State v. Jones

• Decision Date: 18 July 1995
• Docket Number: No. 15130,15130
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE of Connecticut v. Melvin JONES.

Page 1199

662 A.2d 1199

234 Conn. 324

STATE of Connecticut v. Melvin JONES.

No. 15130.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued Feb. 9, 1995.

Decided July 18, 1995.

John R. Williams, New Haven, with whom was Katrena Engstrom, Woodbridge, for appellant (defendant).

Harry Weller, Asst. State's Atty., with whom were James G. Clark, Asst. State's Atty., and, on the brief, Michael Dearington, State's Atty., for appellee (State).

Before PETERS, C.J., and BORDEN, BERDON, KATZ and PALMER, JJ.

KATZ, Associate Justice.

The principal issue on appeal is whether under the facts of this case, the defendant, charged with capital felony in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54b(3), was entitled to be tried in a bifurcated proceeding. We hold that he was so entitled and reverse the judgment of conviction.

The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. At approximately 7 a.m. on October 17, 1990, Bonaventura Console, a facility supervisor for the city of New Haven who lived on Howard Avenue, saw the defendant walking toward an automobile parked across the street from Console's home. A white male, later identified as Wayne Curtis (victim), was seated in the front seat of the vehicle. Console had frequently seen the defendant in that neighborhood and later that same day described him to the police as a black male with braided hair who always wore camouflage clothing. Moments later, a young girl named Nilda Mercado passed the victim's vehicle on her way to school. Mercado witnessed a black male standing outside the car banging the head of a white man who was seated in the vehicle against the car door. As she drew closer, Mercado saw the black male fire two shots at the white male. Immediately after the incident, she described the shooter to her aunt as having four braids in his hair and as wearing camouflage clothing. Although Mercado was unable to identify the defendant from an array of 600 photographs, her aunt immediately recognized the defendant from Mercado's description.

Angel Delgado, a seventeen year old boy who also lived on Howard Avenue, was looking out a second story window of his home at approximately 7:15 a.m. on October 17, 1990, when he witnessed the defendant and the victim across the street. The victim was seated inside a vehicle and the two men were arguing. Although Delgado saw only the back of the defendant and his view may have been somewhat obscured by a tree, ¹ he recognized the defendant as someone he frequently had seen around that neighborhood during the weeks preceding the crime. Delgado looked away for a moment and then heard gunshots. When he looked back, the defendant was gone and the victim was laying back in the driver's seat. Delgado saw Mercado run quickly past the vehicle immediately after the shooting. He also described the defendant as sporting four braids and wearing camouflage clothing.

Two other witnesses tied the defendant to the crime. Frankie Harris, who also knew the defendant from that neighborhood, heard the shots and moments later saw the defendant run toward her, remove a camouflage jacket and throw it in a nearby dumpster. ² She retrieved the jacket, which contained a work order from a service station for a wheel alignment performed on Curtis' car. Harris admitted to being a drug addict and having been a police informant, although she testified that at the time of the murder, she had not consumed drugs for eight months and that, at the time she spoke to the police, she had been told that she would not be paid for her information in connection with this case.

Larry Hodge, also a narcotics abuser and police informant, first met Curtis at a gas station on Route 80 in New Haven at 3 a.m. on October 17, 1990. Hodge paid Curtis for a ride to Anastasio's truck stop. Both men were high on drugs and Curtis was searching for more cocaine. After Hodge exited the vehicle and began to walk away, he noticed a black man with braided hair approach Curtis and then get into the vehicle. After learning of Curtis' death, Hodge, out of concern that his fingerprints in the automobile would be identified in the homicide investigation, contacted the police. In his interview with the police, Hodge gave a sworn statement identifying the defendant from a photographic array as the man he had seen get into Curtis' car. Hodge later retracted that identification before the jury. There was evidence that this retraction was due to fear of retaliation by people who had pressured him not to testify in the trial.

