amendment to the United States constitution.
The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. In the fall of 1995, the then sixteen year old victim and the twenty-nine year old defendant began a sexual relationship. Over the next several months, the couple traveled from Allentown, Pennsylvania, where they both lived, to various destinations in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, staying with various relatives and friends of the defendant. Throughout this period of time, there developed an escalating pattern of violence perpetrated against the victim by the defendant. This pattern began with an incident in the fall of 1995, in which the defendant hit the victim, tore her clothes and forced her to stay in his apartment instead of attending
The incident at issue in this case occurred on January 7, and continued into the early hours of January 8,1996. During that time, the defendant and the victim were staying in the apartment of Albert Gebeau, a friend of the defendant, at 142 Charles Street in Bridgeport. They had been there for a few days, during which time the defendant kept the victim locked in a bedroom with her eight month old son, providing her with food once a day. On the evening of January 7, the defendant entered the room and stabbed the victim repeatedly with a knife and then threw an air conditioner at her.
Meanwhile, the victim and the defendant left the Charles Street apartment, the victim carrying her child
Initially, the victim told the police that Gebeau had inflicted her injuries because she was frightened of the defendant and did not want to implicate him. The next day, however, after learning that the defendant was imprisoned, the victim told the police that she had lied and that the defendant was the individual who had assaulted her. Additional facts will be provided where necessary.
I
We first address the defendant’s primary argument that he was denied effective assistance of counsel as a result of the trial court’s refusal to permit his counsel to withdraw. He originally made two claims: (1) that the trial court’s refusal to remove counsel in light of the grievance the defendant had filed constituted a per se violation of his right to effective assistance of counsel; and (2) if not a violation per se, the trial court’s refusal to remove counsel created a conflict of interest that violated the fairness of the defendant’s trial.
The trial began on December 3,1997. Before the start of jury selection, the defendant addressed the court, Gormley, J., arguing that Hopkins had not told him jury selection was commencing that day and that he was, as a result, dressed inappropriately for his appearance in court.
We first address the defendant’s claim that the denial of his repeated motions for withdrawal of counsel and appointment of new counsel represent a per se violation of his federal constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel. He based this claim on precedents set forth pursuant to the sixth amendment to the United States constitution.
Before reviewing the defendant’s claim, we underscore that our review is of the actions of the trial court, not of the actions of defense counsel. “Almost without exception, we have required that a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel must be raised by way of habeas corpus, rather than by direct appeal, because of the need for a full evidentiary record for such [a] claim. ... On the rare occasions that we have addressed an ineffective assistance of counsel claim on direct appeal, we have limited our review to allegations that the defendant’s sixth amendment rights had been jeopardized by the actions of the trial court, rather than by those of his counsel. . . . We have addressed such claims, moreover, only where the record of the trial court’s allegedly improper action was adequate for review or the issue presented was a question of law, not one of fact requiring further evidentiary development.” (Citations omitted; emphasis in original; internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Crespo, 246 Conn. 665, 687-88, 718 A.2d 925 (1998), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1125, 119 S. Ct. 911, 142 L. Ed. 2d 909 (1999). Our analysis, therefore, is restricted to the actions of the trial court, specifically its refusal to grant the defendant’s motion for appointment of new counsel and Hopkins’ motion to withdraw.
“The Sixth Amendment recognizes the right to the assistance of counsel because it envisions counsel’s playing a role that is critical to the ability of the adversarial system to produce just results. An accused is entitled to be assisted by an attorney, whether retained or appointed, who plays the role necessary to ensure that the trial is fair. . . . The benchmark for judging any claim of ineffectiveness must be whether counsel’s conduct so undermined the proper functioning of the
Prejudice may be presumed in some sixth amendment contexts, such as the actual or constructive denial of assistance of counsel altogether or various forms of state interference with counsel’s assistance. Id., 692. In the context set forth by the present case—that of counsel allegedly burdened by a conflict of interest—there is no presumption of prejudice per se. “Prejudice is presumed only if the defendant demonstrates that counsel actively represented conflicting interests and that an actual conflict of interest adversely affected his lawyer’s performance. Cuyler v. Sullivan [446 U.S. 335, 348-50, 100 S. Ct. 1078, 64 L. Ed. 2d 333 (1980)].” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Strickland v. Washington, supra, 466 U.S. 692. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has honed this test further. “Once a defendant has established that there is an actual conflict, he must show that a lapse of representation . . . resulted from the conflict. ... To prove a lapse of representation, a defendant must demonstrate that some plausible alternative defense strategy or tactic might have been pursued but was not and that the alternative defense was inherently in conflict with or not undertaken due to the attorney’s other loyalties or interests. . . . Finally, [w]hether a defendant’s representation was constitutionally inadequate is a mixed question of law and fact and thus we exercise de novo review.” (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) United States v. Stantini, 85 F.3d 9, 16 (2d Cir. 1996).
