State v. Kari, 9199

• Decision Date: 23 January 1992
• Docket Number: No. 9199,9199
• Citation: 600 A.2d 1374,26 Conn.App. 286
• Court: Connecticut Court of Appeals
• Parties: , 72 Ed. Law Rep. 237 STATE of Connecticut v. Nelson KARI.

Page 1374

600 A.2d 1374

26 Conn.App. 286, 72 Ed. Law Rep. 237

STATE of Connecticut v. Nelson KARI.

No. 9199.

Appellate Court of Connecticut.

Argued Sept. 23, 1991.

Decided Dec. 24, 1991.

Certification Granted Jan. 23, 1992.

John R. Williams, New Haven, for appellant (defendant).

Leon F. Dalbec, Jr., Asst. State's Atty., with whom, on the brief, were Michael Dearington, State's Atty., and Margaret Luchansky, Asst. State's Atty., for appellee (state).

Before DUPONT, C.J., and EDWARD Y. O'CONNELL and FOTI, JJ.

EDWARD Y. O'CONNELL, Judge.

The defendant appeals from the judgment of conviction, after a jury trial, of unlawful removal or alteration of records in violation of General Statutes § 53-153. ¹ The same jury acquitted the defendant of two counts of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence in violation of General Statutes § 53a-155. On appeal, the defendant claims that the trial court improperly admitted his incriminating statement into evidence and improperly denied his motions for judgment of acquittal. We affirm the trial court's judgment.

The jury could reasonably have found the following facts. In 1986, the defendant was hired as the business manager of the Wallingford board of education. At that time, the board's business office wanted to upgrade its computer system. The defendant subsequently entered into negotiations for the purchase of Hewlett Packard computer software and hardware. On January 22, 1988, the defendant signed a $134,991.72 contract (January contract) for the purchase of the Hewlett Packard computer system. The defendant, however, had no authority to enter into and sign contracts on behalf of the board. Only the superintendent of schools had such authority. Nor did the defendant have authority to purchase supplies and equipment, this authority being vested solely in the town purchasing agent. Moreover, Wallingford's charter requires that all purchases in excess of $2000 go to public bid. The town council has authority to waive the public bid requirement if it determines that such a waiver is in the town's best interest. The board requested such a waiver for this purchase from the town council. While the waiver request was pending, the council learned of the computer equipment's arrival at the board's offices despite the fact that a bid waiver had not yet been granted.

At a May 24, 1988 meeting, the council asked the superintendent if he had already signed a contract for the purchase. The superintendent replied, "No." When the defendant was asked if he had signed such a contract, the defendant lied in responding, "No." At this meeting, the council denied the board's request for a bid waiver. A proper bidding procedure was then initiated by the purchasing agent and the superintendent of schools. A second contract (August contract) with Hewlett Packard was then signed by the superintendent in August, 1988.

In September of 1988, a town council subcommittee complained to the police and to the chief state's attorney's office regarding possible criminal violations in the contract letting procedure. As part of their investigation, the Wallingford police executed a search warrant at the board's business offices. The August contract, together with invoices pertaining thereto, was located but, with three minor exceptions, ² the January contract and associated papers could not be found. On April 11, 1989, the defendant admitted to the police that he had thrown out the January contract, together with its invoices and all documentation used to support the application for the bid waiver and the specifications for the bid.

The defendant raises two issues in this appeal. First, he claims that the trial court improperly admitted into evidence an incriminating statement made by him to a police officer. Second, the defendant argues that the trial court improperly denied his motions for judgment of acquittal.

As part of its case-in-chief, the state offered the testimony of a police lieutenant concerning statements made to him by the defendant. The gravamen of these statements was an admission that the defendant had thrown out the documents related to the January contract. The defendant objected to the admission into evidence of these statements on the ground that the state had failed to establish the corpus delicti of the crime of unlawful removal or alteration of records. The trial court disagreed and admitted the inculpatory statements into evidence.

The corpus delicti rule is fundamental jurisprudence to the effect that a person accused of a crime cannot be convicted solely on his own naked confession unsupported by corroborative evidence. State v. Harris, 215 Conn. 189, 192, 575 A.2d 223 (1990). The purpose of the corpus delicti rule is to prevent convictions for nonexistent crimes based on untrue confessions. State v. Arnold, 201 Conn. 276, 287, 514 A.2d 330 (1986). Accordingly, before the state may introduce a defendant's confession into evidence, the state must introduce corroborative evidence, direct or circumstantial, that taken together with the confession, establishes the corpus delicti. State v. Comollo, 21 Conn.App. 210, 216-17, 572 A.2d 1037, cert. denied, 215 Conn. 811, 576 A.2d 542 (1990).

The corpus delicti rule was liberalized in Connecticut in State v. Tillman, 152 Conn. 15, 20, 202 A.2d 494 (1964). "[T]he significant effect of State v. Tillman, supra, was to eliminate the requirement of proof of criminality as an element of corpus delecti." State v. Pena, 1 Conn.App. 344, 348, 471 A.2d 972 (1984). For a defendant's inculpatory statements to be admissible, the state is required to show only the occurrence of the injury or loss contemplated in the crime. State v. Ruth, 181 Conn. 187, 198, 435 A.2d 3 (1980). It is not necessary to show that the injury or loss occurred as a result of some person's criminal act. ³ For example, in a homicide prosecution, the corpus delicti is the fact that a death occurred without any requirement that the death be feloniously caused. State v. Tillman, supra. Thus, the corpus delicti in the present case is the taking away, mutilation or destruction of records without a showing that a criminal act caused such taking away, mutilation or destruction. The state's burden to establish a prima facie case is one of production not persuasion. The corpus delicti does not have to be established beyond a reasonable doubt, or even by a preponderance of the evidence. Smith v. United States, 348 U.S. 147, 156, 75 S.Ct. 194, 199, 99 L.Ed. 192 (1954); see also State v. Harris, supra, 215 Conn. at 194-95, 575 A.2d 223.

Circumstantial evidence is sufficient to establish a corpus delicti. State v. Harris, supra, 215 Conn. at 193, 575 A.2d 223. In this case, the state claims to have presented the following corroborative circumstantial evidence: the testimony of a Hewlett Packard salesman that the defendant signed the January contract; the introduction into evidence of a copy of the contract as an exhibit and evidence that Hewlett Packard shipped the computer equipment to the board; the testimony of the chairman of the board that all documents relating to purchases were stored at the board's business office; and the testimony of a Wallingford police officer, who had executed the search warrant, that he could not find the January contract in ...