State v. Anthony V.

Citations

• 354 Conn. 255

Syllabus

The state appealed to this court, on the granting of certification, from the judgment of the Appellate Court, which had reversed the defendant's con- viction of manslaughter in the first degree with a firearm. The defendant's conviction stemmed from an incident in which he shot the victim in the head with a revolver while she was sitting in a small bathroom in their residence. At trial, there was a factual dispute concerning the defendant's conduct leading up to the shooting. The prosecutor, relying on forensic evidence, argued that, while the victim was sitting in the bathroom, the defendant had forcefully pressed the muzzle of the fully-cocked, loaded revolver against her head before it discharged. In contrast, the defense advanced the theory that the revolver, which had a trigger that did not require much force to fire, had accidentally discharged when the defendant tripped on the doorframe of the bathroom. The trial court charged the jury on reckless manslaughter in the first degree with a firearm, along with lesser included offenses, but did not include any express reference to general intent in its charge. On appeal, the state claimed that the Appellate Court had incorrectly concluded that the trial court's failure to instruct the jury specifically on general intent con- stituted plain error requiring reversal of the defendant's conviction. Held: The Appellate Court incorrectly concluded that the trial court's omission of a specific general intent instruction in its jury charge was plain error, and, accordingly, this court reversed the Appellate Court's judgment and directed that court to affirm the defendant's conviction. The trial court's omission of a general intent instruction was not an error so obvious and indisputable as to warrant reversal, as the court's charge, when read as a whole, apprised the jury of the requisite element of general intent. Specifically, the trial court, in charging the jury on reckless manslaughter in the first degree, instructed