State v. Martin

• Decision Date: 05 February 1985
• Citation: 195 Conn. 166,487 A.2d 177
• Parties: STATE of Connecticut v. John C. MARTIN.
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court

Page 177

487 A.2d 177

195 Conn. 166

STATE of Connecticut v. John C. MARTIN.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued Oct. 10, 1984.

Decided Feb. 5, 1985.

Maxwell Heiman, Bristol, with whom were Edward J. McMahon, Plainville, and, on the brief, William J. Tracy, Jr., Bristol, for appellant (defendant).

David S. Shepack, Deputy Asst. State's Atty., with whom, on brief, were John Redway, State's Atty. and Carl Schuman, Asst. State's Atty., for appellee (state).

SANTANIELLO, Associate Justice.

The defendant was charged with the crime of murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54a(a) and found guilty after trial to a three judge panel. On this appeal, the defendant claims that the court erred in denying the defendant's motion for acquittal because the state failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant possessed the specific intent to commit murder. ¹

The trial court could reasonably have found the following facts: The defendant lived alone in an apartment at 27 Burgundy Hills in Middletown and was considered to be a "quiet and strange" individual. He was very impatient and nervous around groups of people, and if they gathered in his apartment to socialize, he would often suddenly ask them to leave. On August 24, 1979, between the hours of 5 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., approximately ten different people were at the defendant's apartment at various times. They congregated inside the apartment and on the back porch, talked, and smoked some marihuana. The defendant remained inside the apartment most of the evening, and drank one vodka and lemonade and a couple of glasses of wine. There is no evidence that he smoked any marihuana at this time.

At approximately 9:30 p.m., the defendant requested that everyone present leave his apartment. Three of the guests left, and a few minutes later three other people arrived and joined the defendant and the two remaining guests, Joe Gudreau and Elizabeth DeFinis. The five guests stood outside on the back porch for about five minutes and then moved into the living room and began playing cards. At approximately 9:50 p.m., the defendant again asked everyone to leave, saying "You guys got to go now. I want to go to bed." The card game continued, with one guest saying, "Let me finish this hand and we'll leave." The defendant sat and waited a few moments and then went into his bedroom where he removed his vest and put on a blue denim jacket. When he returned to the living room he drew a gun and fired a single shot, killing the victim, Elizabeth DeFinis.

There was testimony from several witnesses that immediately after the shot the defendant was seen standing up with a gun in his hand, "holding it right out pretty straight" with his arms extended from his sides. The gun was pointed "right at" the victim, who was about eight or ten feet away, and was held so that the defendant could see through its sights. None of the witnesses testified to seeing the defendant aiming or pointing the gun at the victim prior to the shot.

After the shot the defendant ordered the guests to "leave now." As the defendant attempted to put the gun into his pants, he was attacked by several of the guests, and during the melee, dropped the gun, which was then thrown off the porch by one of the guests. The defendant was kicked down the stairs and he ran off toward the woods. When the police arrived they found the apartment in disarray and observed the victim lying on her back on the floor of the room. They located the murder weapon in a sandbox a short distance from the back porch of the defendant's apartment. It was a .380 caliber semiautomatic pistol that required a heavy trigger pull to cause it to fire.

A search of the defendant's apartment produced eight other firearms, including a .22 caliber pistol found in a drawer in the living room, a twelve gauge shotgun, a .22 caliber rifle, and a .30-30 caliber rifle found in a gun rack on a wall in the bedroom. Additionally, another twelve gauge shotgun was found on the defendant's bedroom floor, and a number of other weapons were found in a bedroom foot locker. On top of the dresser were two live .380 caliber shells and on top of the footlocker a box of .380 caliber ammunition. There was evidence that the defendant was knowledgeable about guns and had previously been observed wearing a jacket to conceal a weapon in the belt loop of his trousers.

While a police officer guarded the gun that was lying in the sandbox, an individual matching the defendant's description came toward him. The individual identified himself as the defendant and stated that he had been beaten and robbed by two men. He was taken into custody, and at the police station appeared dull and unemotional, showing no concern for the victim's welfare.

During the trial, Mehadin K. Arafeh, a psychiatrist called by the state, testified that the defendant was capable of forming the intent to kill and that the defendant's mental state on the date of the crime would not have prevented him from taking consecutive steps to execute an aggressive act. Walter A. Borden, a psychiatrist called by the defendant, although noting that his testimony was "an inferred, somewhat speculative opinion as to what happened," indicated that he believed that the defendant had not formulated the intent to kill. On cross-examination he conceded that positive testimony showing that the defendant had aimed the gun would have led him to conclude that he possessed the intent to kill.

On this appeal the defendant contends that the state failed to meet its burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt a specific element of the crime of murder, namely that of intent to cause the death of another person, and that therefore the trial court erred in denying the defendant's motion for acquittal. General Statutes § 53a-54a(a) provides that "[a] person is guilty of murder when, with intent to cause the death of another person, he causes the death of such person ...." Section 53a-3(11) states: "A person acts 'intentionally' with respect to a result or to conduct described by a statute defining an offense when his conscious objective is to cause such result or to engage in such conduct."

"Intent is a mental process which ordinarily can be proven only by circumstantial evidence. An intent to cause death may be inferred from circumstantial evidence such as the type of weapon used, the manner in which it was used, the type of wound inflicted and the events leading to and immediately following the death." State v. Zdanis, 182 Conn. 388, 396, 438 A.2d 696 (1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 1003, 101 S.Ct. 1715, 68 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981); see State v. Stankowski, 184 Conn. 121, 127, 439 A.2d 918 (1981); State v. Holley, 174 Conn. 22, 26, 381 A.2d 539 (1977); State v. Bzdyra, 165 Conn. 400, 404-405, 334 A.2d 917 (1973); State v. Litman, 106 Conn. 345, 352-53, 138 A. 132 (1927). The use of inferences based on circumstantial evidence is necessary because direct evidence of the accused's state of mind is rarely available. State v. Rodriguez, 180 Conn. 382, 404, 429 A.2d 919 (1980).

The intent of an actor is a question for the trier of fact, and the conclusion drawn by the trier in this regard will stand unless this court determines it to be unreasonable. State v. Holley, supra, 26, 381 A.2d 918. Our inquiry is therefore limited to whether the facts, supporting reasonable inferences, allowed the trier of fact to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crime of which he was convicted. State v. Haddad, 189 Conn. 383, 387, 456 A.2d 316 (1983).

The circumstantial evidence in this case is largely uncontested, but the parties differ as to the reasonable inferences that can be drawn from it. The defendant relies upon the fact that no witness saw him point the gun prior to the shot to support his argument that the state failed to prove beyond a reasonable...