The defendant claims that if this is not a per se violation of his constitutional right to effective counsel, it is still a violation of that right pursuant to traditional conflict of interest analysis. This court previously has articulated that “[t]here are two circumstances under which a trial court has a duty to inquire with respect to a conflict of interest: (1) when there has been a timely conflict objection at trial ... or (2) when the trial court knows or reasonably should know that a particular conflict exists .... A trial court’s failure to inquire in such circumstances constitutes the basis for reversal of a defendant’s conviction.” (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Crespo, supra, 246 Conn. 686.
For example, in State v. Martin, supra, 201 Conn. 81, this court determined that the trial court has an affirmative duty to investigate defense counsel's timely assertion regarding the existence of a conflict of interest. In Martin, a conflict of interest arose during the direct examination of the state’s final witness. Id., 77. The trial court summarily denied the defense counsel’s motion to withdraw and motion for a mistrial without conducting an inquiry as to the conflict. Id. In reversing the judgment of the trial court, we stated: “[T]he trial court was under a duty to investigate the defense coun
In the present case, unlike in Martin, the trial court conducted an appropriate inquiry, following the guidelines set forth in Strickland and Slanlini. The defendant’s counsel claimed that the defendant’s filing of a grievance against him created a conflict of interest in
II
The defendant next argues that the trial court improperly allowed Sharon Davis, a clinical social worker, to testify as an expert witness on battered women’s syndrome. The defendant claims that Davis did not meet the standard necessary to be considered an expert witness. He argues that Davis did not possess the requisite special skill or knowledge on the subject of battered
“As a threshold matter, we set forth the standard by which we review the trial court’s determinations concerning the [admissibility] of evidence. The trial court’s ruling on evidentiary matters will be overturned only upon a showing of a clear abuse of the court’s discretion. . . . We will make every reasonable presumption in favor of upholding the trial court’s ruling, and only upset it for a manifest abuse of discretion. . . . [Thus, our] review of such rulings is limited to the questions of whether the trial court correctly applied the law and reasonably could have reached the conclusion that it did. . . .
“Concerning expert testimony specifically, we note that the trial court has wide discretion in ruling on the admissibility of expert testimony and, unless that discretion has been abused or the ruling involves a clear misconception of the law, the trial court’s decision will not be disturbed. . . . Expert testimony should be admitted when: (1) the witness has a special skill or knowledge directly applicable to a matter in issue, (2) that skill or knowledge is not common to the average person, and (3) the testimony would be helpful to the court or jury in considering the issues.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Wargo, 255 Conn. 113, 123, 763 A.2d 1 (2000); see also State v. Ali, 233 Conn. 403, 431, 660 A.2d 337 (1995).
At trial, Davis testified that she worked as a senior clinical social worker in the emergency room at Yale-New Haven Hospital. She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s degree in domestic violence. She has worked in the field for more than twenty years, during which time she has encountered hundreds of women who have been involved in domestic violence. She personally has counseled many of these women.
On appeal, we conclude that the trial court reasonably could have concluded, on the basis of the evidence before it, that Davis is an expert on battered women’s syndrome. Moreover, we note that Davis’ testimony is particularly crucial to the jury in this case because although battered women’s syndrome has become known to the public more widely than it was in the past, much of the subject still remains beyond the ken of the average juror. Indeed, “[c]ommentators have noted that the research data indicates that potential jurors may hold beliefs and attitudes about abused women at variance with the views of experts who have studied or had experience with abused women. In particular, males are likely to be skeptical about the fear the woman feels in an abusive relationship and about her
Ill
The defendant also argues that Davis’ testimony improperly was admitted because it was case specific and went to the credibility of the victim of this particular assault, and not to the experience of battered women generally. The defendant failed to object to any of Davis’ testimony at trial. This claim, therefore, is unpreserved for review. The defendant, however, argues that Davis’ testimony “affect[ed] the fairness and integrity of and public confidence in the judicial proceedings”; (internal quotation marks omitted) State v. Day, 233 Conn. 813, 849, 661 A.2d 539 (1995); and that, as a result, the admission of Davis’ testimony constitutes plain error. We disagree.
