State v. Osoria

• Decision Date: 21 December 2004
• Docket Number: No. 24326.,24326.
• Citation: 861 A.2d 1207,86 Conn.App. 507
• Court: Connecticut Court of Appeals
• Parties: STATE of Connecticut v. Adam OSORIA.

861 A.2d 1207

86 Conn.App. 507

STATE of Connecticut v. Adam OSORIA.

No. 24326.

Appellate Court of Connecticut.

Argued October 15, 2004.

Decided December 21, 2004.

David B. Rozwaski, Special Public Defender, for the appellant (defendant).

Jessica Probolus, Special Deputy Assistant State's Attorney, with whom, on the brief, were Michael Dearington, State's Attorney, and Kevin Doyle, Assistant State's Attorney, for the appellee (state). FOTI, McLACHLAN and DUPONT, Js.

FOTI, J.

The defendant, Adam Osoria, appeals from the judgments of conviction, following a jury trial, of robbery in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-134(a)(4), attempt to commit robbery in the first degree in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-49(a)(2) and 53a-134(a)(4), and two counts of larceny in the third degree as an accessory in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-8(a) and 53a-124(a)(1).¹ On appeal, the defendant claims that the evidence presented at trial did not support the convictions. We affirm the judgments of the trial court.

On the basis of the evidence presented at trial, the jury reasonably could have found the following facts. During the evening hours of January 8, 2002, the defendant, Jimmy Santos, Christin Lopez, Jose Ramos and another man identified at trial as "Jose" were gathered at a housing project in New Haven. The five men walked to East Haven for the purpose of stealing an automobile. The defendant was armed with a sawed-off shotgun. Upon reaching a condominium complex in East Haven, the men forcibly entered a Honda Accord, which the defendant drove away.

Jose later drove the vehicle to Orchard Street in New Haven where he pulled alongside Robert Long and Bruce Sherents, whom he and the other men had observed walking down the street carrying a marijuana cigar. The defendant and Ramos, donning masks and gloves, exited the car. The defendant and Ramos demanded whatever possessions Long and Sherents had on their persons. The defendant struck Long, and Ramos struck Sherents with the shotgun. Ramos took Sherents' pager and, during the altercation, Lopez exited the car and picked up the marijuana cigar, which had been dropped by either Long or Sherents, from the sidewalk.

The five men drove away, ultimately reaching Whalley Avenue in Hamden. Robert Brockett, an officer in the Hamden police department who was patrolling the area, observed the Honda travel through an intersection at a very high rate of speed. Brockett pursued the automobile, which reached speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour. The Honda ultimately crashed on a residential property. The defendant and the four other occupants ran from the automobile to avoid capture. The defendant, Ramos, Santos and Jose ran to a nearby condominium complex and hid until they no longer detected police activity. Lopez ran in a different direction. The four men then observed a Nissan Altima parked nearby. The Nissan's owner left the automobile running while he was a short distance away from the automobile, delivering newspapers. The defendant and the other three men got into the Nissan and, with the defendant driving, left the scene.

The defendant drove to New Haven and, at some point thereafter, police officers from New Haven and Hamden, as well as Connecticut state troopers, pursued the defendant in a high speed chase through New Haven, West Haven and Milford. After taking Ramos to his home, the defendant ultimately drove to a public housing project in New Haven, where he, Santos and Jose ran from the stolen automobile to avoid capture. A police officer arrested the defendant several days later. Additional facts will be set forth as necessary.

Before addressing the defendant's sufficiency claims, we first set forth our standard of review.² "In reviewing a sufficiency of the evidence claim, we apply a two-part test. First, we construe the evidence in the light most favorable to sustaining the verdict. Second, we determine whether upon the facts so construed and the inferences reasonably drawn therefrom the [jury] reasonably could have concluded that the cumulative force of the evidence established guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.... In evaluating evidence, the trier of fact is not required to accept as dispositive those inferences that are consistent with the defendant's innocence.... The trier may draw whatever inferences from the evidence or facts established by the evidence it deems to be reasonable and logical.... In conducting this review, the probative force of the evidence is not diminished where the evidence, in whole or in part, is circumstantial rather than direct." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Holmes, 75 Conn.App. 721, 739-40, 817 A.2d 689, cert. denied, 264 Conn. 903, 823 A.2d 1222 (2003). We next set forth the elements that are integral to the crimes of which the defendant stands convicted and determine whether the state met its burden of proving each element beyond a reasonable doubt.

