State v. Brown

Citations

• 345 Conn. 354

Syllabus

Pursuant to statute (§§ 53a-133 and 53a-136 (a)), a person commits robbery in the third degree 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 preventing or overcoming resistance to the taking of the property or to the retention thereof immediately after the taking, or compelling the owner of such property or another person to deliver up the property or to engage in other conduct that aids in the commission of the larceny. Pursuant further to statute (§ 53a-119), ''[a] person commits larceny when, with intent to deprive another of property or to appropriate the same to himself or a third person, he wrongfully takes, obtains or withholds such property from an owner.'' Convicted of the crimes of felony murder and carrying a pistol or revolver without a permit in connection with the shooting death of the victim, the defendant appealed to this court. After agreeing to assist in a drug transaction in exchange for a large sum of money, the defendant met with another individual, H, and got into the back seat of H's car. H told the defendant that there was a gun on the floor and that the defendant's 345 Conn. 354 DECEMBER, 2022 355 State v. Brown role was to ''make sure that nothing happened.'' H then parked on a street near the victim's parked car. Sometime after their arrival, the defendant, who never saw any money in H's car, twice asked H if he had brought any money with him. Thereafter, the victim entered the front passenger seat of H's car, discussed the details of the transaction, which involved a substantial amount of marijuana, and returned to his own car. H then drove around the block a few times before returning and parking his car a second time. H exited his car to retrieve the marijuana from the victim's car, after which the victim got into the front passenger seat of H's car. The defendant, who was sitting behind the victim at that point, used the gun on the car floor