State v. Camacho

• Decision Date: 08 May 2007
• Docket Number: No. 16791.,16791.
• Citation: 924 A.2d 99,282 Conn. 328
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE of Connecticut v. Marco CAMACHO.

924 A.2d 99

282 Conn. 328

STATE of Connecticut v. Marco CAMACHO.

No. 16791.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued January 5, 2007.

Filed May 8, 2007.

Lisa J. Steele, special public defender, for the appellant (defendant).

Ronald G. Weller, senior assistant state's attorney, with whom, on the brief, were John M. Massameno, senior assistant state's attorney, and John J. Russotto, deputy chief state's attorney, for the appellee (state).

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

KATZ, J.

The defendant, Marco Camacho, directly appeals, pursuant to General Statutes § 51-199(b)(3),¹ from the judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of: four counts of murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54a;² four counts of felony murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54c;³ one count of tampering with evidence in violation of General Statutes § 53a-155;⁴ one count of larceny in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-122(a)(3);⁵ one count of robbery in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-134(a)(1);⁶ one count of possession of narcotics with intent to sell in violation of General Statutes § 21a-277(a);⁷ one count of possession of a stolen firearm in violation of General Statutes § 53a212;⁸ and one count of conspiracy to commit the crimes of murder, possession of narcotics with intent to sell, robbery in the first degree, larceny in the first degree, and tampering with evidence in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-48 and 53a-54a(b), 21a-277(a), 53a-134(a)(1), 53a-122(a)(3) and 53a-155, respectively. The jury rendered guilty verdicts on all of the charges and the defendant was sentenced to a total effective sentence of 260 years imprisonment. On appeal, the defendant raises essentially three claims. First, the defendant claims that the admission of certain hearsay statements of an unavailable coconspirator under either the coconspirator or dual inculpatory statement exception to the hearsay rule violated his federal constitutional right to confrontation. In the event that we conclude that the admission of these statements did not violate the defendant's rights under the federal constitution, he urges us to decide that the Connecticut constitution affords him more expansive confrontation rights, and that these rights were violated by the admission of these statements. Finally, the defendant claims that the prosecutor improperly appealed to the jury's emotions, mischaracterized evidence and attempted to shift the burden of proof in his closing argument, thereby depriving him of a fair trial. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. At approximately 8:30 p.m., on September 25, 1996, a Southington police department emergency dispatcher received a 911 call from 932 Shuttle Meadow Road, the residence of Nick Votino. Responding to the call, the police discovered four persons dead from gunshot wounds in the master bedroom: Nick Votino, his daughter, Joanne Votino,⁹ Lynn Suszynski and Wayne Barrows.

Police found evidence of recent cocaine use at the crime scene, and Nick Votino, Suszynski and Barrows all tested positive for cocaine in toxicology tests performed in conjunction with their autopsies. Police also found crack cocaine, drug paraphernalia and a large quantity of a cutting agent used in the process of making crack cocaine.

Weeks before the murders, in the beginning of September, 1996, the defendant and Eric Henry, with whom the defendant sold drugs, were living in the Southington home of Henry's girlfriend, Raquel Martin. The three were close: Martin and Henry, who were in their late twenties, called the defendant "Son," and the defendant, who was seventeen, referred to them as "Ma" and "Pop." The defendant and Henry had been using Martin's residence as the base of operations to sell crack cocaine. Previously, the defendant had been supplying Henry with drugs to sell, and had moved into Martin's house in order to facilitate his drug dealing business. The defendant and Henry became partners, with the defendant supplying the drugs and Henry supplying protection as well as expanding the defendant's market with his own group of acquaintances. Additionally, Votino had been selling drugs for the defendant. As a result of his own drug habit, Votino had become indebted to the defendant in the amount of $400. The defendant had taken a necklace belonging to Votino as collateral on the debt.

Around the same time, Frank Brown, another drug dealer who had been supplying the defendant and Votino with drugs before Brown fled the state to escape criminal charges, was robbed of $5000. In order to recoup his loss, Brown concocted a plan regarding a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee, which Brown had paid for but was registered to Votino, and in Votino's possession, so that it would not be traceable to Brown. According to Brown's plan, Votino would report the Jeep stolen and the defendant would bring it to a cousin in New York who could get the Jeep "chopped" and sold. The defendant told Brown he thought he could get $10,000 to $15,000 for the Jeep, and Brown responded that the defendant could keep anything over $5000 to use for his drug business. Votino, however, did not want to cooperate with the plan.

