State v. Abraham
Decision Date | 24 July 2001 |
Docket Number | (AC 20500) |
Citation | 64 Conn. App. 384,780 A.2d 223 |
Court | Connecticut Court of Appeals |
Parties | STATE OF CONNECTICUT v. OSCAR ABRAHAM |
64 Conn. App. 384
780 A.2d 223
v.
OSCAR ABRAHAM
(AC 20500)
Appellate Court of Connecticut.
Argued December 12, 2000.
Officially released July 24, 2001.
Lavery, C. J., and Schaller and Hennessy, JS.
Linda N. Howe, assistant state's attorney, with whom, on the brief, was Robert Brennan, assistant state's attorney, for the appellee (state).
Opinion
HENNESSY, J.
The defendant, Oscar Abraham, appeals from the judgments of conviction, rendered following a jury trial, of two counts of robbery in the
The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. On October 21, 1998, at approximately 4:45 a.m., the defendant and another man alleged to be Israel Garcia purchased food from a grocery store that was owned by William Acevedo and Augberto Gonzalez. Shortly thereafter, Acevedo was confronted by two men dressed in black and wearing black masks. The taller of the two men, later found to be the defendant, held a pistol and stole $160 from Acevedo. When Acevedo resisted, the defendant fired the pistol in the direction of the ground and again in the direction of Acevedo as he fled to the back of the store. The other robber held a customer down on the floor at knifepoint.
William Reilly, a police officer from the Bridgeport police department, arrived at the grocery store to investigate
The two other occupants of the car were apprehended shortly thereafter. One of the passengers, a short male wearing dark clothing, was later identified as the codefendant Israel Garcia. The other passenger was identified as Denise Holland. Later that day, Holland provided a statement to the police in which she claimed that the defendant and the codefendant Garcia had robbed the grocery store.
Two days later, on October 23, 1998, while on patrol at a housing project, Brian Fitzgerald, a police officer from the Bridgeport police department, saw a maroon Acura that matched the description of an automobile on the police list of stolen vehicles.7 As the motor vehicle pulled into a parking space, Fitzgerald's partner drove the patrol vehicle behind the maroon Acura to prevent it from moving. The four occupants of the maroon Acura got out of the automobile and began to run away. Fitzgerald observed that the front passenger appeared to have an object in his waistband resembling the shape of a gun
The defendant ran away from Fitzgerald, pulled a black handgun out of his waistband and threw the weapon onto the ground. Witnessing the defendant dispose of the weapon, Fitzgerald picked up the handgun and, after a short chase, apprehended the defendant. The handgun was loaded with four rounds. Fitzgerald identified the man as the defendant and arrested him. The defendant was charged in two informations. In the first case, he was charged for the events that transpired when he was apprehended on October 23, 1998, and, in the second case, for the events that transpired on October 21, 1998, when the grocery store was robbed.
The defendant and the codefendant Garcia were tried jointly before a jury regarding the charges of robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.8 On November 19, 1999, the defendant was found guilty of all charges and convicted of two counts of robbery in the first degree in violation of § 53a-134 (a) (2), conspiracy to commit robbery in the first degree in violation of § 53a-48, criminal possession of a pistol or revolver in violation of § 53a-217c, carrying a pistol or revolver without a permit in violation of § 29-35 (a) and possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle in violation of § 29-38. The codefendant Garcia, however, was acquitted of all charges, including the charge of conspiracy to commit robbery. This appeal followed. Additional facts will be discussed where relevant to the claims raised.
I
During the pendency of this appeal, we ordered the parties to submit supplemental briefs to address whether
It is well established that this court will exercise plain error review under only the rarest of circumstances. "Such review is reserved for truly extraordinary situations where the existence of the error is so obvious that it affects the fairness and integrity of and public confidence in the judicial proceedings." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Wright, 207 Conn. 276, 288-89, 542 A.2d 299 (1988). This court may "in the interests of justice notice plain error not brought to the attention of the trial court." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Thornton, 55 Conn. App. 28, 31, 739 A.2d 271 (1999). "As explained in detail in Lynch v. Granby Holdings, Inc., [230 Conn. 95, 98, 644 A.2d 325 (1994)], our sua sponte invocation of plain error review is warranted when the following requirements are satisfied: (1) we discuss the rule and articulate why it is appropriate; and (2) we give the parties an opportunity to brief the issue." State v. Washington, 39 Conn. App. 175, 179, 664 A.2d 1153 (1995).
"To prevail under the plain error doctrine, the defendant must demonstrate that the claimed error is both so
When one alleged conspirator is convicted of conspiracy and his alleged coconspirator is acquitted, the situation is similar to that where a jury has rendered an inconsistent verdict. Just as we will overturn a legally inconsistent verdict when "the existence of the essential elements for one offense negates the existence of the essential elements for another offense of which the defendant also stands...
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