State v. Brandon

Citations

• 345 Conn. 702

Syllabus

Convicted of manslaughter in the first degree with a firearm in connection with the shooting death of the victim, the defendant appealed to this court. The defendant, who had been serving probation for a prior convic- tion, was at a gambling club, where he and the victim engaged in a heated argument after the victim did not pay the defendant money he believed he was owed. Later that night, the victim called the defendant's phone, apologized, and suggested that they meet for drinks. The defen- dant then drove to a local bar and parked his car near the victim's car. After the defendant and the victim exited their respective vehicles, the defendant shot the victim multiple times. Before trial, the defendant moved to suppress, inter alia, statements that he had made to the police during two recorded interviews. The first interview took place several days after the shooting, right after the defendant attended a regularly scheduled meeting with his probation officer at the probation office. At the conclusion of that meeting, the probation officer told the defendant that some individuals who wished to speak with him were waiting in her supervisor's office, which was in a locked area of the building. The defendant then was escorted to that office, where he was interviewed for ninety minutes by two plainclothes police officers, without being advised of his rights pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona (384 U.S. 436). After the first twenty-one minutes of that interview, during which the defendant admitted to a version of events that placed him near the bar at the approximate time of the shooting, the officer told the defendant This case originally was argued before a panel of this court consisting of Chief Justice Robinson and Justices McDonald, D'Auria, Mullins, Kahn, Ecker and Keller. Thereafter, Justice Kahn was removed from the panel, and Chief Judge Bright was added to the panel. He has read the briefs and appendices, and listened to a recording of the oral argument prior to pa