“The plain error doctrine of Practice Book § 60-5 requires a defendant to demonstrate that the claimed error is both so clear and so harmful that a failure to reverse the judgment would result in manifest injustice. . . . We repeatedly have observed that plain error is not even implicated unless the error is so obvious that it affects the fairness and integrity of and public confidence in the judicial proceedings.” (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Woods, 250 Conn. 807, 814, 740 A.2d 371 (1999). Our review of Davis’ testimony leads us to conclude that the trial court’s admission of her testimony did not constitute plain error.
In the present case, as in Spigarolo, defense counsel had attempted to impeach the credibility of the victim’s testimony. Davis’ testimony, therefore, was offered to substantiate the state’s argument that the victim is a battered woman and that her testimony must be considered in that context. Davis’ testimony was couched in terms general enough to encompass her area of expertise: the experience commonly shared by battered women. For example, when questioned as to the victim’s returning to Allentown, Pennsylvania and bringing her child “back into . . . that situation where the abuse had occurred,” Davis responded: “Well, in this particular case she did not think that [the defendant] would abuse the child, the child became a defense in terms of protecting her from abuse. And we see that with women who bring their children and they would say to us, but he doesn’t beat my children. So that they
IV
The defendant next argues that his conviction should be reversed because the trial court improperly concluded that evidence of the defendant’s prior misconduct was evidence of a demonstrable system of criminal activity and, therefore, improperly admitted such evidence. The defendant specifically objects to the admission of evidence of the demonstrable pattern of escalating violence perpetrated upon the victim. The defendant argues that the evidence of prior misconduct was not relevant to the charges against him
“As a general rule, evidence of a defendant’s prior crimes or misconduct is not admissible. . . . We have, however, recognized exceptions to the general rule if the purpose for which the evidence is offered is to prove intent, identity, malice, motive, a system of criminal activity or the elements of a crime. . . . [Prior misconduct] evidence may also be used to corroborate crucial prosecution testimony. . . . Moreover, we have held that such evidence may be used to complete the story
“To determine whether evidence of prior misconduct falls within an exception to the general rule prohibiting its admission, we have adopted a two-pronged analysis. . . . First, the evidence must be relevant and material to at least one of the circumstances encompassed by the exceptions. Second, the probative value of such evidence must outweigh the prejudicial effect of the other crime evidence.” (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Cooper, 227 Conn. 417, 424-25, 630 A.2d 1043 (1993).
Our standard of review on such matters is well established. “The admission of evidence of prior uncharged misconduct is a decision properly within the discretion of the trial court. . . . [Ejvery reasonable presumption should be given in favor of the trial court’s ruling. . . . [T]he trial court’s decision will be reversed only where abuse of discretion is manifest or where an injustice appears to have been done. . . . The problem is . . . one of balancing the actual relevancy of the other crimes evidence in light of the issues and the other evidence available to the prosecution against the degree to which the jury will probably be roused by the evidence.” (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Id., 426-27.
In the present case, the state presented evidence that the victim was a battered woman, suffering from what has been classified as battered women’s syndrome. The state’s expert testified as to the cyclical nature of the violence perpetrated upon these women by their batterers.
We next address the defendant’s contention that the trial court improperly admitted such evidence of prior misconduct because it was more prejudicial than probative. This claim is without merit.
