State v. Martin

• Citation: 827 A.2d 1
• Decision Date: 08 July 2003
• Docket Number: (AC 22978).
• Court: Appellate Court of Connecticut
• Parties: STATE OF CONNECTICUT, v. TOMMIE L. MARTIN.

Page 1

STATE OF CONNECTICUT, v. TOMMIE L. MARTIN.

(AC 22978).

Appellate Court of Connecticut.

Argued December 10, 2002.

Officially Released July 8, 2003.

DRANGINIS, J.

The defendant, Tommie L. Martin, appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of conspiracy to commit robbery in the first degree in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-48 and 53a-134 (a) (2), robbery in the first degree in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-133 and 53a-134 (a) (2), and felony murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54c. On appeal, the defendant claims, among other things, that the trial court improperly took judicial notice of the fact that Carlton Martin, the defendant's alleged coconspirator and accomplice, had been convicted of the crimes of felony murder, robbery in the first degree and five counts of tampering with a witness.

¹ Because we agree that the court improperly took judicial notice of the conviction of the defendant's alleged coconspirator and accomplice, we reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand the case for a new trial.²

The following facts and procedural history are relevant to our resolution of the defendant's appeal.³ In connection with the death of Robert Gallo during an alleged armed robbery at Gallo's liquor store in Danbury on January 18, 1999, the defendant pleaded not guilty to a long form information charging him with conspiracy to commit robbery in the first degree in violation of §§ 53a-48 and 53a-134 (a) (2), robbery in the first degree in violation of §§ 53a-133 and 53a-134 (a) (2), and felony murder in violation of § 53a-54c.⁴ In each count of the long form information, the state alleged that the defendant and his cousin, Carlton Martin, were coconspirators or accomplices.⁵ On December 14, 2000, the jury returned a guilty verdict on all three counts, and on February 16, 2001, the court sentenced the defendant to a total effective term of ninety years imprisonment.⁶ This appeal followed. Additional facts will be set forth as necessary.

The defendant claims that the court, during its final instructions to the jury, improperly took judicial notice of the fact that Carlton Martin had been convicted of the crimes of felony murder, robbery in the first degree and five counts of tampering with a witness. The defendant argues that contrary to the court's determination, statements made by defense counsel during closing argument to the jury did not require the court to inform the jury that Carlton Martin had been convicted of crimes arising out of the same incident that prompted the defendant's trial. The defendant contends that the value of the court's instruction informing the jury of the conviction was outweighed by its prejudicial effect and deprived him of his due process right to a fair trial under the federal constitution.⁷ We agree.

The following additional facts are necessary for our resolution of the defendant's claim. At the defendant's trial, the state called Carlton Martin as a witness after he had been convicted in a separate trial.⁸ The court determined that because Carlton Martin had testified at his criminal trial, he could no longer invoke his privilege against self-incrimination at the defendant's trial.⁹ Nonetheless, when Carlton Martin was called to testify before the jury at the defendant's trial, he refused to answer any questions that could have placed the defendant in his company on January 18, 1999, or connected the defendant to the alleged murder weapon.¹⁰ During the evidentiary phase of the defendant's trial, the jury was not informed of Carlton Martin's conviction or the disposition of any charges brought against him.

During closing argument, defense counsel argued that the state had failed to present sufficient evidence to prove that the defendant and Carlton Martin committed the robbery and murder. Specifically, defense counsel emphasized the lack of blood evidence linking the defendant or Carlton Martin to the crime and stated: "[The state] didn't have any of that [forensic blood evidence] because there isn't any of it, not on either Carlton Martin or [the defendant]. There is, on whoever was back there doing the shooting, not Carlton and not [the defendant]. . . . And, I'm asking you, why isn't there anything about all this blood? And, it's because the state can't explain it except to say Carlton and [the defendant] didn't do it. Carlton and [the defendant] didn't do it and get into [the] car because the evidence would have been on Carlton or [the defendant's] clothes or in [the] car, and it's not there. And the only reason it's not there is because they're not guilty." (Emphasis added.)

