State v. Jones

• Decision Date: 05 February 2019
• Docket Number: AC 41584
• Citation: 203 A.3d 700,187 Conn.App. 752
• Court: Connecticut Court of Appeals
• Parties: STATE of Connecticut v. Billy Ray JONES

187 Conn.App. 752

203 A.3d 700

STATE of Connecticut

v.Billy Ray JONES

AC 41584

Appellate Court of Connecticut.

Argued November 28, 2018

Officially released February 5, 2019

Mark Rademacher, assistant public defender, for the appellant (defendant).

Timothy J. Sugrue, assistant state's attorney, with whom, on the brief, were John C. Smriga, state's attorney, and Michael A. DeJoseph, Jr., senior assistant state's attorney, for the appellee (state).

DiPentima, C.J., and Alvord and Eveleigh, Js.

ALVORD, J.

The defendant, Billy Ray "BJ" Jones, appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered following a jury trial, of murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54a (a), carrying a pistol without a permit in violation of General Statutes § 29-35 (a), and criminal possession of a firearm in violation of General Statutes § 53a-217 (a). On appeal, the defendant claims that the trial court erred in its charge to the jury by failing to provide (1) a special credibility instruction and (2) a specific instruction on the dangers of eyewitness identification. We disagree, and accordingly, affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. On June 21, 2010, the defendant was outside of the Charles F. Greene Homes housing complex (Greene Homes), a federally funded housing project located in Bridgeport. The victim, Michael "Booman" Williams, and several other people, including children, were in the playground area of the Greene Homes. Just before 11 p.m., the defendant approached the victim from behind while in the playground area and shot at the victim at least twice, killing him.¹

Martin Vincze, a Bridgeport police officer, responded to a 911 call that had reported the shooting. When Officer Vincze arrived at the Greene Homes, he found the victim lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the head. Although there were twenty to thirty people at the scene, only one person was willing to speak to Officer Vinzce.² James Kennedy, a Bridgeport police detective, recovered a nine millimeter spent cartridge casing from the playground area.

On June 22, 2010, the following day, the defendant was with Larry Shannon watching television at the Marina Village housing project in Bridgeport. A news story about the shooting came onto the television, at which point the defendant confessed to Shannon. The defendant, while holding a nine millimeter Ruger handgun,³ told Shannon that he had walked up to the victim, said "what's poppin' now?," then fired his gun.

On June 25, 2010, John Tenn, a Bridgeport police detective, questioned the defendant about the victim's death. The defendant told Detective Tenn that he did not know the victim and had never heard the name "Booman." In addition, the defendant stated that he was with Benjamin Beau at the Washington Village housing complex in Norwalk on the night of June 21, 2010. Later that same day, however, Detective Tenn questioned Chanel Lawson, the mother of the defendant's son, who lived in the Greene Homes. Lawson told Detective Tenn that the defendant knew the victim. A few weeks later, Beau was questioned by Detective Tenn and denied being with the defendant on the night of June 21, 2010.⁴

In September, 2012, over two years later, police officers approached Angela Teele while she was at work and asked to speak to her about the defendant.⁵ Teele had lived in the Greene Homes in June, 2010, and had witnessed the defendant shoot the victim. Specifically, Teele recalled seeing the defendant in the vicinity of building three of the Greene Homes between 10 and 11 p.m. on the night of June 21, 2010.⁶ She observed that the defendant was wearing a black hoodie and blue shorts. Teele also recalled seeing the victim play with two children in the playground area of the Greene Homes, which was located at the side of building three. Teele briefly lost sight of the defendant as he walked around one of the buildings, then watched him throw on his hood as he went into the playground area. Once the defendant went into the playground area, Teele witnessed the defendant approach the victim, whose back was turned, and shoot the victim in the head.⁷ Teele observed that the defendant was about two or three feet away from the victim when he shot the victim with a pistol. Teele saw the defendant run out of the playground area toward the back of building three after the shooting.