“We previously have held that evidence of dissimilar acts is less likely to be prejudicial than evidence of similar or identical acts. [Id.], 427 (possession of marijuana not overly prejudicial when defendant charged with murder); see also State v. Santiago, 224 Conn. 325, 340, 618 A.2d 32 (1992) (possession of stolen weapon and murder are disparate acts of misconduct).” State v. Cator, 256 Conn. 785, 800, 781 A.2d 285 (2001). In the present case, the evidentiary substantiation of the vicious depravity of the conduct for which the defendant was charged far outweighed the prejudicial impact of the prior misconduct. The prior misconduct at issue included evidence of prior assaults against the victim; however, none of these assaults was on a par with or
V
Finally, the defendant contends that the trial court improperly admitted evidence obtained from his motel room that was the product of an unconstitutional search and seizure in violation of his rights pursuant to the fourth amendment to the United States constitution.
At trial, and over defense counsel’s objections, the court admitted as evidence a knife that had been found in the breast pocket of the defendant’s coat. This coat initially had been hanging in the motel room when two police officers entered the room, subdued and handcuffed the defendant. Officer Mark Ciarciello testified that prior to taking the defendant outside into the ongoing blizzard, the officers decided to place his coat over him. Before doing so, they searched the coat for weapons. At that time, they found the knife in the coat pocket. The defendant made no objection to the constitutional
The defendant’s argument fails to satisfy the third prong of the Golding test. “It is a basic principle of constitutional law that searches conducted outside the judicial process, without prior approval by judge or magistrate, are per se unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment—subject only to a few specifically established and well-delineated exceptions. . . . The fourth amendment’s requirement that a warrant issue from a neutral and detached judicial officer rests upon the desirability of having magistrates rather than police officers determine when searches and seizures are permissible and what limitations should be placed upon such activities. . . . [H] owe ver, the fourth amendment proscribes only unreasonable searches and seizures, and there will be occasions when, given probable cause to search, resort to the judicial process will not be required of law enforcement officers. Thus, where exigent circumstances exist that make the procurement of a search warrant unreasonable in light of the dangers involved ... a warrant will not be required.” (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) State
“Our past cases indicate . . . that protection of police and others can justify protective searches when police have a reasonable belief that the suspect poses a danger . . . and that danger may arise from the possible presence of weapons in the area surrounding a suspect. These principles compel our conclusion that [a warrantless search], limited to those areas in which a weapon may be placed or hidden, is permissible if the police officer possesses a reasonable belief based on specific and articulable facts which, taken together with the rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warrant the officer in believing that the suspect is dangerous and the suspect may gain immediate control of weapons. See Terry [v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 21, 88 S. Ct. 1868, 20 L. Ed. 2d 889 (1968)]. [T]he issue is whether a reasonably prudent man in the circumstances would be warranted in the belief that his safety or that of others was in danger. Id., [27]. ... If, while conducting a legitimate Terry search . . . the officer should, as here, discover . . . weapons, he clearly cannot be required to ignore the [weapons], and the Fourth Amendment does not require [their] suppression in such circumstances.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Michigan v. Long, 463 U.S. 1032, 1049-50, 103 S. Ct. 3469, 77 L. Ed. 2d 1201 (1983).
In the present case, the police were summoned to the Branford Motel in response to an alert from the Bridgeport police that there had been an incident involving a serious assault. Finding the defendant, who matched the physical description of the suspect, at the motel with the bloodied victim, they had reasonable
The judgment is affirmed.
In this opinion the other justices concurred.
General Statutes § 53a-59 (a) provides in relevant part: “A person is guilty of assault in the first degree when: (1) With intent to cause serious physical injury to another person, he causes such injury to such person ... by means of a deadly weapon or a dangerous instrument; or (2) with intent to disfigure another person seriously and permanently, or to destroy, amputate or disable permanently a member or organ of his body, he causes such iryury to such person ... or (3) under circumstances evincing an extreme indifference to human life he recklessly engages in conduct which creates a risk of death to another person, and thereby causes serious physical injury to another person . . . .”
General Statutes § 53a-94 (a) provides: “A person is guilty of kidnapping in the second degree when he abducts another person.”
The sixth amendment to the United States constitution provides: “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury to the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and 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 . . . .”
The jury also heard testimony regarding an alleged rape of the victim; however, the defendant was acquitted of the charge of sexual assault in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-70 (a) (1).
The transcript of the 911 telephone call was admitted as a full exhibit at trial and a transcript of the call was provided to the jury.
