State v. Robinson
| Decision Date | 11 April 1978 |
| Citation | 174 Conn. 604,392 A.2d 475 |
| Court | Connecticut Supreme Court |
| Parties | STATE of Connecticut v. James A. ROBINSON. |
Louis S. Avitabile, Sp. Public Defender, for appellant (defendant).
Walter H. Scanlon, Asst. State's Atty., for appellee (state).
Before LOISELLE, BOGDANSKI, LONGO, PARSKEY and ARMENTANO, JJ.
The defendant was convicted by a jury of assault in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-59(a)(1). He has appealed from the judgment rendered, claiming that the court erred both in denying his motion for judgment and in denying his motion to set aside the verdict as being contrary to the law and against the evidence. The sole issue determinative of this appeal is whether the evidence was sufficient to find that the victim of the assault suffered "serious physical injury."
General Statutes § 53a-59(a)(1) provides that "(a) person is guilty of assault in the first degree when: (1) With intent to cause Serious physical injury to another person, he causes such injury to such person or to a third person . . . ." (Emphasis supplied.) General Statutes § 53a-3(4) states as follows: " '(S)erious physical injury' means physical injury which creates a substantial risk of death, or which causes serious disfigurement, serious impairment of health or serious loss or impairment of the function of any bodily organ."
The jury could have found the following facts: On the afternoon of January 29, 1974, the defendant went to his estranged wife's apartment. Taking his shotgun, he told his wife to call her lawyer and tell him that she wanted the defendant to have their daughter. After she hung up the telephone, the defendant hit her with the wooden part of a shotgun on her leg and arm, cracking the butt of the gun. Later that night, the defendant got his wife out of bed, hitting her with the metal part of the gun across her back, legs, arms and every part of her body except her face. Every time she tried to leave the room he struck her with the gun. Finally he hit her in the back of the neck and she passed out remaining on the floor until the next morning when she was finally taken to the hospital, where she remained for nearly one week.
The jury could have found from the medical testimony presented that she suffered lacerations of the face and scalp, fractures of the eleventh and twelfth ribs, proximal phalanx of the left small finger, and multiple bruises, abrasions, ecchymoses and...
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State v. Miller
...physical injury to the victim is necessary to find a person guilty of this crime. General Statutes § 53a-59(a)(1); State v. Robinson, 174 Conn. 604, 392 A.2d 475 (1978). I just do not believe that the court's instructions here could reasonably be understood to dilute that requirement. There......
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State v. Ovechka
...severe facial lacerations, multiple abrasions and contusions, swollen blood filled eyes, weeklong hospital stay); State v. Robinson, 174 Conn. 604, 606, 392 A.2d 475 (1978) (lacerations, fractured ribs, multiple bruises, broken finger, disfigured legs, blood transfusions); State v. Jeustini......
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State v. Mendez
...physical injury when, in conjunction with other ailments, victims have suffered broken bones and lost teeth. See State v. Robinson, 174 Conn. 604, 606, 392 A.2d 475 (1978) (victim suffered from two fractured ribs and fractured finger ); State v. Sawicki, 173 Conn. 389, 395, 377 A.2d 1103 (1......
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State v. Rossier
...implicit conclusion that the physical injury sustained by Zakas was "serious" under the statutory definition. Compare State v. Robinson, 174 Conn. 604, 392 A.2d 475 (1978); State v. Sawicki, 173 Conn, 389. 395, 377 A.2d 1103 (1977); State v. Jeustiniano,supra. Consequently, it was error for......