State v. Brown

• Decision Date: 12 April 2005
• Docket Number: No. 16946.,16946.
• Citation: 869 A.2d 1224,273 Conn. 330
• Parties: STATE of Connecticut v. Cliff BROWN.
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court

869 A.2d 1224

273 Conn. 330

STATE of Connecticut v. Cliff BROWN.

No. 16946.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued February 7, 2005.

Decided April 12, 2005.

Richard E. Condon, Jr., assistant public defender, for the appellant (defendant).

Frederick W. Fawcett, supervisory assistant state's attorney, with whom, on the brief, were Jonathan C. Benedict, state's attorney, and John C. Smriga, supervisory assistant state's attorney, for the appellee (state).

NORCOTT, KATZ, PALMER, VERTEFEUILLE and ZARELLA, Js.

NORCOTT, J.

The defendant, Cliff Brown, appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54a. On appeal,¹ the defendant claims that the trial court improperly: (1) precluded him from cross-examining the arresting officer about the officer's use of deadly force on a prior occasion, and his knowledge of the police department's deadly force policy; and (2) concluded, following an in camera review, that the officer's personnel file did not contain information clearly material and relevant to the issues in the case. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. On December 15, 2000, the defendant had been visiting with friends at the home of Pablo Pagan, located in Bridgeport on Central Avenue near its intersection with Boston Avenue, from the afternoon into the evening before he was to report to work at United Parcel Service for a shift starting at 11 p.m. During this visit, the defendant had been drinking alcoholic beverages and had taken a "couple of pulls" of marijuana. He was wearing old work clothes consisting of black jeans, a black hooded sweatshirt, a black leather jacket and black boots. The defendant then left Pagan's home to purchase a cigarette at a nearby convenience store, and subsequently met Aaron Kearney, who had been friendly with the defendant for more than ten years.² Kearney was sitting in his white minivan, which was parked on Central Avenue facing away from Boston Avenue; he and the defendant sat and drank cognac for approximately twenty minutes. Prior to leaving the van, the defendant showed Kearney his weapon, a small .38 caliber handgun.³

Approximately ten minutes later, at 7:30 p.m., the victim, Evon Brown, was stopped at a traffic light at the intersection of Boston Avenue and Central Avenue while driving his black Toyota Corolla. Kearney then heard gunshots. Before the gunshots ended, he saw a police car pull up and stop before the end of the gunshots, and he saw a police officer chase the defendant into a driveway.⁴ That police officer was Officer John Roach of the Bridgeport police department, who had been on patrol in the area in his marked patrol car. Roach had been driving westbound on Boston Avenue when he heard several gunshots fired as he passed the intersection with Palisade Avenue. Roach then saw the victim running eastbound on the Boston Avenue sidewalk toward Central Avenue with his hands up, being chased by the defendant who was shooting at him. Roach drove his vehicle at the defendant, who nevertheless continued to fire his weapon at the victim, who ultimately collapsed in front of a convenience store. Roach then stopped his car on Boston Avenue near Central Avenue, and pursued the defendant on foot down Central Avenue. He testified that the defendant looked at him before firing at the victim again.⁵ While on Central Avenue, the defendant fired one shot at Roach. Roach returned fire at that time with his nine millimeter Beretta semiautomatic handgun.

Roach continued to chase the defendant down Central Avenue. He followed the defendant into a driveway that separated two houses on Central Avenue, and proceeded up the driveway toward Bell Street, which runs parallel to Central Avenue. As the chase continued, the defendant turned and Roach fired several shots at him again. The defendant then continued to run toward Bell Street, and went over a fence onto Bell Street. Roach then ran back to his car on Central Avenue, and called for additional assistance and an ambulance for the victim, who was located in front of the convenience store on Boston Avenue.

After Roach called for help, he ran to Bell Street via Boston Avenue.⁶ A woman then screamed that the defendant was in her backyard. Shortly thereafter, Roach and several other police officers went to that yard and found the defendant on the woman's porch lying in a pool of blood from a leg wound.⁷ A subsequent police search located an empty Grendel .38 caliber handgun in that yard. Thereafter, the officers followed the path taken by Roach during the chase and found numerous .38 caliber shell casings both thereon and at the intersection.

