State v. James K.

Citations

• 209 Conn. App. 441

Syllabus

Convicted of the crime of risk of injury to a child as a result of certain physical contact with his minor daughter, the defendant appealed to this court, claiming, inter alia, that the trial court violated his right to be tried before an impartial jury when it prohibited his counsel from asking prospective jurors during voir dire to express their opinions with respect to parents who kiss their children on the lips. When the state indicated it would seek to introduce into evidence a photograph of the defendant kissing the victim's half sister on the lips, defense counsel objected. The trial court first precluded defense counsel from asking prospective jurors about kissing on the lips because it was too specific to the facts of the case and limited defense counsel to asking prospective jurors about whether parents can have different methods of showing physical affection to their children. Thereafter, the court ruled the photo- graph inadmissible because it was prejudicial to the defendant. The defendant also had been charged with two counts of sexual assault in the first degree in connection with the incident with the victim. Although the jury initially had been unable to reach a unanimous verdict as to all three charges, the trial court delivered a ''Chip Smith'' instruction urging the jury to reach a verdict, after which it returned its verdict, which included a finding of not guilty as to the sexual assault charges. Held: 1. The trial court did not abuse its discretion when it prohibited defense counsel from asking prospective jurors to express their opinions with respect to parents who kiss their children on the lips: contrary to the defendant's assertion that the court improperly limited the scope of his voir dire because that issue was a central issue in the case and many people view it as inappropriate and offensive, the court's extremely narrow ruling was limited only to that question, it prevented counsel from improperly using voir dire to ascertain prospect