State of Conn. v. Martinez, SC 18168

• Decision Date: 27 April 2010
• Docket Number: SC 18168
• Citation: 991 A.2d 1086,295 Conn. 758
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE OF CONNECTICUT v. LUIS NORBERTO MARTINEZ

295 Conn. 758

991 A.2d 1086

STATE OF CONNECTICUT

v.LUIS NORBERTO MARTINEZ

SC 18168

SUPREME COURT OF CONNECTICUT

Argued: January 8, 2010

Officially Released: April 27, 2010

Harry Weller, senior assistant state's attorney, with whom, on the brief were Gail P. Hardy, state's attorney, Anne Mahoney, senior assistant state's attorney, and Jessica Probolus, special deputy assistant state's attorney, for the appellant (state).

Annacarina Jacob, senior assistant public defender, for the appellee (defendant).

Pamela J. Favreau filed a brief for the Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association as amicus curiae.

Rogers, C. J and Norcott, Katz, Palmer, Vertefeuille and Zarella Js. NORCOTT, J. In this opinion the other justices concurred.

NORCOTT J. The state appeals, following our grant of its petition for certification from the judgment of the Appellate Court reversing the judgment of conviction of the defendant, Luis Norberto Martinez, rendered after a jury trial, of kidnapping in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-92 (a) (2) (A), sexual assault in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-70 (a) (1), sexual assault in the second degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-71 (a) (1), and risk of injury to a child in violation of General Statutes (Rev. to 2001) § 53-21 (a) (2), and remanding the matter for a new trial. State v. Martinez, 106 Conn. App. 517, 942 A.2d 1043 (2008). On appeal, the state claims, inter alia, that: (1) the Appellate Court improperly had concluded that the trial court abused its discretion in denying the defendant's request for an evidentiary hearing to determine the admissibility of the claims of the victim, J, ¹regarding two alleged sexual assaults committed byfamily members, as an exception to the rape shield statute, General Statutes § 54-86f; ² and (2) the trial court properly denied the defendant's request for a state funded DNA expert witness. ³ We agree with the state and, accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the Appellate Court.

The record and the Appellate Court opinion reveal the following relevant facts that the jury reasonably could have found, and procedural history. "On February 13, 2002... J... was thirteen years old and lived on the second floor of a multifamily house with her mother and two sisters. The defendant, who was twenty-one years old, lived with his mother on the third floor of the same house. On the evening of February 13, 2002, J walked by herself across the street to a store to purchase a sticker. When J came back from the store, she saw the defendant in front of her apartment.... [T]he defendant then grabbed her by the arm and took her to the back of the house, where he proceeded to force his hands inside her pants, touch her buttocks and put his fingers inside her vagina. He then grabbed her arm and took her up the back stairs to his apartment. The defendant took J to a bedroom, pushed her on the bed, pulled down her pants and forced his penis into her vagina. The bedroom door was partially open, so J was able to see the defendant's sister in the living room.

"When the defendant was finished with J, he pulled her into the bathroom where he covered her mouth and told her not to scream. At that point, the defendant's sister knocked on the door to tell the defendant that he had a telephone call. The defendant then rushed J out of the apartment through the back door. J ran down the stairs with the defendant behind her. The defendant ran across the street to his sister's apartment. When J arrived at the front of the house, she ran upstairs to her apartment and immediately disclosed to her mother what had happened. Soon thereafter, J was taken to a hospital where physicians examined her and performed a sexual assault examination.

"The defendant was arrested on the night of the sexual assault. With regard to his conduct at the time of J's assault, the defendant told the police that he had been in his mother's bedroom using drugs when his sister walked into the apartment. He then stated that he ran to the bathroom, flushed the drugs down the toilet and left the apartment by way of the back stairs so his sister would not see him high on drugs. He claims, therefore, that the encounter with [J] never occurred." Id., 519-20.

