State v. Jackson

179 Conn.App. 40

177 A.3d 1190

STATE of Connecticut

v.Kevin JACKSON

AC 38227

Appellate Court of Connecticut.

Argued October 12, 2017

Officially released December 26, 2017

Peter G. Billings, with whom, on the brief, was Sean P. Barrett, New Haven, for the appellant (defendant).

Elizabeth S. Tanaka, assistant state's attorney, with whom, on the brief, were Patrick J. Griffin, state's attorney, and John Waddock, former supervisory assistant state's attorney, for the appellee (state).

Lavine, Elgo and Beach Js.

LAVINE, J.

The defendant, Kevin Jackson, appeals from the judgment of conviction, following a trial to the court, of assault in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a–59 (a) (1) and tampering with a witness in violation of General Statutes § 53a–151 (a). On appeal, the defendant claims that (1) the state presented insufficient evidence to sustain his conviction for those offenses, (2) the court erred when it denied his motion to dismiss two counts alleging tampering with a witness, and (3) the trial court improperly restricted his recross-examination of a witness. We are unpersuaded by each of the defendant's claims and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The trial court's oral decision sets forth the following relevant facts. On February 10, 2014, at 135 4th Street in Hamden, the defendant stabbed Geoffrey Golding, the victim, with a knife four times; three times in his abdomen, and one time on his left elbow. The victim's wounds were serious and life threatening. The victim's girlfriend, Sammantha Wright, and their young children also lived at the residence. The defendant and the victim had been friends for a couple of years, and the defendant visited on either a monthly or bimonthly basis.

At the time of the stabbing, Wright, the victim, and the defendant were the only adults present at the residence. Although the victim did not see who stabbed him, the court found that "Wright was in the bedroom, sitting on her bed at approximately 8:20 [p.m.] when she saw the defendant stabbing [the victim] in the hallway outside her bedroom.... Wright was approximately ten feet away from the defendant when he was stabbing [the victim]. The court finds that her testimony is credible. The hallway was well illuminated and her bedroom was also illuminated.... Wright saw the faces of [the victim] and [the defendant].... The defendant did not have a mask or a hoodie on at all, nothing that was concealing his face. Miss Wright was one hundred percent sure it was the defendant who was stabbing [the victim]." Wright called 911 after she saw the victim bleeding and told the 911 dispatch operator that the defendant had just stabbed the victim.

The defendant left the house after the stabbing and headed to Walmart in New Haven, where he was detained approximately ninety minutes later. Hamden police took Wright to Walmart, and she positively identified the defendant as the person who stabbed the victim. As found by the court: "He had the same clothing on that he had on during the stabbing. Also, on [the defendant's] person was the kitchen knife he used to stab the victim .... On the blade of the knife were blood stains that were confirmed by DNA analysis to be the blood of the victim .... In the defendant's car ... he had a three piece cutlery set .... The knife he used was one of the three pieces, the smaller piece from that cutlery set, that smaller knife had been removed from the packet and it was identical to the other two knives from that set, same color, same style."

The defendant testified at trial and claimed that two other men entered the home that evening. "The court does not find credible his testimony of others in the home that evening. The court does not find credible his denial of stabbing [the victim]."

"Now, [the victim], after he returned home after the surgery, he did receive a letter from the defendant .... He did read the letter, but he did not understand the letter. He was not intimidated or upset by the letter. Now ... Wright also received a letter from the defendant shortly after the stabbing .... It was addressed to her and the letter states in part, and I quote directly from the letter, ‘Sam, please tell them you are not sure who it was. They think it's me.’ She was scared and upset after ... reading the letter; she immediately called the police department after the receipt of the letter."

