State v. Duncan, 26079.
| Decision Date | 18 July 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 26079.,26079. |
| Citation | 96 Conn.App. 533,901 A.2d 687 |
| Parties | STATE of Connecticut v. Timothy DUNCAN. |
| Court | Connecticut Court of Appeals |
Annacarina Del Mastro, senior assistant public defender, for the appellant (defendant).
Michele C. Lukban, senior assistant state's attorney, with whom, on the brief, were Walter D. Flanagan, state's attorney, and Warren C. Murray, supervisory assistant state's attorney, for the appellee (state).
GRUENDEL, LAVINE and DUPONT, Js.
The defendant, Timothy Duncan, appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of conspiracy to commit robbery in the first degree in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-48 and 53a-134(a)(2), interfering with an officer in violation of General Statutes § 53a-167a, carrying a pistol or revolver without a permit in violation of General Statutes § 29-35(a) and alteration of a firearm identification mark or number in violation of General Statutes § 29-36. The defendant was given a total effective sentence of five years in prison. On appeal, the defendant claims (1) that his conviction was not supported by evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, (2) that the court improperly admitted a written statement pursuant to State v. Whelan, 200 Conn. 743, 745-55, 513 A.2d 86, cert. denied, 479 U.S. 994, 107 S.Ct. 597, 93 L.Ed.2d 598 (1986), and (3) that the court improperly charged the jury as to the elements of § 29-36. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.
A review of the transcript reveals that the jury reasonably could have found the following facts. On August 8, 2003, and for some time prior thereto, Christopher Dufel resided in the third floor apartment at 8 Farview Avenue in Danbury. Devin McGlothlin was Dufel's former roommate, having resided at that address for several months prior to the date in question. McGlothlin knew that Dufel was a reputed drug dealer.
The defendant was friendly with Jason Austin, Tom Rodriguez and Rodney Gabel. On the evening of August 8, 2003, the defendant, Austin and Rodriguez had dinner at the Gabel home in Danbury. The defendant drove a dark green, four door automobile. At about 10 p.m., McGlothlin and his girlfriend, Kathleen O'Brien, went to Dufel's apartment to watch a video. O'Brien drove her car, which she parked on the street in front of the house next door to Dufel's apartment. At approximately 11:30 p.m., O'Brien and McGlothlin left Dufel's apartment and got into O'Brien's vehicle. O'Brien was in the driver's seat, and McGlothlin was in the passenger's seat. Almost immediately after they got into the vehicle, O'Brien testified, "a black kid ... and two Spanish kids" approached them. One of the young men was on O'Brien's side of the vehicle, and the other two were on McGlothlin's side. The young men told O'Brien and McGlothlin to open the car windows, which O'Brien and McGlothlin initially refused to do. In response to their refusal, the defendant lifted his shirt to reveal a gun in his waistband. O'Brien and McGlothlin opened the windows. One of the young men took O'Brien's cellular telephone, and the others ordered McGlothlin to get out of the car. When he got out of the car, McGlothlin recognized the defendant, a person with whom he had been acquainted years before. McGlothlin also recognized Rodriguez. The defendant, McGlothlin and Rodriguez walked toward 8 Farview Avenue. Austin stayed with O'Brien, identified himself as an undercover police officer and asked if there was any marijuana in the car. She told him there was not. Austin then searched several items in the backseat of O'Brien's car.
The defendant and Rodriguez told McGlothlin to use McGlothlin's cellular telephone to call Dufel and ask him to let them into Dufel's apartment. Dufel answered the call, but refused to open the door. Dufel looked out his window, saw the group of men and then dialed 911 to call the police. In the meantime, one of the young men had signaled to another person to approach. A fourth man appeared and walked by O'Brien's car toward the group in front of 8 Farview Avenue. McGlothlin recognized the fourth man as Nicholas Cipolla, a former classmate from Abbott Technical High School in Danbury.
Within two minutes of Dufel's having called the police, the first officer arrived in a marked police vehicle. Someone called out, "the cops," and the four young men ran away. As they ran, O'Brien saw the defendant remove the gun from his waistband. She heard the gun drop and later directed police to it. Three of the men ran in one direction, but Cipolla went in another toward the parking lot of a nearby condominium. Other officers who had responded to the bulletin that a robbery was in progress drove on an adjacent street and stopped Cipolla in the parking lot. O'Brien and McGlothlin later identified Cipolla as one of men who had accosted them. Cipolla was arrested and taken to the police station where he gave the police a written statement about a plan to rob Dufel.1 Cipolla implicated the defendant in the statement. One month later, McGlothlin selected the defendant from a photographic array as the man with the gun.