The first public defender, Catherine Teitell, represented the defendant from February 8,1996, until February 29,1996, at which point it was discovered that the office of the public defender had a conflict of interest in its representation of the defendant. Frank Riccio was then appointed as special public defender. He represented the defendant until May 31, 1996, when it was discovered that his firm had represented members of the Gebeau family. At that time, Timothy Aspinwall was appointed as special public defender. Aspinwall represented the defendant until January 15,1997, when Aspinwall withdrew, citing “[irreparable breakdown in communications between attorney and client.” Hopkins was appointed to represent the defendant at that time.
The court stated: “Well, see just by not being satisfied is not the criteria. It’s whether or not effective assistance is being provided to you. Where you have an attorney appointed by the court and the court is satisfied that person is competent, whether you approve of the tactics or strategy or anything along that line is really not for you to say anymore. ... I’d just like to know, I’m being asked to either delay this matter or have somebody removed or excused from the case. I have to know a little bit more about it. Have you interviewed witnesses in this?”
The court stated: “I think at least what I can do for [the defendant] is give him the opportunity between this moment and by next Tuesday . . . if he can have an attorney show up here on his behalf who is ready to go forward with trial I would certainly release Mr. Hopkins from further obligation. If he is not capable of getting an attorney in here ready to go forward, a private attorney, I see no other grounds to dismiss Mr. Hopkins from this case.”
Subsequently, the competency hearing was waived and the defendant stipulated to competency.
The court stated: “[J]ust so you understand . . . there’s got to be a valid and substantial reason to replace your attorney. Y ou can’t just come into court, he’s a special public defender representing you, he’s an experienced attorney, he’s handled many cases here and does it well, and I’m not going to merely just put somebody on the case unless you can justify it. And that takes a little bit of doing. ... If your family hired somebody, that’s fine, they can do that anytime they want. Your case, however, is high on the list, it has been here some time, and I think you should give it a lot of thought before you change lawyers at this point in time, in view of the status of your case . . . .”
The court noted that the defendant was not dressed inappropriately, stating: “There is nothing obvious about what you’re wearing today that indicates any degree of confinement. You’re wearing a blue sweat shirt [with no markings on it].”
The court entered into evidence a letter from the statewide grievance committee to the defendant, dated November 13, 1997, acknowledging its receipt of a request for information from the defendant. A copy of the defendant’s grievance to the statewide grievance committee was not presented and it was indicated that the committee did not, at that time, have the document in its files. The defendant indicated he had sent the grievance to the committee the prior week.
In its denial of Hopkins’ motion to withdraw, the court stated: “I denied the motion to remove Mr. Hopkins on Wednesday of this week because I had heard nothing that would prompt me to relieve him. He is a man who has tried cases before me over the years, going back certainly over a seven or eight year period. He’s been a special public defender here ... in this court and for a long time he was the public defender in Hartford. He is a person that I have even told him I think he is an extremely capable trial lawyer and gets probably more mileage out of a case than most other people do in the same kind of work.
“The fact that this defendant now has filed a grievance is simply not reason to deny justice to the other parties in this case, talking about incidents that are alleged to have taken place in January of 1996, almost two years ago. ... I am not going to allow a pattern of conduct which I see in this record of the defendant who is basically trying to avoid having this case tried, and I am not going to allow him to control the situation. I am the one that is controlling the situation.
“Mr. Hopkins, I understand your position. I think you have done the right thing to protect your own interest by moving to withdraw. But that motion is denied. And we are going to proceed with this case posthaste.”
