State v. Bryant, 15105

• Decision Date: 09 May 1995
• Docket Number: No. 15105,15105
• Citation: 233 Conn. 1,658 A.2d 89
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE of Connecticut v. Jarvis BRYANT.

Page 89

658 A.2d 89

233 Conn. 1

STATE of Connecticut v. Jarvis BRYANT.

No. 15105.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued Feb. 6, 1995.

Decided May 9, 1995.

Todd D. Fernow, with whom were Thomas M. Nolan and Barbara N. Weady, certified legal interns, and, on the brief, Timothy H. Everett and David L. Polsky, certified legal intern, for appellant (defendant).

Frederick W. Fawcett, Asst. State's Atty., with whom, on the brief, were Donald A. Browne, State's Atty., and Stephen J. Sedensky III, Asst. State's Atty., for appellee (state).

Before PETERS, C.J., and CALLAHAN, BORDEN, BERDON and PALMER, JJ.

BORDEN, Associate Justice.

The defendant, Jarvis Bryant, appeals ¹ from the judgment of conviction, ² rendered after a jury trial, of murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54a(a). The defendant's sole claim on appeal is that the trial court improperly instructed the jury on the issue of self-defense. ³ We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. On June 7, 1991, the defendant shot Mervin Needham in Father Panik Village, a housing project in Bridgeport. Detective William Collette, responding to a citizen's report, arrived at the housing project and discovered Needham's body lying face down with blood surrounding his head. There were people around the body. Collette examined the body and discovered no vital signs.

Arkady Katsnelson, the state associate medical examiner, conducted an autopsy on Needham's body and determined that the sole cause of death was a .38 caliber gunshot wound to the back of the head fired from a distance of greater than three feet. Detective David S. Gibbs, a state department of public safety firearms expert, determined that the fatal bullet had been fired from either a .38 caliber or a .357 magnum revolver.

On June 10, 1991, the defendant, accompanied by family members and clergy, turned himself in to the police and voluntarily made a statement concerning his participation in the shooting of Needham. The relevant portion of the defendant's statement is as follows: "I got ... up and I had to go downtown to get some clothes. I went to the store to get some change for the bus. I seen Mervis going into the store. He had threatened me in the past. He threatened a lot of people. I had to carry a gun because I was afraid that he was going to shoot me. I went into the store and I seen him. He looked at me and I looked back at him. He left and I stayed for a while. I could see through the glass that he was outside. I could see that he had his hand in the front of his pants. He was like looking around. I was worried and stuff. I went back out. He looked at me and started to reach and then he pulled the gun out. He clicked it but it didn't go off. He clicked towards me. Then I had a chance to get my gun out. I pulled mine out and he seen it. That's when he started running. I started shooting at him. I started backing up. I was thinking that he could fix his gun and start shooting at me. He ran across the street and that's when I fired one more time. That's when he fell. I left and went to my house."

The defendant also contended that Needham had engaged in a pattern of conduct in which he had twice attempted to rob the defendant at gunpoint, and had threatened the defendant's family. At trial, the defendant testified that during the second robbery attempt, Needham had told him that "[t]his time I'm going to let you go. Next time I see you I'm going to shoot you." The defendant testified that he had purchased his weapon six months prior to the attempted robberies, but did not begin carrying the weapon until after the second robbery attempt.

The defendant testified that he had fired his weapon at Needham five times, and that Needham had fallen on the fifth shot when he had been between 90 and 100 feet away. After Needham had fallen, the defendant fled the area. No weapon was discovered near the body.

Clarissa Crump, Needham's girlfriend, testified to the following. The evening prior to the shooting, Needham had stayed with her in her third floor apartment in Father Panik Village, around the corner from Harold's Market, near where the shooting took place. On the morning of the shooting, she had observed Needham dressing, and saw that he did not have a weapon. Further, she believed that his weapon had been stolen approximately one month earlier.

