State v. Cataudella

• Citation: 271 A.2d 99,159 Conn. 544
• Court: Supreme Court of Connecticut
• Decision Date: 29 June 1970
• Parties: STATE of Connecticut v. Peter J. CATAUDELLA.

Page 99

271 A.2d 99

159 Conn. 544

STATE of Connecticut v. Peter J. CATAUDELLA.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

June 29, 1970.

Charles G. Karanian, New Britain, for appellant (defendant).

Richard A. Schatz, Asst. State's Atty., with whom, on the brief, was John D. LaBelle, State's Atty., for appellee (state).

Before ALCORN, C.J., and HOUSE, COTTER, THIM and RYAN, JJ.

RYAN, Associate Justice.

In a substituted information in six counts the defendant was charged with the crime of wilfully and corruptly altering books, records or documents in the possession or under the control of the department of motor vehicles of the state of Connecticut in violation of § 53-153 of the General Statutes. ¹ Upon the trial to the jury, the defendant was found guilty as to the first, second, fifth and sixth counts and not guilty as to the third and fourth counts of the information. Upon the refusal of the court to set aside the verdict, the defendant appealed from the judgment rendered.

In his assignments of error the defendant claims that the state failed to present sufficient evidence to prove a violation of § 53-153 as to any of the counts upon which he was found guilty. He urges that as a matter of law he did not alter a public record within the meaning of the statutes and claims that the trial court erred in its refusal to grant his motions to dismiss, to direct a verdict for the defendant, and to set aside the verdict of the jury. The jury could reasonably have found the following facts: The division of operator control, hereinafter referred to as the division, is an administrative section of the motor vehicle department. When an operator's license is suspended, the division opens a file for that person. The entire file constitutes the driving record of the person and contains a blue card, a document called the operator's driving history, ² reinstatement slips, court abstracts and correspondence. When the conviction of an operator results in suspension, it is recorded on the operator's driving history, a copy of which is sent to the division, and the notice of suspension is sent to the operator. The reinstatement slip, a record kept in the regular course of business by the division, is issued after a hearing officer decides to reinstate an operator's license. The original copy is sent to the operator, one carbon copy is sent to the local police, one to the data processing department, and one is retained by the division. Unless these copies are processed, the operator's driving history will not reflect the reinstatement.

The file of every operator who has been suspended for a motor vehicle violation contains a blue card. These cards are work sheets on which hearings officers record activities relating to the particular case, and entries are recorded in the regular course of business, dealing with telephone conversations, correspondence, hearings, conferences and departmental action. The blue card is necessary to the proper operation of the division. The decision made by the hearings officer concerning suspension or reinstatement of a license may be affected by entries on the blue card. It should contain accurate and truthful information, since inaccurate information on the blue card may cause an improper reinstatement. When the blue card so directs, a reinstatement slip is issued, and the operator's driving history records this. There is a direct causal relationship between the blue card and the operator's driving history. The defendant was a hearings officer in the division during the period from October, 1964 to March, 1965. A hearings officer may reinstate an operator whose license has been suspended, but he has no discretion to reinstate an operator prior to the expiration of any prescribed mandatory suspension period.

At the outset, it should be noted that the various documents and papers described, including the blue card, are records and documents in the possession, custody and control of the motor vehicle department of the state of Connecticut within the meaning of § 53-153. See note, 69 A.L.R.2d 1095, 1096.

