State v. Belanger
| Decision Date | 05 January 1961 |
| Citation | 148 Conn. 57,167 A.2d 245 |
| Court | Connecticut Supreme Court |
| Parties | STATE of Connecticut v. Arthur N. BELANGER. STATE of Connecticut v. Leo F. McCANN. Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut |
Robert I. Berdon, New Haven, with whom was Frank S. Shea, New London, for appellants (defendants).
Allyn L. Brown, Jr., State's Atty., Norwich, for appellee (state).
Before BALDWIN, C. J., and KING, MURPHY, MELLITZ and SHEA, JJ.
On February 11, 1958, the defendants were arraigned on an information charging them with illegal possession of narcotic drugs. Prior to their arraignment, the state's attorney had information in his files of prior convictions which would justify charging the defendants as second offenders of the narcotics laws. Immediately before their arraignment, the state's attorney called each defendant separately into a jury room with his attorney and informed each defendant that he was to be charged as a second offender upon conviction of the offense as to which he was about to be put to plea. The defendants pleaded not guilty, were tried by the court, and were convicted on March 13, 1958. They were then presented on a second part of the information, dated March 13, 1958, charging them as second offenders of the narcotics laws. Each interposed a demurrer to the second part of the information on March 18, 1958. The demurrers were overruled, each defendant entered a plea of guilty to the matters charged in the second part of the information, and each was sentenced to be imprisoned in the state prison for a term of not less than ten nor more than twelve years. On March 20, 1959, more than a year later, the defendants filed motions in arrest of judgment. From a denial of the motions, and from the judgments finding the defendants guilty, they have appealed.
The court did not err is denying the motions in arrest. Whether such a motion could properly be filed at all, in a case tried to the court, we need not decide. See Mix v. Page, 14 Conn. 329, 334. Where a motion in arrest lies, it must be filed within twenty-four hours, although the court may, for good cause, extend the time. Practice Book, § 233; Uncas Paper Co. v. Corbin, 75 Conn. 675, 678, 55 A. 165. Both the term and the session of court during which the judgments were rendered had expired long before the time the motions were filed. Nov. 1955 Sup., § N227 (General Statutes, § 51-180). The court was without power, over objection by the state, either to extend the time for filing or to grant the motions.
Error is assigned in a number of rulings on evidence but only two are pursued. Testimony was admitted relating to the conduct of Belanger just prior to his arrest and the conduct of both defendants after their arrest. The ground of objection in each instance was that the testimony was irrelevant and immaterial. The testimony concerning Belanger's conduct before his arrest tended to corroborate other testimony concerning his appearance and actions immediately before, when, as the state claimed, he disposed of a vial containing narcotics. The testimony concerning the conduct of both defendants after their arrest tended to establish that they were confirmed narcotic addicts. There was no error in these rulings. The evidence had a bearing on the probability or likelihood of the existence of the facts the trier was ultimately required to determine. One fact is relevant to another whenever the existence of the one, taken alone or in connection with other facts, renders the existence of the other more certain or more probable. Pope Foundation, Inc. v. New York, N. H. & H. R. Co., 106 Conn. 423, 435, 138 A. 444.
The court concluded that both defendants were in illegal possession of narcotic drugs on December 11, 1957, in violation of § 3962 of the 1949 Revision (as amended, General Statutes, § 19-246); that Belanger had in his possession methadone, a synthetic narcotic drug similar to morphine, and McCann had in his possession morphine sulfate; and that McCann did not sustain the burden of proving legal possession of the drug, as required by what is now General Statutes, § 19-262. The brief of the defendants does not question the propriety of the conviction of Belanger on the charge of illegal possession as contained in the first part of the information. His appeal in this aspect is therefore regarded as abandoned. Maltbie, Conn.App.Proc. § 327. On behalf of McCann, it is earnestly argued that the court erred in concluding that the evidence was sufficient to establish his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The finding is not subject to correction in any material respect and sets forth the following facts: On December 11, 1957, McCann, who resided in Worcester, Massachusetts, went to Hartford, Connecticut, and met Belanger on the streets of Hartford at approximately 9 a. m. McCann had known Belanger for fifteen to twenty years. McCann had been a narcotics addict for many years, and had obtained narcotics from physicians in Vermont and New Hampshire. Belanger had twice before obtained a prescription for narcotic drugs from Dr. Elijan Burdsall, a licensed physician practicing in New London, who was authorized by the state of Connecticut to dispense and prescribe narcotics. Belanger invited McCann to accompany him to New London, and they traveled there in an automobile owned by Belanger. Upon arrival, McCann obtained an appointment with Dr. Burdsall. McCann had not previously been a patient of his. McCann did not reveal to Dr. Burdsall that he was addicted to the use of narcotic drugs. Upon McCann's suggestion that a narcotic be prescribed to relieve severe neuralgic pain in his face, Dr. Burdsall gave him a prescription for twenty-four half-grain tablets of morphine sulfate, instructing him to take the prescribed narcotic by mouth. McCann went to a pharmacy licensed to dispense narcotics and had the prescription filled. He then stopped at a restaurant and went into the men's room, where he prepared one or more of the morphine sulfate tablets to be injected into his body. He had on his person a bottle for use in cooking up narcotics and a hypodermic needle for use in injecting them. After preparing the drug, McCann injected the solution into his body. He returned to Belanger's automobile, having what remained of the morphine pills prescribed by Dr. Burdsall on his person. He and Belanger drove to Crocker Farms, a public restaurant. There Belanger attempted to dispose of a vial which had in it three pills containing methadone. When McCann got out of Belanger's car at Crocker Farms, he had a bottle of narcotics with him. At the time of his arrest, he had three empty vials on his person, two of which contained traces of narcotics. The police found fourteen tablets containing morphine on the seat and floor of Belanger's automobile. McCann did not have the prescription label for the narcotics he obtained as a result of Dr. Burdsall's prescription, and he could not identify or...
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State v. Legrand
...of reported cases that cite to § 21a-257 or its predecessors. We do note, however, that such cases do exist. See State v. Belanger, 148 Conn. 57, 167 A.2d 245 (1961); State v. Kamel, 115 Conn. App. 338, 972 A.2d 780 (2009); State v. Coccomo, 115 Conn. App. 384, 972 A.2d 757, cert. granted o......
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State v. Brown
...prove a lack of authorization to deal in narcotic drugs when the question of license becomes an issue in the case. 5 In State v. Belanger, 148 Conn. 57, 63, 167 A.2d 245, for example, the court found that the defendant had not discharged his burden on the claim that he lawfully possessed dr......
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State v. Corchado
...on the existence of facts the jury were ultimately required to determine, i.e., on the issue of self-defense. State v. Belanger, 148 Conn. 57, 59, 167 A.2d 245 (1961); see Delmore v. Polinsky, 132 Conn. 28, 31, 42 A.2d 349 (1945). Second, it was relevant to the claim that the slap did not p......
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State v. Legrand
...amount of reported cases that cite to § 21a–257 or its predecessors. We do note, however, that such cases do exist. See State v. Belanger, 148 Conn. 57, 167 A.2d 245 (1961); State v. Kamel, 115 Conn.App. 338, 972 A.2d 780 (2009); State v. Coccomo, 115 Conn.App. 384, 972 A.2d 757, cert. gran......