The defendant suggests that article first, § 8, of the Connecticut constitution provides even greater protection than its federal counterpart, but he fails to provide an adequate legal analysis of the basis of this claim. We decline to reach the defendant’s state constitutional claim of ineffective assistance of counsel because it was inadequately briefed pursuant to the standard this court enunciated in State v. Geisler, 222 Conn. 672, 610 A.2d 1225 (1992). As we concluded in Geisler, “[i]n order to construe the contours of our state constitution and reach reasoned and principled results, the following tools of analysis should be considered to the extent applicable: (1) the textual approach ... (2) holdings and dicta of this court ... (3) federal precedent ... (4) sister state decisions or sibling approach . . . (5) the historical approach, including the historical constitutional setting and the debates of the framers . . . and (6) economic/sociological considerations.” (Citations omitted; emphasis in original; internal quotation marks omitted.) Id., 684-85. “ ‘We have repeatedly apprised litigants that we will not entertain a state constitutional claim unless the [defendant] has provided an independent analysis under the particular provisions of the state constitution at issue.’ State v. Robinson, 227 Conn. 711, 721, 631 A.2d 288 (1993); see also Luce v. United Technologies Corp., [247 Conn. 126, 142 n.22, 717 A.2d 747 (1998)]; State v. Crespo, 246 Conn. 665, 685 n.15, 718 A.2d 925 (1998) [cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1125, 119 S. Ct. 911, 142 L. Ed. 2d 909 (1999)], and cases cited therein. Further, [in the due process context] where the [defendant] asserts a constitutional violation on both federal and state due process grounds ‘without developing his argument either in his brief or at oral argument, we deem his due process claims to be abandoned. Hayes v.
The fourteenth amendment to the United States constitution provides in relevant part: “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States . . . .”
We decline to review, therefore, the defendant’s claims that Hopkins improperly declined to call specific witnesses, failed to conduct interviews, failed to inform the defendant as to the beginning of jury selection, failed
On December 5, 1997, the following colloquy between the defendant, the court and Hopkins took place:
“The Court: ... I do want to ask you, Mr. Vega, some questions about this matter. Because apparently you do not have a copy of the document you sent to the grievance committee.
“The Defendant: No, I don’t.
“The Court: You do not?
“The Defendant: No, sir.
“Mr. Hopkins: Stand up.
“The Court: All right. Have you in fact filed a grievance against Mr. Hopkins?
“The Defendant: Yes, I have.
“The Court: And when was that done?
“The Defendant: It was approximately Tuesday last week.
“The Court: Of last week?
“The Defendant: Yes.
“The Court: All right. The record should further reflect that Mr. Hopkins did call the grievance committee in East Hartford and they indicated that they either don’t have it logged in or don’t have it there yet, but it’s possible that it’s somewhere in the paperwork. Do you have anything, a copy of anything that would indicate what your claims are against Mr. Hopkins?
“The Defendant: No, Your Honor, except just my memory.
“The Court: All right. Would you indicate for me as best your memory allows you what is it you have grieved Mr. Hopkins for? . . .
“The Defendant: . . . Just that counsel and I have not discussed this case thoroughly. There’s aspects in this case that I feel like I could shed light upon. He disregards .... Really counsel’s actions are not to my satisfaction. He ignores my request to interview associates who can describe me as who I am. . . .
“The Court: But is there anything further? ... So your basic claim with the grievance committee are pretty much the same things you told me here Wednesday of this week as to why you wanted me to dismiss Mr. Hopkins.
“The Defendant: Exactly.
“The Court: All right. Mr. Hopkins, I gather you have indicated in chambers that you wish to move to withdraw from the case.
“Mr. Hopkins: Yes, Your Honor. Under the circumstances, and I am always very reluctant to make that motion, as the court is probably aware. However, when it is brought to my attention that in fact a grievance was filed, I feel that it is incumbent on me to move to withdraw simply because at the very
The trial court then questioned the defendant about certain grievances he had filed against other attorneys in the past.
“The Court: . . . The court is going to deny the motion of counsel to withdraw in this case, and I am going to state my reasons for the record.” The trial court then reviewed the procedural history of the case, focusing on the changes in the defendant’s representation and what the trial court perceived and presented as a strategy of delay perpetrated by the defendant. See footnote 14 of this opinion.
The defendant concedes that the evidence that he stabbed the victim in the hand is sufficiently related to one of the charges against him, but he argues that it, too, was more prejudicial than probative.
Davis’ testimony regarding battered women’s syndrome included the following: '‘Starting with the initial assault, what happens is we notice that there’s good and bad, that the assault happens, then there may be a honeymoon period. But the tension meanwhile is escalating between them in the relationship. It doesn’t get better; it gets worse. And it gets progressively worse. So the assaults get worse. So it may start with a slap in the face,
The fourth amendment to the United States constitution provides: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
Defense counsel did object to the admissibility of the knife on the ground that it was prejudicial.
In State v. Golding, supra, 213 Conn. 239-40, we concluded that a defendant may prevail on a claim unpreserved at trial if 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.”