State v. Jones

Citations

• 210 Conn. App. 249

Syllabus

Convicted, following a jury trial, of the crimes of possession of narcotics with intent to sell, criminal possession of a pistol, and carrying a pistol without a permit, the defendant appealed to this court. At 5 p.m. on the date of his arrest, Shot Spotter, a system of microphones around the city of New Haven that uses sound to triangulate the location of gunshots, detected a gunshot in the area of 17 Vernon Street. Approximately four minutes later, an individual called the police and reported seeing the defendant in the area with a handgun. Shortly thereafter, the police arrived at the scene, encountered the defendant in an area that was approximately three houses down from the location identified by Shot Spotter, and detained him. Although the defendant did not have any weapons on him, the police recovered a firearm from a snowbank on the property located directly behind where the defendant was discov- ered. The defendant was arrested and was found to have multiple packets of heroin in his possession. Additionally, the defendant's DNA and finger- prints were found on the recovered handgun. After a jury found the defendant guilty of all charges, he filed a motion for a judgment of acquittal, which the trial court denied, and the defendant appealed to this court. Held: 1. The evidence was sufficient to support the defendant's conviction of criminal possession of a pistol, and, accordingly, the trial court properly denied the defendant's motion for a judgment of acquittal with respect to that charge: the state's arguments on appeal were consistent with the theory that it pursued at trial, namely, that the defendant had actual possession of the pistol on the date in question; moreover, the state was not compelled to prove constructive possession of the pistol because there was substantial circumstantial evidence from which the jury could have concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that, on the date of his arrest, the defendant actually possessed the handgun, fired it, a