In light of defense counsel's statement that the defendant and Carlton Martin were "not guilty," the state, before presenting its rebuttal argument to the jury, asked the court to take judicial notice of the fact that Carlton Martin had been convicted of robbery in the first degree, felony murder and five counts of tampering with a witness. Defense counsel objected, arguing that it would be "incredibly prejudicial to the defendant" to advise the jury that Carlton Martin already had been found guilty of the charges. Defense counsel maintained: "It will implant in the jurors' minds the fact that other jurors considered evidence and already made a decision, and why should they think about it independently, just go with what has already been presented and already concluded. And, the court will be advising them, if [it takes] judicial notice, that this is a fact. He's guilty."

The court, in overruling the objection, concluded: "The state and the defense and the court have stayed away from the conviction of Carlton Martin as such. . . . I think [defense counsel's] comment has invited the request of the state. Otherwise, [the jury is] left with the impression that . . . Carlton Martin was not convicted of anything or that he is not guilty, and that simply is not true. He was found guilty by a jury and sentenced by the court. So, here's what I'll do. I will instruct the jury that I've taken judicial notice of the fact that Carlton Martin was convicted of felony murder, robbery in the first degree and five counts of witness tampering on November 1, 2000, and they may, if they wish, take that as a fact, but I will also tell them that they're not required to accept that as conclusive. And, I'm basing that statement I just made on § 2-1 of the Connecticut Code of Evidence."¹¹

Thereafter, following the state's closing rebuttal argument,¹² the court gave its final instructions to the jury. In instructing the jury, the court stated: "I am now taking judicial notice of the fact that Carlton Martin, on November 1, 2000, was convicted of the crimes of felony murder, robbery in the first degree and five counts of tampering with a witness. That—those judicially noticed facts are not binding on you. They're not conclusive, but you may accept them as conclusive if you wish. I instruct [that] you are not to draw an inference that [the defendant] is guilty of the offense as charged simply because Carlton Martin was convicted of those offenses. You must judge [the defendant] on the evidence produced in this courtroom in this case."

We begin by setting forth certain legal principles that guide us in our review. "Judicial notice . . . meets the objective of establishing facts to which the offer of evidence would normally be directed. . . . The underlying theory is that proof by evidence concerning a proposition may be dispensed with where the court is justified, by general considerations, in declaring the truth of the proposition without requiring evidence from the party. . . . This theory goes no further, however, than to mean that the proposition is taken as true without an offer of proof by the party who should ordinarily have offered it." (Citations omitted.) State v. Tomanelli, 153 Conn. 365, 368-69, 216 A.2d 625 (1966); see also De Luca v. Board of Park Comm'rs, 94 Conn. 7, 10, 107 A. 611 (1919) ("judicial notice, in its appropriate field, displaces evidence, since, as it stands for proof, it fulfils the object which evidence is designed to fulfil, and makes evidence unnecessary").

"The doctrine of judicial notice is not a hard and fast one. It is modified by judicial discretion. . . . Courts are not bound to take judicial notice of matters of fact. Whether they will do so or not depends on the nature of the subject, the issue involved and the apparent justice of the case." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) De Luca v. Board of Park Comm'rs, supra, 94 Conn. 10; see also Conn. Code Evid. § 2-1 (b); C. Tait, Connecticut Evidence (3d Ed. 2001) § 2.2, p. 108. "Whether to take judicial notice of a fact is a function of the exercise of judicial discretion." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Pie Plate, Inc. v. Texaco, Inc., 35 Conn. App. 305, 316, 645 A.2d 1044, cert. denied, 231 Conn. 935, 650 A.2d 172 (1994).

Thus, "a trial court's determination [to take or] not to take judicial notice is essentially an evidentiary ruling. . . . Our role in reviewing evidentiary rulings of the trial court is settled. The trial court has wide discretion in its rulings on evidence and its rulings will be reversed only if the court has abused its discretion or an injustice appears to have been done." (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Drabik v. East Lyme, 234 Conn. 390, 398-99, 662 A.2d 118 (1995).

As previously set forth, the court determined that defense counsel's statement that "they're not guilty," exceeded the appropriate scope of final argument because, in essence, the statement suggested an inference from facts not in evidence, such as the verdict in Carlton Martin's trial, and presented a matter that the jury had no right to consider.

¹³ Thus, it was within the court's discretion to limit the scope of final argument to prevent the jury from being influenced by improper matter that might prejudice its deliberations. We generally accord...