State v. Rogers

Page 291

664 A.2d 291

38 Conn.App. 777

STATE of Connecticut v. Reginald ROGERS.

No. 13388.

Appellate Court of Connecticut.

Argued May 1, 1995.

Decided Aug. 22, 1995.

Certification Denied Sept. 28, 1995.

Lawrence R. Pellett, Special Public Defender, for appellant (defendant).

Richard F. Jacobson, Assistant State's Attorney, with whom, on the brief, were Donald A. Browne, State's Attorney, and Stephen J. Sedensky III, Assistant State's Attorney, for appellee (state).

Before DUPONT, C.J., and HEIMAN and FRANCIS X. HENNESSY, JJ.

HEIMAN, Judge.

The defendant appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of kidnapping in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-92(a)(2)(A), ¹ two counts of conspiracy in violation of General Statutes § 53a-48, ² aiding and abetting sexual assault in the first degree in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-70 ³ and 53a-8, ⁴ and attempted assault in the first degree in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-59 ⁵ and 53a-49. ⁶ This appeal was taken originally to the Supreme Court. Pursuant to Practice Book § 4023, the Supreme Court transferred the appeal to this court. On appeal, the defendant asserts that the judgment is fatally flawed because (1) he was deprived of his constitutional right to notice of the charges against him, (2) the evidence was insufficient to support a finding of guilty on the charge of aiding and abetting sexual assault in the first degree, (3) the trial court improperly refused to permit the defendant to inquire of a witness what the witness had testified to at a prior trial, (4) the state failed to make available to the defendant a copy of the trial testimony of that witness at a prior trial, and (5) the trial court improperly denied motions for judgment of acquittal with respect to the conspiracy counts. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The jury could reasonably have found the following facts. On August 24, 1991, the victim resided in building seventeen, apartment 209, of Father Panik Village in Bridgeport. She lived in that apartment with Michael Epps, her fiancee, and Lois Grace, a person who had been involved in raising Epps. The victim had resided in that apartment since March, 1991. In the evening, the victim was going downstairs to leave the building when she was met at the bottom of the stairs by John Wideman, who was standing on the other side of a closed gate. Wideman complained about the gate's being closed and locked and asked the victim why she kept closing and locking the gate. The victim then returned upstairs.

Shortly thereafter, the victim again descended the stairway. Wideman was again at the gate, but this time he was accompanied by the defendant and a group of other men, including Maurice McNeil and Kevin Rogers. As the victim was opening the gate, one of the men told her that she could not continue to keep the gate closed. The victim knew, however, that none of the men lived in building seventeen and that they used the hallway of the building to sell drugs. Someone suggested that because the victim continued to keep the gate closed, that she should either be beaten or be required to engage in fellatio with the entire group. The defendant was present when this suggestion was made. The group of men proceeded to force the victim back up the stairs to a landing in the hallway. McNeil removed his belt and began hitting the post on the steps with the belt. The victim began to cry. Kevin Rogers told her not to be stupid, that she was going to be punished for keeping the gate closed and that she was going to perform fellatio on all of them. Someone fondled the victim while she stood with her back against the wall, and she told the men that she did not want to be beaten nor did she want to perform fellatio.

The men surrounded the victim and took her outside. They were looking for Epps so that the victim could be forced to tell Epps that she was "Kevin's bitch." The men could not find Epps in the area, however, so Kevin Rogers instructed two individuals who were outside of building seventeen, Nicholas Wardlaw and James Blackwell, to take the victim to building thirteen.

The group moved the victim to building thirteen, with Wardlaw and Blackwell on either side of her and the others about ten feet behind her. The defendant positioned himself behind the victim to her left. The victim did not try to run away because she knew that the men would catch her and beat her severely. She also knew that no one would come to her assistance. The victim had seen both the defendant and Kevin Rogers beat people. She had seen the defendant kick people and beat them with sticks, and she had seen the others jump on people, beat them to the ground, stomp on them and turn their dogs loose on them. In addition, she had seen members of the group hit people with pipes and clubs.

