State v. Langley

• Decision Date: 26 April 2011
• Docket Number: No. 30792.,30792.
• Citation: 128 Conn.App. 213,16 A.3d 799
• Court: Connecticut Court of Appeals
• Parties: STATE of Connecticutv.Mary Ann LANGLEY.

128 Conn.App. 213

16 A.3d 799

STATE of Connecticut

v.Mary Ann LANGLEY.

No. 30792.

Appellate Court of Connecticut.

Argued Jan. 14, 2011.Decided April 26, 2011.

Stephan E. Seeger, Stamford, with whom, on the brief, was Igor G. Kuperman, for the appellant (defendant).James A. Killen, senior assistant state's attorney, with whom, on the brief, were David Cohen, state's attorney, and Paul Ferencek, senior assistant state's attorney, for the appellee (state).DiPENTIMA, C.J., and HARPER and BEACH, Js.HARPER, J.

The defendant, Mary Ann Langley, appeals from the judgment of conviction, following a jury trial, of manslaughter in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a–55 (a)(1). On appeal, the defendant claims that the court improperly (1) denied her motion to suppress certain physical evidence recovered from the scene of the crime, (2) admitted as substantive evidence statements of the decedent victim pursuant to the excited utterance exception to the hearsay rule and (3) denied her request to instruct the jury on the lesser included offense of criminally negligent homicide in violation of General Statutes § 53a–58 (a). We disagree and, accordingly, affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The following facts, which the jury reasonably could have found, and procedural history are relevant. At approximately 5 a.m. on December 14, 2006, Officers Louis Giannattasio and Jason Scanlan of the Norwalk police department were dispatched to 126 Woodward Avenue in Norwalk (residence) on reports of an “ ‘individual burning.’ ” Upon arrival, Giannattasio and Scanlan encountered the victim, James Langley (Langley), who lived together with the defendant as husband and wife at the residence. Langley was operating his motor vehicle erratically in the driveway of the residence and, when approached by Giannattasio, stated that he was burning and that he needed medical attention. Although the officers did not observe a fire at the residence at this time, when asked where he was burned, Langley lifted his shirt revealing significant burns to his torso and midsection. Shortly thereafter, Langley was treated by emergency medical personnel and physicians. He subsequently died as a result of the severity of his burns.

Later in the morning of December 14, 2006, the defendant agreed to be interviewed by Detective William Maloney of the Norwalk police department regarding her knowledge of the circumstances surrounding Langley's injuries. ¹ During the course of this interview, the defendant confirmed that she and Langley were the only two people in the residence at the time he was burned. Although the defendant repeatedly denied responsibility for Langley's injuries, she contradicted herself when describing her relationship with Langley, especially with respect to an extramarital affair Langley had been having since September, 2004. For example, early in the interview the defendant suggested that she and Langley had only sporadic marital problems but later in the interview stated that Langley did “awful things to [her],” such that she “wanted to stab him.” The defendant also stated that she and Langley “never fought” over his extramarital affair, although these assertions were refuted by other evidence.

The defendant subsequently was arrested and charged with murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a–54a (a). After a jury trial, the defendant was found not guilty of the murder charge but guilty of the lesser included offense of manslaughter in the first degree and sentenced to twenty years of incarceration. This appeal followed. Additional facts will be set forth as necessary.

I

The defendant first claims that the court improperly denied her motion to suppress certain physical evidence recovered from the residence. Specifically, the defendant argues that this physical evidence was obtained pursuant to repeated, unjustified warrantless entries into the residence and, as such, should have been excluded under the state and federal constitutions.² We disagree.

