State v. Douglas C.

Citations

• 195 Conn. App. 728

Syllabus

Convicted, after a jury trial, of five counts of the crime of risk of injury to a child, the defendant appealed to this court. The defendant's conviction stemmed from his alleged sexual abuse of five female victims, including C, on various dates while they were under the age of sixteen. The minor victims were often in the presence of the defendant in his home, where the defendant had contact with their intimate parts on multiple occa- sions. Specifically, the defendant grabbed C's breasts over her shirt on multiple occasions from September, 2005 to September, 2006. After the close of the state's case, the defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal, which the trial court granted as to a count alleging sexual assault in the second degree but denied as to the five remaining counts that charged the defendant with the crime of risk of injury to a child. Subsequently, the defendant requested that the court provide a specific unanimity instruction to the jury on the remaining five counts, which the court granted only as to one of those counts. On appeal, the defendant claimed, inter alia, that the court improperly denied his motion for a judgment of acquittal because there was insufficient evidence for the jury to convict him on the count involving C, as the three factor test used by our Supreme Court in State v. Stephen J. R. (309 Conn. 586) to determine whether a child victim's general or nonspecific testimony is sufficient to sustain a conviction in a sexual abuse case was inapplicable to the present case because C was not a very young child at the time she was abused by the defendant and when she testified at trial. Held: 1. The defendant's claim that the trial court improperly denied his motion for a judgment of acquittal was unavailing: a. The defendant could not prevail on his claim that the test used by our Supreme Court in Stephen J. R. was inapplicable to the present case because the leniency with respect to proof that has been formulated to apply in such cases