Police arrested the defendant at Walmart the night of the stabbing, February 10, and charged him with one count of assault in the first degree and two counts of risk of injury to a child in violation of General Statutes § 53–21. By way of an amended long form information, dated November 24, 2014, the state charged the defendant with assault in the first degree in violation of § 53a–59 (a) (1), assault in the first degree in violation of § 53a–59 (a) (3), and two counts of tampering with a witness in violation of § 53a–151 (a). The court, B. Fischer, J. , found the defendant not guilty of one count of tampering with a witness, but guilty as to the remaining counts. The court later dismissed the defendant's conviction for assault in the first degree in violation of § 53a–59 (a) (3), because it was charged as an alternative to assault in the first degree in violation of § 53a–59 (a) (1). The court, therefore, convicted the defendant of one count of assault in the first degree in violation of § 53a–59 (a) (1) and one count of tampering with a witness in violation of § 53a–151 (a).

On March 6, 2016, the court sentenced the defendant to a term of imprisonment of fourteen years, followed by six years special parole, on the assault in the first degree conviction and a concurrent sentence of five years of imprisonment on the tampering with a witness conviction. The defendant, therefore, received a total effective sentence of fourteen years of imprisonment, followed by six years special parole. This appeal followed. Additional facts will be set forth as necessary.

I

We begin with the defendant's claim that the state presented insufficient evidence to sustain his convictions. With regard to his conviction for assault in the first degree, he argues that the state failed to prove identity. As for his conviction for tampering with a witness, he argues that the state failed to prove that he attempted to influence Wright to testify falsely.¹ We disagree.

"We begin by setting forth the applicable standard of review. In [a defendant's] challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence ... [w]hether we review the findings of a trial court or the verdict of a jury, our underlying task is the same.... We first review the evidence presented at trial, construing it in the light most favorable to sustaining the facts expressly found by the trial court or impliedly found by the jury. We then decide whether, upon the facts thus established and the inferences reasonably drawn therefrom, the trial court or the jury could reasonably have concluded that the cumulative effect of the evidence established the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.... In assessing the defendant's claim that the evidence against him was insufficient to establish his guilt ... we must look to the trial court's findings of fact.... [W]e give great deference to the findings of the trial court because of its function to weigh and interpret the evidence before it and to pass upon the credibility of witnesses....

"In evaluating evidence that could yield contrary inferences, the trier of fact is not required to accept as dispositive those inferences that are consistent with the defendant's innocence.... The trier [of fact] may draw whatever inferences from the evidence or facts established by the evidence it deems to be reasonable and logical.... As we have often noted, proof beyond a reasonable doubt does not mean proof beyond all possible doubt ... nor does proof beyond a reasonable doubt require acceptance of every hypothesis of innocence posed by the defendant that, had it been found credible by the trier [of fact], would have resulted in an acquittal.... On appeal, we do not ask whether there is a reasonable view of the evidence that would support a reasonable hypothesis of innocence. We ask, instead, whether there is a reasonable view of the evidence that supports the [trier of fact's] verdict of guilty." (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.)

State v. Drupals , 306 Conn. 149, 157–58, 49 A.3d 962 (2012).

A

Notwithstanding the trial court's explicit finding that Wright was credible, the defendant argues that the state failed to meet its burden of proving identity because "it was not possible for ... Wright to see the alleged incident due to the layout of the home." The defendant argues that the state failed to prove identity beyond a reasonable doubt solely because Wright lacked credibility.

"It is black letter law that in any criminal prosecution, the state bears the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt the defendant's identity as ... the [perpetrator] of the crime charged." State v. Smith , 280 Conn. 285, 302, 907 A.2d 73 (2006). "Furthermore, when a defendant is tried to the court, the trial judge is the sole arbiter of the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given specific testimony.... Where there is conflicting evidence ... we do not retry the facts or pass on the credibility of the witnesses." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Van Eck , 69 Conn. App. 482, 499, 795 A.2d 582, cert. denied, 260 Conn. 937, 802 A.2d 92, cert. denied, 261 Conn. 915, 806 A.2d 1057 (2002).

The state presented a strong case identifying the defendant as the perpetrator of the assault. Wright's testimony, which the court found credible, was that she saw the defendant stab the victim. The court also had before it evidence that police seized a knife from the defendant's person containing the victim's DNA when he was arrested at Walmart. The court found that the knife used to stab the victim was from the cutlery set found in the defendant's...