Crump testified further that she had sent Needham to the market to purchase milk, and, after he had left, she decided that she also wanted him to purchase cigarettes. She went to the window of her apartment in an effort to contact Needham and when she did so, she observed the defendant leaving his grandmother's apartment, heading toward Harold's Market. Crump testified that the defendant was carrying a small black gun. Crump left the window to get dressed. While she was dressing, she had heard gun shots. When she finished dressing, she went to see what had happened. Crump further testified that Needham had told her that he had used a weapon to "stick-up" the defendant on at least one occasion.

In light of the admission of the defendant that he had fired the fatal shot, the only remaining issue for the jury to determine was whether the defendant had been justified in his use of deadly force. The trial court instructed the jury with respect to self-defense as follows: "Now, the defense is one of self-defense, and that is a statutorily defined defense, which the State has the burden of disproving in your minds from the overview of the evidence you've heard in this case. The defendant has the right to introduce testimony supporting the claim that the defendant acted in self-defense. But it is for you to determine, from all the facts and circumstances, and evaluate the conduct of the parties and see whether they come within the legally prescribed defense of self-defense. I will read it to you." (Emphasis added.) The trial court then read the relevant portions of General Statutes § 53a-19. ⁴ Thereafter the trial court stated that "[t]his does not mean, however, that the defendant must prove the defense of self-defense. The burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt remains on the State, and that means that the State must disprove the defense of self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt once the defendant raises it in the case." (Emphasis added.)

After more fully explaining the law with respect to self-defense, the trial court instructed the jury that "there are circumstances under which the use of physical or deadly physical force are not justified." As I've indicated to you, a person may not use deadly physical force upon another when he knows he can avoid it with complete safety by retreating. Therefore, you have to examine the totality of the circumstances and facts that you find happened at that location at the date and time charged in the information. You've heard this evidence. I'm not going to recapture it for you. This should be fresh in your mind. You'll examine the conduct of everyone that's been testified to here in this court, and you determine what the true facts are and apply this law to those facts.

"Since the defense of self-defense is a complete defense to any homicide, if you find the defense of self-defense applies and that the State has failed to disprove, beyond a reasonable doubt, the defense of self-defense raised by the defendant, you find the defendant not guilty of any of these charges with the exception it does not apply to the second count in the information....

"If you find the defense of self-defense does not apply, that the State has disproved the defense of self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt, you should find the defendant guilty of the crime charged ... provided, of course, the State has proven all of the elements necessary for any one of the crimes...." (Emphasis added.)

The trial court then concluded its charge to the jury stating: "After that we'll determine the verdict must be unanimous. So you must all agree on it. You must also agree on the defense of self-defense, that it is either applicable, that it is supported by credible, reliable evidence and the law involved, impressed on the facts you find, is sufficient to show that the defendant is not guilty. You must agree on that. And if you don't, and you have to have a unanimous verdict based on your finding that the self-defense is not disproven or proven, remember that the defendant doesn't have any obligation to prove beyond anything. So he doesn't have any obligation to prove beyond any reasonable doubt. And once the evidence and the claim of self-defense is in the case, it remains the State's burden to disprove that from all the evidence put into this case. You have to determine that. Okay? And you must agree on that whether it does or doesn't exist." (Emphasis added.)

After the jury had deliberated for a period of time, the jury requested a clarification on the legal meaning of self-defense. In response to the jury's request, the trial court reinstructed them on the statutory definition of self-defense, and then reminded the jury of the burden of proof, stating that "[s]elf-defense, under the proper circumstances, is a legal defense to the use of deadly force, which would otherwise be criminal. This does not mean, however, that the defendant must prove the defense of self-defense. The burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt remains on the State. It means that the State must disprove the defense of self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt once the defendant raises it." (Emphasis added.)

After additional recitation of the legal requirements of self-defense, the trial court concluded that the jury must "examine all the facts, all the circumstances existing at that time and make those determinations." You must consider whether or not the claim of self-defense by the defendant, by the impact of credib[le] and reliable evidence you believed offered in this case by the State and the accused,...