State v. Kasprzyk

Decision Date09 January 2001
Docket Number(SC 16294)
CourtConnecticut Supreme Court
PartiesSTATE OF CONNECTICUT v. MICHAEL KASPRZYK

Borden, Norcott, Katz, Sullivan and Vertefeuille, Js. Vincent F. Sabatini, with whom were James V. Sabatini and, on the brief, Tara K. Lyons, for the appellant (defendant).

Eileen McCarthy Geel, assistant state's attorney, with whom, on the brief, were Scott J. Murphy, state's attorney, and Mary Rose Flaherty, assistant state's attorney, for the appellee (state).

Opinion

NORCOTT, J.

The issue in this appeal is whether the trial court properly concluded that a mistrial was required because of manifest necessity. The trial court, Moore, J., denied the motion of the defendant, Michael Kasprzyk, to dismiss the information, concluding that the prior declaration of a mistrial by the court, Cutsumpas, J., had been based on manifest necessity and that, therefore, further prosecution was not barred by the double jeopardy clause of the United States constitution. The defendant appealed to the Appellate Court from the judgment of the trial court denying his motion to dismiss, and we transferred the appeal to this court pursuant to General Statutes § 51-199 (c) and Practice Book § 65-1.1 We reverse the trial court's judgment.

The following facts are relevant to the disposition of this appeal. On the basis of an incident that occurred in New Britain on May 31, 1996, the defendant was charged with the crimes of sexual assault in the second degree in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-8 (a)2 and 53a-71 (a) (3),3 conspiracy to commit sexual assault in the second degree in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-48 (a)4 and 53a-71 (a) (3), and reckless endangerment in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-63 (a).5 On February 18, 1997, the defendant moved to dismiss the charges against him and to suppress a certain statement that he had made to the police. The trial court did not rule on those pretrial motions and they remained pending at the time of trial. On March 24, 1998, prior to the commencement of the trial, the defendant elected to have a bench trial. The defendant requested the trial court, Cutsumpas, J., to rule on all of his motions before the trial commenced. Initially, the trial court stated that it would hear the motions prior to the trial. In preparation for the motions, the court read the police incident reports and witness statements, including the defendant's statement to the police. During these preliminary proceedings, the trial court asked the parties whether evidence relating to the pretrial motions should be presented before or during the trial. The defendant argued that the evidence on the motions should be presented and ruled on prior to trial. The defendant informed the court of the possibility that he might decide to testify in support of his pretrial motions. The defendant explained that his decision whether to testify depended on the evidence that the state would present during the hearing on the motions. The defendant further explained to the court that, in order to protect his state and federal constitutional privileges against self-incrimination at trial, the motions to dismiss and to suppress, and the trial itself, might have to be heard by different judges. Despite the defendant's argument, the trial court decided to reserve its decision on the motions until after the start of the trial in order to avoid hearing the same evidence twice.

On March 26, 1998, still prior to the start of the trial, the defendant moved to recuse Judge Cutsumpas. The defendant requested that a different judge preside at his court trial because the presiding judge already had reviewed evidence, including the defendant's statements, and would hear additional evidence in conjunction with the motions to dismiss and to suppress. The motion to recuse also posited that, because the motions to dismiss and to suppress were pending before the court, "[t]he Court cannot properly review these motions and try the case as its prior review of the State file and consideration of the pending motions will place the court in an inherently prejudicial position as the trier [of] fact at trial." The defendant repeatedly argued that the preliminary motions should be decided prior to trial in order to protect his constitutional right against self-incrimination. The defendant suggested that either the trial court, Cutsumpas, J., hear the motions and not the trial, or hear the trial, but allow another judge to hear the motions. The state opposed having separate proceedings for the motions and the trial, and opposed any recusal. Pursuant to Practice Book § 41-7, formerly § 813,6 the trial court rejected the defendant's request and denied his motion to recuse without prejudice. The trial court restated that it was reserving its decisions on the motions to dismiss and to suppress. At this point, the trial court commenced the trial, and, simultaneously, the hearing on the motions, and the state began presenting evidence.

