State v. Cowen

Syllabus

Convicted of the crimes of robbery in the second degree, larceny in the third degree, and conspiracy to commit larceny in the third degree in connection with his involvement in a bank robbery, the defendant appealed to this court. One of the defendant's coconspirators, C, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery in the first degree in connection with the incident. C testified for the state at the defendant's trial. She testified that the state had not offered to reduce her sentence in exchange for her testimony nor had she been promised any other benefit. Approxi- mately two months after the defendant's conviction, C's sentence was modified and, approximately nine months later, her sentence was further modified to replace her probation period with a conditional discharge. The defendant appealed and, subsequently, filed a motion for augmen- tation and rectification, requesting that the trial court review the clerk's files for the cases against C and any relevant transcripts to determine whether her sentence modifications were influenced by her testimony against the defendant and that, if evidence of such influence existed, the court hold a hearing pursuant to State v. Floyd (253 Conn. 700) to determine whether a nonfrivolous, factual basis for a claim of unlawful withholding of impeachment material under Brady v. Maryland (373 U.S. 83) existed. The trial court denied the motion and, following this court's order in response to the defendant's motion for review, issued an articulation of its decision. The defendant did not file an additional motion for review requesting that this court order a Floyd hearing or seek any other relief in connection with the trial court's ruling on his motion. Held that the defendant could not prevail on his claim that his due process rights were violated because his conviction was obtained on the basis of false testimony, which the state failed to correct: because the defendant did not seek further review of the trial court's articu