State v. Kelsey

• Decision Date: 05 November 1970
• Parties: STATE of Connecticut v. James L. KELSEY. STATE of Connecticut v. Michael D. SULLIVAN.
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court

Page 151

274 A.2d 151

160 Conn. 551

STATE of Connecticut v. James L. KELSEY.

STATE of Connecticut v. Michael D. SULLIVAN.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Nov. 5, 1970.

Leo B. Flaherty, Jr., Public Defender, for appellant (defendant) in each case.

Robert J. Pigeon, State's Atty., for appellee (state) in each case.

Before ALCORN, C.J., and HOUSE, THIM, RYAN and SHEA ^*, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

The defendants filed a joint brief in this appeal. The sole issue is whether the evidence was sufficient to support the verdicts upon which the judgments were rendered.

The evidence discloses the following: Manuel Oliviera, the owner of a store in Tolland, arrived at his store at about 4:45 a.m. on July 8, 1968, and observed a car parked in front of it. On opening the door to the store he saw cartons of cigarettes and a pry bar on a counter. He went across the street and awakened a neighbor. While there, he saw one man approach the car from the side of the store and when he next looked, the car was gone. At some point before this he had jotted down the car's registration number, its color, (green) and its style (two-door sedan). When Oliviera returned to the store he found that a television set and forty cartons of cigarettes were missing. Through the registration number the car was determined to belong to one James Kelsey. At 7:35 a.m. on that same day the Kelsey car was stopped in Cromwell by a state trooper. Michael D. Sullivan was then a passenger in the car which was being driven by Kelsey. The car was a blue Cadillac. No stolen goods were ever found in the possession of either defendant.

At the trial neither Kelsey nor Sullivan took the stand. A state trooper testified that Sullivan had stated, after being stopped with Kelsey in Cromwell, that he had been with Kelsey that morning but that he did not know at what time he had been picked up. Another trooper testified that Kelsey had stated to him that he had gotten up at 5 o'clock a.m., had coffee, and then picked up Sullivan.

The evidence which is crucial is that which connects the defendants to the scene of the crime. The only evidence of this nature is the car description and its registration number. The registration number was recorded at the scene and it turned out that it was in the name of Kelsey. While the description noted at the scene varied from the actual fact, there was testimony, which the jury could have believed, to the effect that the light in front of the store could have made blue look green. Thus, the jury could reasonably have concluded that Kelsey's car was parked at the scene of the crime. Further testimony was that only one man was seen before the car departed the scene, and that Kelsey had been in the store at a date prior to July 8, 1968.

Obviously the jury concluded that Kelsey was the man observed by Oliviera. We do not believe, however, that the evidence was sufficient to justify his conviction. No fingerprints were found to connect him with the crime. None of the goods stolen was ever found in his possession. The only thing observed in the car parked in front of the store was something which looked like laundry. One of the items stolen was a television set, and...