The following additional facts are relevant to the disposition of this claim. After emergency medical personnel responded to the residence and transported Langley to the hospital, Giannattasio and Scanlan remained at the scene to investigate the cause of Langley's injuries. The officers proceeded to the backyard of the residence, where they encountered the defendant, and entered the residence through the back door to determine whether there was a fire inside. Upon entering the residence, Giannattasio noticed a strong odor of what he believed to be gasoline and, as such, immediately requested that fire department personnel be dispatched to the scene. As he made his way through the kitchen of the residence, Giannattasio observed, but did not touch, a single used match and a matchbook near the kitchen sink. Giannattasio also observed burnt carpeting in a bedroom of the residence, although he exited the residence to await the arrival of fire department personnel. Several minutes later, firefighters arrived at the scene, and Giannattasio reentered the residence. At this point, Giannattasio noticed a hard, nondisposable plastic cup sitting on top of a garbage bag in the kitchen of the residence that smelled strongly of gasoline. Fearing for his safety and the safety of the firefighters present in the residence, Giannattasio removed the cup and placed it outside. Nonetheless, at the behest of his superior officer, Giannattasio soon returned the cup to its original location inside the residence.

Approximately one hour after Giannattasio and Scanlan first responded to the residence, John Lomba, a fire inspector with the Norwalk fire department, arrived at the scene. After speaking briefly with the defendant as well as fire and police officials, Lomba entered the residence to check for structural damage and immediately noticed “a heavy smell of chemical or accelerant.” Lomba's initial assessment confirmed fire damage to bedroom carpeting; however, “the structure [of the residence] itself was not involved in the fire.” Lomba then exited the residence to wait for the arrival of Norwalk police arson detectives.

At approximately 7 a.m. on December 14, 2006, Maloney arrived at the scene. In his capacity as a Norwalk police detective, Maloney served together with Lomba on an arson “task force” comprised of members from both the Norwalk police and fire departments. After speaking with Giannattasio, Maloney questioned the defendant as to what had transpired at the residence prior to his arrival. At this time, both Maloney and Lomba secured written consent forms from the defendant to enter and to search the residence as part of a “ ‘cause and origin’ investigation.” As part of this investigation, Maloney and Lomba collected the used match, matchbook and cup originally observed by Giannattasio, as well as samples of the burnt bedroom carpet, burnt clothing and a partially melted styrofoam cup and a gallon container of acetone found near the backdoor of the residence.³ At no time was a warrant obtained to enter or to search the residence.

On August 22, 2008, the defendant filed a motion to suppress the physical evidence seized as a result of the search of the residence. In support thereof, the defendant argued, inter alia, that the search of the residence “was illegal, in that it was undertaken without a warrant, and was not rooted in any legally sufficient exception to the warrant requirement,” as otherwise required under the fourth amendment to the United States constitution. In response, the state countered by arguing, inter alia, that entry into the residence and seizure of the physical evidence was justified given the emergency situation present at the scene. Extensive hearings on the defendant's motion were held on September 29 and 30, 2008, during which the court heard the testimony of Giannattasio and Scanlan, as well as Lomba and Maloney. On October 3, 2008, the court issued a memorandum of decision denying the defendant's motion to suppress. In so ruling, the court agreed with the state that the warrantless entry of the residence and seizure of the physical evidence was justified by, inter alia, the “clear emergency situation” facing police and fire personnel at the residence.⁴ Thereafter, the physical evidence was utilized during the state's casein-chief to secure the defendant's conviction.

The defendant now claims that the court improperly denied her motion to suppress. Specifically, the defendant argues that the court incorrectly determined that an ongoing emergency existed at the residence such that police and fire officials could repeatedly enter the residence without a warrant and subsequently seize the physical evidence.

We begin by setting forth the well established principles that govern the suppression of evidence derived from a warrantless entry into a home. “The fourth amendment to the United States constitution provides: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated....” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Geisler, 222 Conn. 672, 681, 610 A.2d 1225 (1992). As the United States Supreme Court has explained, “physical entry of the home is the chief evil against which the wording of the [f]ourth [a]mendment is directed.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 585, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 63 L.Ed.2d 639 (1980). As such, “[i]t is a basic principle of [f]ourth [a]mendment law that searches and seizures inside a home without a warrant are presumptively unreasonable.” (Internal quotations marks omitted.) Id., at 586, 100 S.Ct. 1371.

When a warrantless entry and search of a home has taken place, the state bears the burden of showing that an exception to the warrant requirement exists to justify the government action. State v. Geisler, supra, 222 Conn. at 682, 610 A.2d 1225. If no such exceptions apply, “[u]nder the...