State v. Corbin

• Decision Date: 30 January 2001
• Docket Number: (AC 20436)
• Citation: 61 Conn. App. 496,765 A.2d 14
• Court: Connecticut Court of Appeals
• Parties: STATE OF CONNECTICUT v. PATRICK CORBIN

61 Conn. App. 496

765 A.2d 14

STATE OF CONNECTICUT v. PATRICK CORBIN

(AC 20436)

Appellate Court of Connecticut.

Argued September 25, 2000.

Officially released January 30, 2001.

Landau, Schaller and Callahan, Js. James B. Streeto, deputy assistant public defender, for the appellant (defendant).

Christopher T. Godialis, assistant state's attorney, with whom, on the brief, were James E. Thomas, state's attorney, and Joan K. Alexander, former supervisory assistant state's attorney, for the appellee (state).

Opinion

SCHALLER, J.

The defendant, Patrick Corbin, appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of four counts of sexual assault in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-70 (a) (2),¹ one count of kidnapping in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-92 (a) (2)² and one count of risk of injury to a child in violation of General Statutes (Rev. to 1995) § 53-21.³ On appeal, the defendant claims that the trial court improperly (1) denied his motion to suppress a confession he made to the police, (2) failed to instruct the jury as requested regarding its role in evaluating the credibility of his confession, (3) admitted into evidence for substantive purposes a prior inconsistent statement made by a witness, (4) refused to disclose all of the psychiatric records of a witness and all of the notes of an investigating police officer, (5) denied the defendant's motion for a judgment of acquittal on the charge of kidnapping in the first degree because of insufficiency of the evidence, and (6) rejected his request to instruct the jury on unlawful restraint in the first degree and unlawful restraint in the second degree as lesser included offenses of kidnapping in the first degree. We affirm in part and reverse in part the judgment of the trial court.

The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. On the evening of July 28, 1995, the six year old victim was fishing with two other children at a pond. The defendant, who was at the pond, saw the children and approached them. He offered to show the children a better fishing spot and led them along a dirt trail into a wooded area. The victim continued to follow the defendant but, along the way, the other two children stopped because they noticed that the defendant was drinking beer and may have been intoxicated.

Upon reaching an isolated part of the wooded area, the defendant sexually assaulted the victim. He placed his hand over her mouth and threatened that if she screamed, he would kill her. Thereafter, the defendant removed the victim's clothes and placed them in some bushes. He then vaginally penetrated the victim and also performed cunnilingus on her. During the assault, the victim pleaded with the defendant to stop hurting her, but he failed to comply. The entire attack lasted approximately forty-five minutes. Subsequently, two witnesses saw the defendant running out of the wooded area. Once out of that area, he went to his vehicle and drove off. Meanwhile, the victim went home and reported the incident to her mother, who immediately took her to a hospital. A police officer came to the hospital and took the victim's statement.

The next day, Detective Edward Spyros went to the defendant's apartment and asked the defendant to accompany him to the police station. The defendant agreed to do so and at the police station confessed to assaulting the victim. Although audio and video recording equipment was available at the police station, Spyros failed to utilize such equipment to capture the defendant's confession and, instead, simply reduced it to writing. The state then charged the defendant with the aforementioned crimes. At trial, the defendant requested that the court provide the jury with an instruction regarding the reliability of his confession,⁴ but his request was denied. The jury later found the defendant guilty on all counts. This appeal followed. Additional facts will be set forth as necessary.

I

The defendant's first claim is that the court improperly denied his motion to suppress a confession he made to the police. To support that claim, the defendant advances the following three arguments: (1) the court improperly found that he was not in custody at the time and, therefore, his Miranda⁵ rights had not yet attached, (2) he did not make a knowing and intelligent waiver of his Miranda rights, and (3) the confession was not made voluntarily. We are not persuaded.

The following additional facts are necessary for the resolution of this claim. On July 29, 1995, Spyros, in an unmarked car and dressed in plain clothes, went to the defendant's apartment. Spyros asked the defendant if he would accompany him to the police station to answer questions regarding an incident that had occurred on the previous day. Spyros also indicated to the defendant that his cooperation was completely voluntary. In addition, Spyros offered to drive the defendant and stated that if he changed his mind at any time, he would personally drive the defendant back home. After those initial remarks, the defendant agreed to accompany Spyros to the police station.