On March 27, 1998, after four police officers had testified for the state, the defendant confirmed that he would testify in support of his motion to dismiss. The court, recognizing the defendant's self-incrimination concerns with respect to the same trier hearing the motion and the trial, "terminated" the trial proceedings and incorporated all of the evidence previously heard during the trial into the motion hearing. Thereafter, on March 30, 1998, the court clarified its ruling. The court stated that it was declaring a mistrial based on the doctrine of manifest necessity. The court explained that the manifest necessity for the mistrial resulted from the defendant's confirmation that he would testify in support of his motion to dismiss. The court acknowledged that, on multiple occasions, the defendant had requested that his motions be heard prior to trial. On those occasions, however, the defendant never definitively said that he was going to testify. After declaring a mistrial, the court proceeded to hear additional evidence regarding the motions to dismiss and to suppress, including the defendant's testimony, and denied both motions.

Thereafter, the defendant moved to dismiss the charges against him on the grounds that further prosecution would violate the double jeopardy clause under the fifth amendment to the United States constitution and article first, §§ 8 and 9, of the Connecticut constitution. The trial court, Moore, J., subsequently denied the defendant's motion to dismiss, concluding that, because the defendant confirmed that he would testify on March 27, 1998, one day after the trial began, the trial court, Cutsumpas, J., acted properly in declaring a mistrial based on manifest necessity. This appeal followed.

This appeal raises the following issue: Was the declaration of a mistrial by the trial court, Cutsumpas, J., based on manifest necessity? We conclude that it was not and that, therefore, double jeopardy principles preclude further prosecution of the defendant on the charges involved.

The doctrine of double jeopardy is well settled under both the federal and state constitutions. The fifth amendment to the United States constitution provides in relevant part: "[N]or shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb...." This clause is applicable to the states through the fourteenth amendment and establishes the federal constitutional standard concerning the guarantee against double jeopardy. See Benton v. Maryland, 395 U.S. 784, 787-95, 89 S. Ct. 2056, 23 L. Ed. 2d 707 (1969). The protection afforded against double jeopardy under the Connecticut constitution is coextensive with that provided by the constitution of the United States. Although the Connecticut constitution does not include a specific double jeopardy provision, the due process and personal liberty guarantees provided by article first, §§ 8 and 9, of the Connecticut constitution "have been held to encompass the protection against double jeopardy."7State v. Lonergan, 213 Conn. 74, 78, 556 A.2d 677 (1989), cert. denied, 496 U.S. 905, 110 S. Ct. 2586, 110 L. Ed. 2d 267 (1990); see also State v. Laws, 37 Conn. App. 276, 288, 655 A.2d 1131, cert. denied, 234 Conn. 907, 659 A.2d 1210 (1995). Furthermore, this court "has long recognized as a fundamental principle of common law that no one shall be put in jeopardy more than once for the same offense. State v. Langley, 156 Conn. 598, 600-601, 244 A.2d 366 (1968), cert. denied, 393 U.S. 1069, 89 S. Ct. 726, 21 L. Ed. 2d 712 (1969)." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Lonergan, supra, 78. In a bench trial, jeopardy attaches when the court begins to hear evidence. State v. Flower, 176 Conn. 224, 225-26, 405 A.2d 655 (1978); see also United States v. Jorn, 400 U.S. 470, 479, 91 S. Ct. 547, 27 L. Ed. 2d 543 (1971).

The constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy "not only protects against being twice punished but also is a guarantee against being twice put to trial for the same offense.... Abney v. United States, 431 U.S. 651, 661, 97 S. Ct. 2034, 52 L. Ed. 2d 651 (1977)." (Emphasis in original; internal quotation marks omitted.) Sasso v. Aleshin, 197 Conn. 87, 90 n.3, 495 A.2d 1066 (1985). "A power in government to subject the individual to repeated prosecutions for the same offense would cut deeply into the framework of procedural protections which the Constitution establishes for the conduct of a criminal trial." United States v. Jorn, supra, 400 U.S. 479. Specifically, "[a second prosecution] increases the financial and emotional burden on the accused, prolongs the period in which he is stigmatized by an unresolved accusation of wrongdoing, and may even enhance the risk that an innocent defendant may be convicted." Arizona v. Washington, 434 U.S. 497, 503-504, 98 S. Ct. 824, 54 L. Ed. 2d 717 (1978). We have noted that "[t]his right is not...

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  • State v. Thomas
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    ...be put in jeopardy more than once for the same offense." (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Kasprzyk, 255 Conn. 186, 191-92, 763 A.2d 655 (2001). Although the federal constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy has been incorporated by this state not only......
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    ...constitution . . . encompass the protection against double jeopardy." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Kasprzyk, 255 Conn. 186, 192, 763 A.2d 655 (2001). The protection afforded against double jeopardy under the Connecticut constitution "mirrors, rather than exceeds," that which......
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