State v. Bermudez

Citations

• 195 Conn. App. 780

Syllabus

Convicted of the crime of felony murder in connection with the shooting death of the victim, the defendant appealed, claiming, inter alia, that certain of the trial court's evidentiary rulings constituted harmful error that entitled him to a new trial, and that other evidentiary rulings by the court deprived him of his constitutional rights to present a defense and to confront witnesses. The defendant and his brothers, B and S, robbed the victim when he returned home at night after closing the bar that he owned. The defendant then shot and killed the victim. Twelve years later, A, the estranged wife of S, gave the police a written statement that implicated the defendant, B and S in the victim's death. A, who knew that the defendant, B and S were affiliated with gangs, delayed providing information to the police out of fear that the defendant and S would retaliate against her or her family. S, who had regularly abused A throughout their relationship, beat her on the night of the shooting and threatened to kill her mother. While the defendant was incarcerated on unrelated charges during the twelve years after the shooting, he instructed A to write intimate and salacious letters to him so that he could discredit her in the event that she were to testify against him. The trial court admitted evidence that the defendant and S were affiliated with gangs, and that A and her children had been relocated out of state multiple times after A gave her statement to the police. The court refused to permit defense counsel to introduce the letters into evidence, limited his inquiry into A's birth control practices and precluded him from cross- examining her about the termination of her employment. Held: 1. The trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting into evidence A's testimony that the defendant and S were affiliated with gangs or that she and her children were relocated after she gave her statement to the police: a. Evidence that the defendant and S were affiliated wi