State v. Burns

Syllabus

Convicted of attempt to commit murder, assault in the first degree and car- rying a pistol without a permit in connection with the shooting of the victim, the defendant appealed. He claimed, inter alia, that the trial court abused its discretion by permitting the state to impeach a witness, L, through the testimony of a police detective, D, on a collateral matter regarding L's pur- ported inconsistent statements to D about her contact with the defendant following the shooting. Held: This court declined to review the defendant's claim that L's testimony about her contact with the defendant following the shooting was not inconsistent with her statements to D, as the defendant failed to raise that claim before the trial court, and, therefore, it was not properly preserved. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in determining that D's testimony concerning L's prior inconsistent statements did not involve a collateral mat- ter, as those statements tended to establish L's bias toward the defendant. The trial court did not abuse its broad discretion under the Connecticut Code of Evidence (§ 6-10 (c)) in admitting for impeachment purposes D's testimony concerning L's prior inconsistent statements even though L had not been confronted specifically regarding those statements at the time she testified. Argued October 21, 2025—officially released March 24, 2026