Upon leaving his apartment, the defendant rode in the front passenger seat of the unmarked police car. The defendant was not placed in handcuffs or any other restraints. The defendant did not ask if he could drive to the station in his car and entered the police vehicle voluntarily.

Upon reaching the station, Spyros escorted the defendant to the interview room. The defendant, at that point, had not been placed under arrest. Nevertheless, Spyros read the defendant his Miranda rights. The defendant, who indicated that he understood his rights, then initialed each of the five rights listed on the standard waiver of rights form and signed that document. At that point, Spyros reminded the defendant that he was not under arrest and that he was free to leave at any time, but the defendant nonetheless remained at the police station.

Subsequently, the defendant gave oral statements confessing to his involvement in the incident of July 28, 1995. Spyros questioned the defendant for about forty-five minutes and then typed a written statement to record the defendant's confession. The defendant read and signed the confession. During that time, the defendant was allowed to smoke and was not restrained. The entire interrogation took less than two hours.

A

We first address the defendant's claim that the court improperly determined that he was not in custody at the time of his confession and, therefore, that his Miranda rights had not yet attached. We are not persuaded.

For Miranda rights to attach, the following two requirements must be met: "(1) the defendant must have been in custody; and (2) the defendant must have been subjected to police interrogation. Miranda v. Arizona, [384 U.S. 436, 444, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694 (1966)]." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Atkinson, 235 Conn. 748, 757, 670 A.2d 276 (1996). "[A]lthough the circumstances of each case must certainly influence a determination of whether a suspect is in custody for purposes of receiving Miranda protection, the ultimate inquiry is simply whether there is a formal arrest or restraint on freedom of movement of the degree associated with a formal arrest.... Further, the United States Supreme Court has adopted an objective, reasonable person test for determining whether a defendant is in custody.... Thus, in determining whether Miranda rights are required, the only relevant inquiry is whether a reasonable person in the defendant's position would believe that he or she was in police custody of the degree associated with a formal arrest....

"In [State v. DesLaurier, 230 Conn. 572, 578, 646 A.2d 108 (1994)], our Supreme Court stated: The defendant had the initial burden of proving custodial interrogation.... The trial court's determination that the defendant was not in custody is a finding of fact.... That finding of fact by the trial court will not be overturned unless it is clearly erroneous.... We will, however, carefully review the record to ascertain whether the trial court's finding is supported by substantial evidence." (Citations omitted; emphasis in original; internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Harris, 46 Conn. App. 216, 226, 700 A.2d 1161, cert. denied, 243 Conn. 930, 701 A.2d 662 (1997).

Recently, our Supreme Court clarified the proper scope of appellate review of a trial court's determination of custody. See State v. Pinder, 250 Conn. 385, 411-13, 736 A.2d 857 (1999). It noted that the term "substantial evidence" should not be misinterpreted so that the reviewing court treats a trial court's determination of custody with complete deference. Our Supreme Court stated: "In spite of our prior use of the `substantial evidence' language ... our approach long has been to conduct a plenary review of the record in order to make an independent determination of custody." (Emphasis added.) Id., 412. With that clarified scope of review in mind, we now turn to the present case.

After carefully reviewing the record, we conclude that there is ample evidence supporting the court's determination that the defendant was not in custody. Spyros told the defendant at his apartment that any cooperation was completely voluntary, and the defendant voluntarily agreed to accompany Spyros to the police station. The defendant, while on the way to the police station, was not placed in handcuffs or other restraints. Upon reaching the police station, Spyros read the defendant his Miranda rights and again told him he was free to leave before questioning him. A reasonable person would not have believed that he was in custody when told repeatedly that he may feel free to leave before any questioning. See State v. Greenfield, 228 Conn. 62, 71 n.10, 634 A.2d 879 (1993) ("an important factor distinguishing a consensual encounter from a seizure is whether the police expressly informed the defendant...