State v. Gomes

Citations

• 337 Conn. 826

Syllabus

Convicted of the crime of assault in the second degree, the defendant appealed to the Appellate Court, claiming that the trial court had deprived him of his right to present a defense of investigative inadequacy by omitting from its jury instructions certain language in his written request to charge stating that the jury could consider evidence of the police investigation as it might relate to any weaknesses in the state's case. At trial, the defendant contended that the victim had either mistak- enly or intentionally misidentified him as the person who assaulted her and that, if the police had conducted even a minimally adequate investigation of the incident, they would have discovered this to be the case. In support of his contention, the defendant adduced testimony from a number of witness regarding the inadequacy of the police investi- gation. The Appellate Court affirmed the trial court's judgment, conclud- ing that the investigative inadequacy instruction that the trial court had given did not mislead the jury or otherwise deprive the defendant of his right to present an investigative inadequacy defense. In reaching its conclusion, the Appellate Court noted that the trial court's instruction was identical to the model jury instruction provided on the Judicial Branch website and consistent with investigative inadequacy instruc- tions approved by this court in State v. Collins (299 Conn. 567) and State v. Williams (169 Conn. 322). The Appellate Court also rejected the defendant's contention that, in light of recent developments in the law, as indicated in this court's recent decision in State v. Wright (322 Conn. 270), the model instruction no longer reflected the correct state- ment of the law. On the granting of certification, the defendant appealed to this court, renewing his claim in the Appellate Court challenging the propriety of the trial court's investigative inadequacy instruction. While this appeal was pending, the defendant was deported, and the recor