State v. Griffin

Citations

• 232 Conn. App. 866

Syllabus

Convicted, following a jury trial, of manslaughter in the first degree in connection with the stabbing death of the victim, the defendant appealed. On appeal, the defendant claimed, inter alia, that the trial court improperly instructed the jury on self-defense. Held: The trial court properly instructed the jury that self-defense did not encom- pass a preemptive strike, as this court concluded that the trial court's instruc- tions, when read as a whole, did not mislead the jury because the evidence adduced at trial raised a question of imminence and whether the defendant acted improperly by preemptively stabbing the victim in the absence of a reasonable belief that the victim posed an imminent threat of physical harm to the defendant, and the preemptive strike instruction was consistent with Connecticut law on self-defense. The prosecutor's comments during rebuttal closing argument did not improp- erly infringe on the defendant's constitutional right to remain silent following warnings issued pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona (384 U.S. 436) because the comments would have naturally and necessarily been taken by the jury as commentary on the discrepancies between the defendant's statements on the night of the incident, which failed to include key facts relating to the defendant's claim of self-defense, and the defendant's trial testimony. Argued February 14—officially released June 3, 2025