As to the first count of the information, relating to Robert Strobel, the jury reasonably could have found the following facts: Strobel was arrested, and he pleaded guilty on April 9, 1964, to a charge of operating under the influence of intoxicating liquor in violation of what is now § 14-227a of the General Statutes. Strobel was the holder of a provisional license. His license was suspended, and he was not eligible for reinstatement until March 23, 1965. The defendant made the following entries on Strobel's blue card: 'October 19, 1964-telephone call from father of above. Complained that he was over twenty-one when arrested for this charge. Why do we use a different rule for some people. Advised him of procedure. P.J.C.'; (October 28, 1964) 'with above's attorney, advised him we will check into possibility of change of policy in department. P.J.C.' Strobel's father died in 1959, and Strobel was never represented by an attorney. Although on October 28, 1964, the defendant wrote 'No consideration until 1965' on a form pertaining to Strobel entitled 'Operator Control Division Conference Request', a reinstatement form was issued to Strobel on that date, and the box on that form which said 'Eligible for renewal of regular license' had been checked. The three copies of the reinstatement form were not processed as required by departmental practice, and Strobel's operator's driving history indicates only that his license was revoked. If the reinstatement of Robert Strobel had been made in the ordinary course of business, it would have been reflected in the operator's driving history. The three copies of the reinstatement slip were found in a box near the defendant's desk in May, 1965. Robert Strobel paid $325 to Earl DeFelice, who in turn gave the money to Chester Orsini to get the license back.

The jury reasonably could have found the following facts concerning the second count of the information, relating to Joyce Buckland: Joyce Buckland was arrested for speeding on October 1, 1964, and a notice of suspension was forwarded to the motor vehicle department on November 18, 1964, when she failed to appear in court on that day in violation of § 14-140 of the General Statutes. Her license was suspended on December 7, 1964, and she was not eligible for reinstatement prior to the disposition of the court proceeding. On December 8, 1964, the defendant made the following notation on Joyce Buckland's blue card: 'With above * * * advised that she had gone down and paid her fine * * *.'; 'telephone call to the Court revealed above is true'; 'gave me license.' On a division conference request form of the same date, the defendant made the notation 'took license.' Joyce Buckland did not leave her license with the defendant on December 8, 1964, nor had she paid the fine or advised the defendant that she had. She did not give up her license until June 10, 1965, and the fine was not paid until December 10, 1965, at which time her license was returned. On September 9, 1965, Attilio Lombardi, a hearings officer, made an inaccurate entry on the blue card of Buckland as a result of the defendant's entry of December 8, 1964, to wit, that her license had been received on December 8, 1964.

As to the fifth count of the information, concerning John R. Young, the jury reasonably could have found the following facts: Young was arrested for separate offenses on June 26, 1963, and November 21, 1963, and again on October 11, 1964, each time for violating § 14-215 of the General Statutes-operating a motor vehicle while his license was suspended. On each occasion he pleaded guilty and was not eligible for reinstatement until January 26, 1966. Young's blue card has the following notation, dated March 1, 1965: 'with brother of above. This should have been heard before but we were waiting for the second case to be cleared, we waited, but it turns out that it was a re-arrest and that the case was settled some time ago.' John R. Young was not rearrested, and neither he nor his brother, Horace Young, ever told the defendant that John Young had been rearrested for the same offense. On April 1, 1965, Young was reinstated, and the reinstatement slip, initialed 'P.J.C.', indicates that Young was 'eligible for renewal or regular license,' although the file does not indicate any basis for the reinstatement. On March 11, 1965, John R. Young saw the defendant at the motor vehicle department after Young had been given an eye examination at the department. The defendant told Horace Young, John R. Young's brother, that the wrong hearings officer was on, and told him to go outside and telephone the motor vehicle department and say that John R. Young could not show up for the hearing. On April 1, 1965, John R. Young gave his brother, Horace Young, the sum of $100 at the motor vehicle department. On the same day Young and his brother Horace attended a hearing before the defendant at the motor vehicle department and Horace preceded John into the defendant's office. Horace and the defendant were friends and fellow employees. The defendant gave John R. Young a reinstatement slip on April 1, 1965, and he was reinstated by the defendant as of that date. On July 28, 1965, Young was summoned to appear before the motor vehicle department. Young met the defendant at a furniture store on July 28, 1965, prior to Young's hearing at the motor vehicle department. At the furniture store, the defendant told Young: '(D)on't say any more than you said at my hearing,' and the defendant further told him not to mention anything about money. During the month following his hearing of April 1, 1965, Young gave his brother, Horace, the sum of $350 for getting his driver's license reinstated. In March, 1966, Horace installed storm windows and doors at the defendant's home without expectation of payment.

As to the sixth count of the information, concerning Anthony A....