The group took the victim to a third floor apartment belonging to Maria Brown. Brown was Epps' cousin and was also a former girlfriend of the defendant. Brown was not staying at the apartment at the time, however, the defendant was staying there. The apartment door was opened with a key provided by the defendant. The men took the victim inside the apartment and ordered her into the bathroom. They instructed her to remove her clothes, to take a shower, to come out naked and to lie down on a mattress that was on the living room floor. A discussion ensued as to who was going to "go first." Scott Sheffield, a member of the group who had just arrived at the apartment, volunteered to be first. Sheffield was told to get on the mattress and pull down his pants. The victim was ordered to perform fellatio on Sheffield. Sheffield began giggling and clowning around and he was ordered to get up from the mattress. Kevin Rogers told Sheffield to go out and get some condoms, because four of the individuals, including the defendant, had indicated that they wanted to engage in vaginal intercourse as well as in oral intercourse with the victim.

The victim was then ordered to perform fellatio on Wardlaw. She again began to cry and was again told by Kevin Rogers to stop or she would be beaten and still be forced to perform sexual acts on her attackers. As she was performing fellatio on Wardlaw, Wright inserted a beer bottle into the victim's vagina. Kevin Rogers also brought his son, who was approximately eighteen months old, into the room. Kevin Rogers gave the child a piece of ice, instructed him to place it on Wardlaw's chest, and when the child had done so, ordered the victim to lick it off.

Blackwell was told that he was next. He lay down on the mattress and the victim indicated reluctance to engage in further acts of fellatio. Wright pushed the victim against a stereo wall unit that was in the living room and she bumped her head against the unit. Wright ordered the victim to perform fellatio on Blackwell and she did. While she was performing fellatio on Blackwell, McNeil began to strike the victim on her buttocks with a belt. The defendant told McNeil that he was not beating her properly, took the belt from McNeil and demonstrated how he thought that the belt should be used. McNeil took the belt back from the defendant and began hitting the victim on the buttocks again.

During the time that the victim was being forced to perform fellatio on the men in the apartment, the other men, including the defendant, were drinking beer and watching. In addition, the defendant and the others were jeering at and cheering on the men who were having fellatio performed upon them by the victim.

At the time of the assaults upon the victim, Epps was in building thirteen looking for her. Epps went up to the door of the apartment where the victim was being held and listened at the door. He heard loud music and voices, including the voice of the defendant. Epps heard the men laughing and telling the victim that she should "do it right or she wouldn't know what happened to her." Epps also heard the victim crying, and he banged on the door of the apartment.

The victim heard the banging on the door and heard Epps outside the door calling to her. She was told to get up and go into the bathroom, and was then taken into the bathroom and the door was closed behind her. The victim heard someone open the front door and heard Epps' voice. She also heard someone tell Epps that she was not there. Epps left and the victim was ordered out of the bathroom and directed to perform fellatio on Wideman. After she had become engaged with Wideman, she and the others heard the police outside. The police were talking about building thirteen, apartment 309. The victim's attackers, realizing that the police were coming upstairs, again ordered the victim to go into the bathroom. While the victim was in the bathroom, she attempted to dress herself. The police did not come to the apartment where the victim was being held. She heard people descending the stairs and heard the police vehicles driving away. When the police left, the defendant and several others also left the apartment. The victim was again directed to come out of the bathroom. When she came out into the room, Wideman insisted that she undress and again perform fellatio on him.

While the victim was performing fellatio on Wideman, someone knocked on the front door. Wideman opened the door and went outside. He returned shortly thereafter and started cleaning up the area. The victim got dressed and asked if she could leave. Wideman told her that she could leave when he and the others left. The victim asked if they had done anything to Epps, and she was told that they had been unable to find him.

When the victim was finally permitted to leave the apartment, she went looking for Epps and found him at Bridgeport Hospital. She saw him at the hospital at approximately 11 p.m. on the night of the assaults upon her. Epps was at the hospital being treated for injuries that he received from being beaten by the defendant and some of the...