During trial, the state argued that the defendant's motive for the shooting was his desire to get revenge against William "Rakim" Newkirk. According to Newkirk, he and the defendant previously had been "associates" as they were "sort of" friends who used to hang out together frequently on Central Avenue. They ceased to be friends or "associates" in 1997, because of rumors that the defendant thought Newkirk had shot him, and that the defendant desired revenge against Newkirk. Although their friendship had ended, the defendant knew that, in December, 2000, Newkirk drove a black 1997 Toyota Corolla.⁸ At trial, the defendant denied any involvement in the shooting of the victim, arguing that the state had mistaken him for someone else; he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.⁹

With respect to the crime scene and any scientific evidence, Malka Shah, an associate medical examiner, testified that the victim received a total of four gunshot wounds to his upper left leg, left ankle, right buttock, and the left side of his upper back passing into his heart, lungs and major vessels. According to Marshall Robinson, the state's firearms expert, the four bullets that were recovered from the victim's body were fired from the gun found in the yard. Sergeant William Mayer testified, however, that the entire gun, including the trigger, tested negative for fingerprints. He noted that the surfaces of the gun handle and slide were "parkerized," or rough and ridged, which makes it difficult for fingerprints to adhere.

Shortly thereafter, the defendant was charged with the murder of the victim in violation of § 53a-54a(a), and the attempted murder of Roach in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-54a(a) and 53a-49(a). In December, 2002, a jury trial was held and the jury returned a verdict finding him guilty of murder, but not guilty of attempted murder.¹⁰ The trial court, Owens, J., rendered a judgment of conviction in accordance with the verdict, and sentenced the defendant to a total effective sentence of fifty years imprisonment. This appeal followed.

I WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT IMPROPERLY PRECLUDED THE DEFENDANT FROM CROSS-EXAMINING ROACH ABOUT HIS USE OF DEADLY FORCE ON A PRIOR OCCASION AND HIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT'S DEADLY FORCE POLICIES

The defendant first claims that the trial court denied him his sixth amendment right to confront witnesses by prohibiting him from cross-examining Roach about: (1) his training and department policies with respect to officer and civilian safety during the use of deadly force; and (2) his prior use of deadly force under "questionable circumstances. . . ." The defendant also contends alternatively that, this ruling, if not rising to the level of a constitutional violation, nevertheless was an abuse of the trial court's discretion with respect to the admission of evidence. The state argues in response that: (1) the trial court's ruling is subject to review only for evidentiary error because the defendant received the constitutionally required minimum opportunity to cross-examine those witnesses testifying against him; and (2) the trial court did not abuse its discretion by concluding that the defendant's proposed line of questioning was irrelevant.

We begin by noting the scope of the rulings under review. During cross-examination, the defendant questioned Roach about his police academy training with respect to observation skills. The state objected to this line of questioning. At sidebar, the trial court then inquired about whether the defendant also desired to cross-examine Roach about the police department standards governing the use of a firearm with respect to a fleeing suspect. The court and counsel then engaged in an extensive colloquy wherein the defendant explained that Roach had been involved in a prior shooting incident that led to a federal civil rights action, which has since resulted in a published decision, Thomas v. Roach, 165 F.3d 137 (2d Cir.1999). The defendant explained that, while the outcome and result of that prior action was not significant, he wanted to use its existence to: (1) demonstrate Roach's knowledge of the proper use of deadly force; and (2) to impeach Roach's credibility by showing that the propriety of his shooting the defendant directly hinged on the accuracy of his observation of the defendant, essentially, "he has to say that's the guy he saw." In response, the state argued that the inquiry into the propriety of the shooting with respect to departmental standards governing the use of deadly force was both an inappropriate collateral inquiry and inflammatory.

The trial court ruled that the defendant could cross-examine Roach about his department training in observation, as well as his specific observations with respect to this case, but that the defendant was precluded from "go[ing] into the area of whether or not he had prior offenses or prior similar conduct during the course of prior similar or dissimilar actions, or activities." The trial court also precluded the defendant from questioning Roach about safety training with respect to officers or civilians. The defendant then took an exception to the trial court's ruling, and proceeded with the remainder of the...