The state charged the defendant with kidnapping in the first degree in violation of § 53a-92 (a) (2) (A), two counts of sexual assault in the first degree in violation of § 53a-70 (a) (1) (for penile penetration and digital penetration), sexual assault in the second degree in violation of § 53a-71 (a) (1), and risk of injury to a child in violation of (Rev. to 2001) § 53-21 (a) (2). The case was tried to the jury, which subsequently returned a verdict finding the defendant guilty of one count each of kidnapping in the first degree, sexual assault in the first degree, sexual assault in the second degree and risk of injury to a child. ⁴ The trial court rendered a judgment of conviction in accordance with the jury's verdict and sentenced the defendant to a total effective sentence of twenty-five years imprisonment, execution suspended after twenty years, followed by five years of probation.

The defendant appealed from the judgment of conviction to the Appellate Court, claiming, inter alia, that the trial court improperly had: (1) precluded him from questioning J about two prior incidents in which she had claimed that she had been sexually assaulted by family members, without first holding a hearing to determine the relevance of that evidence to the defendant's claims regarding J's credibility; and (2) denied his request for a state funded DNA expert witness without first conducting an indigency hearing. State v. Martinez, supra, 106 Conn. App. 519 and n.2. In a divided opinion, the Appellate Court reversed the judgment of the trial court and remanded the case for a new trial, concluding that the trial court had abused its discretion in precluding the defendant from questioning J about her prior sexual conduct without first holding a hearing to determine the relevance of that evidence to the defendant's claims as to whether he had used force in sexually assaulting J. ⁵ Id., 526. Specifically, the Appellate Court majority determined that "the defendant's offer of proof satisfied the requirement of demonstrating a sufficient basis for the court to decide whether to allow the defendant to present J's testimony in an evidentiary hearing"; id.; pursuant to § 54-86f (4). See footnote 2 of this opinion. In light of that conclusion, the Appellate Court did not address the defendant's claim that the trial court improperly had denied his request for a state funded DNA expert without first holding an indigency hearing. ⁶ Id., 519 n.2. This certified appeal followed. See footnote 3 of this opinion.

On appeal, the state claims that the Appellate Court improperly concluded that the trial court abused itsdiscretion in denying the defendant an evidentiary hearing to determine the admissibility of the prior sexual assaults of J under § 54-86f (4), and that, even if the Appellate Court was correct, remand for a new trial was not the appropriate remedy. The state also claims that the trial court properly denied the defendant's request for a state funded DNA expert witness. In response, the defendant contends otherwise, and also claims, as an alternative ground for affirming the judgment of the Appellate Court, that the trial court improperly failed to grant the defendant an evidentiary hearing to determine the admissibility of J's prior accusations of sexual assault for purposes of impeaching J's credibility, since such evidence would have cast doubt on whether J and the defendant had engaged in sexual activity and established that J had a possible motive to testify falsely against the defendant. We address each claim in turn and set forth additional relevant facts where necessary in the context of each claim.

I

We first address the state's claim that the Appellate Court improperly determined that the trial court abused its discretion in denying the defendant an evidentiary hearing to consider the admissibility of the prior sexual assaults of J under the rape shield statute, § 54-86f. See footnote 2 of this opinion. Specifically, the state contends that the defendant failed to make an adequate offer of proof as to the falsity of the prior accusations, and that evidence of such prior assaults is inadmissible on the issue of force when consent is not a defense. In response, the defendant claims that the Appellate Court correctly concluded that the trial court improperly precluded him from questioning J about her prior claims of sexual assault because the defendant had adequately demonstrated the falsity of those claims. The defendant also claims, as an alternative ground for affirming the judgment of the Appellate Court, that the prior falseclaims were relevant to impeach J's character for truthfulness, and also may have revealed J's motive to lie in the present case. We agree with the state that the trial court properly exercised its discretion by precluding inquiry into J's prior sexual assaults because the defendant's offer of proof failed to establish the falsity of those accusations, and the incidents were, therefore not relevant to any critical issue in the present case. ⁷ Further, because we conclude that the defendant failed to demonstrate the falsity of the prior sexual assault allegations, we reject his alternative ground for affirmance.

The record and the Appellate Court dissenting opinion reveal the following additional relevant facts and procedural history. "The state filed a motion in limine seeking to preclude the defendant from offering into evidence J's prior sexual conduct. The defendant presented evidence that, prior to the incident in question, J had accused both her stepuncle and her brother of sexually assaulting her in two different incidents. Both men pleaded guilty. ⁸ The defendant then filed an...