When Cipolla was arrested, he was carrying a set of keys. He told Craig Martin, a detective with the Danbury police department, that one of the keys was the key to the defendant's automobile, which the group had driven to a parking lot near Dufel's apartment. In order to identify the car, the police searched the parking lot looking for vehicles with warm hoods, indicating that the vehicle had been operated recently. They recorded the license numbers of the vehicles with warm hoods and used them to identify the owners of the vehicles. The police also used the motor vehicle records to search for the defendant's address. The defendant's address matched the address of the registrant of one of the vehicles with a warm hood. The registrant of the vehicle was George Laham, the defendant's stepfather.
Several months later, Martin asked Laham to voluntarily bring the vehicle to the police station and that the defendant accompany him. At the police station, Laham gave Martin permission to determine whether the key that had been in Cipolla's possession would open the vehicle. The key opened the vehicle.
Police ballistics experts determined that the gun that the defendant was carrying was an operable firearm and that the identification numbers had been drilled off of it. The defendant did not have a permit to carry a gun. The defendant subsequently was arrested, tried and convicted.
The defendant first claims that there was insufficient evidence to convict him of the crimes of (1) interfering with an officer, (2) conspiracy to commit robbery in the first degree, (3) carrying a pistol without a permit and (4) alteration of a firearm identification mark or number.2 We disagree.
(Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Farnum, 275 Conn. 26, 32, 878 A.2d 1095 (2005).
"In conducting our review, we are mindful that the finding of facts, the gauging of witness credibility and the choosing among competing inferences are functions within the exclusive province of the jury, and, therefore, we must afford those determinations great deference." State v. Conde, 67 Conn.App. 474, 490, 787 A.2d 571 (2001), cert. denied, 259 Conn. 927, 793 A.2d 251 (2002).
The defendant claims that the state failed to prove that he intended to hinder a police officer while in the performance of his duties. More specifically, the defendant argues that because the police had not arrived at the scene at the time he ran away, let alone had ordered him to stop, as in State v. Hampton, 66 Conn.App. 357, 375, 784 A.2d 444, cert. denied, 259 Conn. 901, 789 A.2d 992 (2001), he could not be guilty of interfering with an officer. In the defendant's view, because there was no evidence that he knew that the police had arrived or that he fled because the police were present, there was no evidence of his intent to hinder the police in the performance of their duties. We are unpersuaded by the defendant's argument.
The defendant was convicted of the offense of interfering with an officer under § 53a-167a(a), which provides in relevant part: "A person is guilty of interfering with an officer when such person obstructs, resists [or] hinders ... any peace officer ... in the performance of such peace officer's ... duties." The state alleged in the long form information, among other things, that the defendant interfered with officers in the performance of their duties "by fleeing and discarding evidence of a crime while in flight."
...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State Of Conn. v. Kitchens
...State v. Collazo, 115 Conn. App. 752, 760, 974 A.2d 729 (2009), cert. denied, 294 Conn. 929, 986 A.2d 1057 (2010); State v.Duncan, 96 Conn. App. 533, 558-60, 901 A.2d 687, cert. denied, 280 Conn. 912, 908 A.2d 540 (2006); State v. Wortham, 80 Conn. App. 635, 647-50, 836 A.2d 1231 (2003), ce......
-
State v. Ebron
...disagree with the state's reliance on, inter alia, State v. Fabricatore, 281 Conn. 469, 481, 915 A.2d 872 (2007), and State v. Duncan, 96 Conn.App. 533, 560, 901 A.2d 687, cert. denied, 280 Conn. 912, 908 A.2d 540 (2006), in support of its argument that the defendant failed to object to the......
-
State v. Williams
...conduct.... Intent may also be inferred from the surrounding circumstances." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Duncan, 96 Conn.App. 533, 540, 901 A.2d 687, cert. denied, 280 Conn. 912, 908 A.2d 540 "The language of § 53a-167a is intended to be broad." State v. Ragin, 106 Conn.App......
-
State v. Kitchens
...State v. Collazo, 115 Conn.App. 752, 760, 974 A.2d 729 (2009), cert. denied, 294 Conn. 929, 986 A.2d 1057 (2010); State v. Duncan, 96 Conn.App. 533, 558-60, 901 A.2d 687, cert. denied, 280 Conn. 912, 908 A.2d 540 (2006); State v. Wortham, 80 Conn.App. 635, 647-50, 836 A.2d 1231 (2003), cert......