State v. Brown

Citations

• 198 Conn. App. 630

Syllabus

Convicted, after a jury trial, of the crime of assault in the first degree in connection with an altercation during which the defendant shot R, the defendant appealed to this court. Held that the state produced sufficient evidence to disprove the defendant's theory of self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt; the jury was free to credit R's testimony that the defendant was acting in an aggressive manner and threatening him and that he did not advance toward the defendant, which contradicted the defendant's version of events, and the jury reasonably could have con- cluded that the defendant's fear of death or great bodily harm was unreasonable; moreover, even if the jury determined that the defendant reasonably believed that deadly physical force or great bodily harm was going to be inflicted on him, the jury reasonably could have concluded that the defendant did not subjectively believe that deadly force was necessary to repel R's alleged attack because, although the defendant presented evidence of R's reputation for violence, the jury was free to discredit the defendant's evidence; furthermore, even if the jury con- cluded that the defendant did subjectively believe that deadly force was necessary to repel the perceived attack, the jury reasonably could have concluded that this belief was unreasonable as there was evidence presented that the altercation between the defendant and R inside the defendant's motor vehicle prior to the shooting never escalated beyond a shoving match, and R testified that, on exiting the vehicle, he intended to return to the house and was not charging at the defendant. Argued March 3—officially released June 30, 2020