In February, 2013, Shannon contacted the police. Although Shannon previously had not wanted to talk to the police,⁸ he was arrested and incarcerated on an unrelated felony charge and sought to give information to police in the hope of receiving favorable treatment in his case. In addition to telling the police about the defendant's confession, Shannon also explained that he saw the defendant on the night of June 21, 2010. Shannon was at the Greene Homes and walked to Junco's, a nearby market, to get food. After eating at Junco's, Shannon walked back toward building four of the Greene Homes. During his walk back, Shannon saw the defendant in the area between buildings two and three. He observed that the defendant was wearing blue jeans and a hoodie, with the hood up on his head, and was walking toward the back of building three. After seeing the defendant, Shannon continued to walk toward building four, and shortly thereafter heard two or three gunshots. Shannon tried to run because he did not know where the gunshots were coming from, but he had difficulty running due to a recent surgery, and ended up falling to the ground. Shannon got up, walked around the corner of building four, and saw the victim slumped over in the playground area.

In June, 2015, the defendant was arrested, and he was subsequently charged with murder, carrying a pistol without a permit, and criminal possession of a firearm. A jury trial followed and the defendant was found guilty of all charges. The court rendered judgment in accordance with the jury's verdict and imposed a total effective sentence of fifty years of imprisonment. This appeal followed. Additional facts will be set forth as necessary.

I

The defendant first claims that the trial court erred when it failed to provide a special credibility instruction regarding Shannon's testimony. Specifically, the defendant argues that the jailhouse informant instruction, recognized in State v. Patterson , 276 Conn. 452, 886 A.2d 777 (2005), should extend to cases like his, where a witness such as Shannon is incarcerated at the time he provides information to the police for the purposes of getting out of jail and receiving a favorable disposition of his pending criminal charges.⁹ We disagree.

The following additional facts and procedural history are relevant to our resolution of this claim. At trial, Shannon was questioned at length about the benefits he received as a result of talking to police and testifying at the defendant's trial. Shannon explained that he decided to talk to the police in February, 2013, because he had been arrested on an unrelated felony charge and was being held at the Bridgeport Correctional Center. Shannon testified that, in consideration for talking to the police about the defendant's confession and what he had seen on the night of June 21, 2010, he was released from the Bridgeport Correctional Center without having to make a bond payment. In addition, Shannon stated that he received a favorable sentence on his felony charge.¹⁰

On January 23, 2017, the defendant submitted a written request to charge. He requested a special credibility instruction with respect to Shannon's testimony.¹¹ The defendant conceded that there was no controlling legal authority requiring such an instruction, but nonetheless argued, as he does on appeal, that the jailhouse informant exception recognized in Patterson should extend to cases such as his. Specifically, he argued that "Larry [Shannon's testimony] is no less suspect than the testimony of an accomplice or jailhouse snitch, given the unique circumstances of how and when it was disclosed, and the potential motivations for the witness to provide information he believes will be helpful to the state regardless of whether that information is accurate or based on personal knowledge."

The trial court declined to provide the jury with the special credibility instruction. Rather, in its final charge to the jury, the court provided the jury with a general witness credibility instruction. The court instructed in relevant part: "You should consider their appearance, conduct and demeanor while testifying and in court, and any interest, bias, prejudice or sympathy which a witness may apparently have for or against the state, or the accused or in the outcome of the trial...."

We turn to the legal principles that guide our review of the defendant's claim. "It is a well established principle that a defendant is entitled to have the jury correctly and adequately instructed on the pertinent principles of substantive law.... The primary purpose of the charge to the jury is to assist [it] in applying the law correctly to the facts which [it] find[s] to be established.... [T]he test of a court's charge is not whether it is as accurate upon legal principles as the opinions of a court of last resort but whether it fairly presents the case to the jury in such a way that injustice is not done to either party under the established rules of law .... As long as [the instructions] are correct in law, adapted to the issues and sufficient for the guidance of the jury ... we will not view the instructions as improper." (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Salmond , 179 Conn. App. 605, 627–28, 180 A.3d 979, cert. denied, 328 Conn. 936, 183 A.3d 1175 (2018).

"Generally, a [criminal] defendant is not entitled to an instruction singling out any of the state's witnesses and highlighting his or her possible motive for testifying falsely." State v. Ortiz , 252 Conn. 533, 561, 747 A.2d 487 (2000) ; accord State v. Colon , 272 Conn. 106, 227, 864 A.2d...