I

The state bore the burden of proving the following elements to warrant a conviction for robbery in the first degree in violation of § 53a-134(a)(4): (1) that the defendant or another participant in the crime was in the course of committing the crime of robbery or of immediate flight therefrom and (2) that the defendant or another participant in the crime displayed or threatened the use of what he represented by his words or conduct to be a pistol, revolver, rifle, shotgun, machine gun or other firearm. "A person commits robbery when, in the course of committing a larceny, he uses or threatens the immediate use of physical force upon another person for the purpose of: (1) Preventing or overcoming resistance to the taking of the property or to the retention thereof immediately after the taking; or (2) compelling the owner of such property or another person to deliver up the property or to engage in other conduct which aids in the commission of the larceny." General Statutes § 53a-133. "A person commits larceny when, with intent to deprive another of property or to appropriate the same to himself or to a third person, he wrongfully takes, obtains or withholds such property from an owner...." General Statutes § 53a-119. The state alleged that Sherents was the victim of the crime committed by the defendant and his accomplices.

At trial, Long testified that, while he was walking along Orchard Street with Sherents, he noticed a green, four door Honda stop alongside them. Long recalled that two men wearing sweatshirts with hoods attached to them, face masks and gloves exited the automobile.³ Long testified that one of the men was holding a sawed-off shotgun that was aimed at Long's chest. Long testified that he and Sherents pleaded with the men not to kill them and that the man holding the shotgun told him to "run everything you got," meaning he should empty his pockets. Long testified that the other man, who was unarmed and had his hands in his pockets, demanded the same. Long testified that the unarmed man then struck him in the jaw with his fist, causing him to fall to the ground. The unarmed man then searched Long's pockets. Long further testified that he observed the armed man strike Sherents in the face with his shotgun. He also testified that the unarmed man told the armed man, "Lets get out of here. Don't do it. Don't shoot him." Finally, Long testified that the two perpetrators then got back into their car and drove away.

Sherents' testimony corroborated Long's account of what occurred on Orchard Street. Sherents recalled how two men exited the automobile, one of them brandishing a shotgun. Sherents testified that the unarmed man approached Long and struck Long in the face. The other man approached him and demanded that he hand over everything he had in his pockets. Sherents testified that he gave him his pager. Sherents recalled that after he handed over his pager, the man armed with the shotgun struck him in the face with the barrel of the shotgun and kicked him once he fell to the ground. Sherents further recalled that the unarmed man stood by while the armed man inflicted injury to him, ultimately telling the armed man to "let him go."

Santos testified at trial as a witness for the state. Santos recalled that he, the defendant, Ramos, Lopez and Jose walked to East Haven from New Haven intent on stealing a car. Santos testified that the defendant concealed a sawed-off shotgun in his jacket. He recalled that he and the others arrived at a condominium complex in East Haven and forcibly entered a green Honda. They all got into the car, which the defendant drove away. Santos testified that they eventually drove to Orchard Street and that he and the others noticed two men walking down the sidewalk while "rolling up a blunt."⁴ Santos testified that everyone in the automobile agreed that they should take this blunt away from the two men and that Jose, who was driving at this point, drove alongside the two men and stopped the car. Santos testified that Ramos then exited the car along with the defendant and that he stayed in the car, keeping a lookout for the police. Santos recalled hearing Ramos strike one of the men with the shotgun and that he observed the defendant checking the pockets of the other man. He further testified that, at some point, Lopez exited the automobile to pick up the blunt that fell to the sidewalk. Santos testified that, after the defendant, Ramos and Lopez got back into the automobile, Ramos handed him a pager.⁵ Santos recalled that, soon after they drove away from the scene, their automobile was pursued by police and that Jose, who was driving, engaged the police in a high speed pursuit from New Haven to Hamden.

In his principal brief, the defendant points out that the victims did not identify the defendant as a perpetrator and argues that Santos provided the only evidence that linked him to any of the crimes. The defendant largely bases his sufficiency claim on his assertion that "Santos' testimony...