Early in the afternoon of September 25, 1996, the day of the murders, Martin, Henry and Kathy Fusco, a neighbor with whom Henry and Martin smoked crack cocaine, went to Votino's house to try to get drugs from him. Votino gave them a small amount of drugs but explained that he could not give them any significant quantity for free because he had to sell the drugs that he had in order to pay off his debt to the defendant. Votino appeared frustrated and disappointed in being in debt to the defendant, who was significantly younger. Martin, Henry and Fusco left Votino's house around 3:30 p.m. and returned to Martin's house.

At approximately 4:30 p.m., Martin drove the defendant and Henry to Votino's house because the defendant wanted to discuss the debt that Votino owed him. Martin, who waited in the living room while the defendant, Henry and Votino spoke in the kitchen, overheard Votino say that he had $200 worth of crack cocaine left to sell, but would need more to sell in order to pay off his debt to the defendant. The defendant asked Votino to let him borrow the Jeep so that the defendant could get more drugs from a supplier, but Votino did not want the defendant to take the Jeep that night and expressed concern about getting his necklace back from the defendant. The defendant and Votino went into Votino's bedroom, and when they came out, the defendant had the Jeep keys in hand. The defendant told Votino that he would come back later that night with more drugs for Votino to sell, and warned that Votino had better be home and have sold some of the drugs he already had before the defendant returned.

Thereafter, Martin drove the defendant and Henry to the defendant's mother's house in New Britain where the defendant picked up some clothing in a black backpack. When they returned to Martin's house, the defendant paged his drug supplier, Pedro Ramirez, and he and Henry went to meet him. The defendant purchased crack cocaine from Ramirez and told Ramirez he was about to "stick somebody up," which Ramirez took to mean that the defendant intended to rob someone.

After the defendant and Henry had returned to Martin's house, the defendant entered Martin's bedroom with a gun in a small black pouch,¹⁰ gloves and bullets. The defendant then put the bullets in the gun, wiped down the gun and put it back into the pouch. Henry took the gun from the defendant and put it in the waistband of his pants. The defendant and Henry then left in Martin's car for Votino's house.

Approximately one-half hour after they had left Martin's house, Henry telephoned Martin from Votino's bedroom and told her that he and the defendant would be returning to her house shortly. Martin heard sounds of a party-like atmosphere and Votino's voice in the background. At the same time, unbeknownst to the defendant and Henry, Joanne Votino was in her bedroom speaking on the telephone to her boyfriend, Demond Johnson. Johnson heard four or five loud noises that he thought sounded like gunshots, followed by Joanne Votino yelling, "[w]hat's going on," and banging on the door to the master bedroom. Johnson then heard Joanne Votino scream, "[o]h my God," followed by a loud thump as she fell to the ground, as a result of being shot. Joanne Votino screamed Johnson's name and told him to call 911, which he did.

Approximately five minutes after Henry had telephoned Martin, the defendant telephoned her from what sounded like a car, asking that she bring his black backpack to the Shell service station near her house. Martin walked to the service station, and the defendant drove up shortly thereafter in Votino's Jeep. Martin got into the Jeep and asked the defendant where Henry and her car were. The defendant told her not to ask him or Henry any questions and drove to a house nearby where he met Ernesto Soto, an acquaintance. The defendant handed Martin his gloves and told her to hold or dispose of them, but Martin refused and handed them back to him. The defendant then tapped Martin on the right side of her back above her waist and said, "I just shot a girl right here, do you think I killed her?" Martin did not think that the defendant was serious.

The defendant asked Soto to keep the Jeep at his house and Soto used his own car to drive the defendant and Martin back to Martin's house. On the way back, the defendant and Soto discussed plans to "chop" Votino's Jeep in New York. When they arrived at Martin's house, Henry was sitting on the stairs outside her house looking "very nervous" and "[p]anick[ed]." The defendant, who appeared less nervous, passed the gun to Henry, who said that he would "take care of the burner."¹¹ The defendant asked Soto to wait to drive the...