State v. Grajales

STATE of Connecticut v. Luis GRAJALES

No. CR14150762

Superior Court of Connecticut, Judicial District of New Haven, New Haven

January 22, 2019

UNPUBLISHED OPINION

Hadden, Arthur C., Alexander, Joan K., Williams, Omar A., J.s

OPINION

Hadden, Arthur C., J.

The petitioner, Luis Grajales, after a jury trial, was found guilty of the charges of Assault in the First Degree in violation of C.G.S. Section 53a-59(a)(5) and Carrying a Pistol without a Permit in violation of C.G.S. Section 29-35(a). Assault in the First Degree has a maximum sentence of twenty years of incarceration. Carrying a Pistol without a Permit has a mandatory minimum sentence of one year of incarceration and a maximum sentence of five years of incarceration. After hearing argument, the court imposed the following sentences: on the count of Assault in the First Degree, a sentence was imposed of twenty years, the execution of which was suspended after eighteen years, and a period of probation of five years; on the count of Carrying a Pistol without a Permit, a sentence was imposed of five years to serve in the care and custody of the Commissioner of Corrections. The sentences were to run consecutively, making the total effective sentence: twenty-five years, the execution of which was suspended after twenty-three years and a period of probation of five years. It is this sentence that the petitioner seeks to have reviewed.

The incident for which the petitioner was convicted is summarized in the Appellate Court decision found at State v Grajales, 181 Conn.App. 440 at page 443 in which the court states:

On August 22, 2014, the defendant went to Station Court to visit his children. Late in the evening hours of August 22, [the victim] began to argue with the defendant and his family. When the argument initially began, [the victim] stood outside his apartment in the courtyard and the defendant and his family were on the balcony of [an] apartment overlooking the courtyard. At some point, [the victim] retrieved a ceramic ball from his apartment, which he threw toward the defendant. The ball did not make contact with anyone and landed harmlessly on the balcony. The defendant’s daughter ... threw the ball back at [the victim], but also did not hit anyone with it. The defendant came down from the balcony to the courtyard and the argument between the defendant and [the victim] intensified ... [others] began fighting in the courtyard ... The defendant and [the victim] were not involved in the physical fight in the courtyard. As the melee in the courtyard continued, the defendant went upstairs to [the] apartment and retrieved a .22 caliber pistol. The defendant came back downstairs with the gun hidden behind his back ... The defendant ... entered [the victim’s] residence. Inside, the defendant shot [the victim] in the neck ... The gunshot fractured [the victim’s] C7 vertebrae. He likely will never walk again.

At the hearing before the Division, counsel for the petitioner argued that the sentence was inappropriate in that the petitioner: first, had no prior criminal record; second, had a colorable self defense claim; and third, that the sentences should have been ordered to be served concurrently. Counsel’s argument regarding the third point was that the charge of Assault in the First Degree, as charged in this case, already included the use of a firearm and therefore there should have been no additional sentence for Carrying a Pistol without a Permit. In addition, counsel argued that the sentence for Carrying a Pistol without a Permit was disproportionate. In support of this argument, counsel presented to the panel a report of the Office of Legal Research which contained Connecticut statistics for 2012. During that calendar year, for the charge of Carrying a Pistol without a Permit, the average prison sentence, with no portion suspended, was 39 months.

Counsel for the State argued that the sentence was not inappropriate nor disproportionate under the circumstances of this case, including the evidence that the victim suffered a...