Officer Brendan Cannon of the New Haven police department arrested the defendant on October 19, 1990. At the time of his arrest, the defendant had his hair in four braids and was wearing a camouflage jacket that was labeled "extra small, regular" in size. As the state argued, the jury could reasonably determine, from viewing the defendant's body type, that the jacket was too small for him. ³

Arkady Katznelson, the assistant state medical examiner, testified that Curtis had died from loss of blood as a result of being shot in the abdomen and that he had suffered facial bruises consistent with having had his head slammed into the armrest of the door. A second bullet was recovered from the driver's side door. Residue located on the left side of Curtis' pants indicated that the shooter had been positioned on the victim's left side. Both the jacket that Harris saw the defendant throw into the dumpster and the jacket that the defendant was wearing at the time of his arrest tested negative for blood and gunshot residue. Curtis' automobile was dusted for fingerprints, and while many were lifted, the defendant's fingerprints were not found. Although the state recovered several negroid hairs from the interior of Curtis' automobile, the comparison tests by the state forensic laboratory using hair samples taken from the defendant were negative. Additional tests using blood samples taken from the defendant also failed to link him to the crime.

The defendant admitted that he wore camouflage clothing almost all of the time and that he had four braids in his hair. Moreover, the jury could have inferred, from the position of the victim's body in the car, the wounds on the victim's head and the trajectory of the bullets, that the assailant was left handed. The court took notice that, during the trial, the defendant had written with his left hand "innumerable times ... in the presence of the jury."

The jury convicted the defendant of capital felony in violation of § 53a-54b(3) ⁴ and carrying a pistol without a permit in violation of General Statutes § 29-35. ⁵ The defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. A timely appeal was filed with this court. The defendant raises four issues on appeal. He claims that: (1) there was insufficient evidence upon which to convict him of capital felony in violation of § 53a-54b(3); (2) the trial court should have bifurcated the trial on the charge of capital felony; (3) the trial court should not have instructed the jury that it could consider his lack of cooperation regarding the court-ordered taking of nontestimonial evidence; and (4) the denial of food and access to research facilities during the trial interfered with his right to effective assistance of counsel. We disagree with the defendant on his first claim, agree with him on his second and third claims and do not decide his fourth claim. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment and order a new trial. Additional facts will be set forth where pertinent.

I

"When an appeal challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to justify a verdict of guilty, we have a two-fold task. We first review the evidence presented at the trial, construing it in the light most favorable to sustaining the verdict. State v. Cimino, 194 Conn. 210, 211, 478 A.2d 1005 (1984); State v. Ferrell, 191 Conn. 37, 46, 463 A.2d 573 (1983). We then determine whether the jury could have reasonably concluded, upon the facts established and the inferences reasonably drawn therefrom, that the cumulative effect of the evidence established guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Stepney, 191 Conn. 233, 255, 464 A.2d 758 (1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1084, 104 S.Ct. 1455, 79 L.Ed.2d 772, reh. denied, 466 U.S. 954, 104 S.Ct. 2163, 80 L.Ed.2d 547 (1984); State v. Duhan, 194 Conn. 347, 355, 481 A.2d 48 (1984). State v. Braxton, 196 Conn. 685, 691, 495 A.2d 273 (1985); State v. Rollinson, 203 Conn. 641, 665-66, 526 A.2d 1283 (1987); State v. Arnold, 201 Conn. 276, 282, 514 A.2d 330 (1986). In this process of review, it does not diminish the probative force of the evidence that it consists, in whole or in part, of evidence that is circumstantial rather than direct. State v. Sinclair, 197 Conn. 574, 576, 500 A.2d 539 (1985), and cases there cited. State v. Rollinson, supra, [at] 666 ." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Carpenter, 214 Conn. 77, 78-79, 570 A.2d 203 (1990), on appeal after remand, 220 Conn. 169, 595 A.2d 881 (1991), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 1034, 112 S.Ct. 877, 116 L.Ed.2d 781 (1992).

It bears emphasis that the scope of our factual inquiry on appeal is limited. "We do not sit as a thirteenth juror who may cast a vote against the verdict based on our feeling that some doubt of guilt is shown by the cold printed record.... Rather, we must defer to the jury's assessment of the credibility of the witnesses based on its firsthand observation of their conduct, demeanor and attitude." (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Henning, 220 Conn. 417, 420, 599 A.2d 1065 (1991). "This court cannot substitute its own judgment for that of the jury if there is sufficient evidence to support the jury's verdict." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Hart, 198 Conn. 424, 427, 503 A.2d 588 (1986).

Although the evidence, consisting almost exclusively of identification testimony, was not overwhelming, it was nevertheless sufficient. Although Hodge later retracted his positive...