State v. Michael T.

Citations

• 194 Conn. App. 598

Syllabus

Convicted, after a jury trial, of five counts of the crime of risk of injury to a child, two counts of the crime of unlawful restraint in the first degree, and of the crimes of assault in the first degree, criminal attempt to commit assault in the first degree, and assault in the second degree, the defendant appealed to this court. The defendant lived in an apartment with N, his girlfriend, and her five daughters, including the victims, J and D. The defendant, after an argument with N, began to yell at the victims for disobeying a rule about hanging out of their bedroom window. The defendant then grabbed J, lifted her off the ground and carried her to the stove in the kitchen, where he ignited the gas burner and placed J's right hand over the flame. The defendant dropped J, but he then picked up D and carried her to the stove, where he placed both of her hands on top of the flame for up to one minute. Subsequently, D received medical treatment at a hospital for her severe burns and underwent several surgical procedures, including the amputation of several finger- tips. Forensic interviews of the victims were recorded and, in those recordings, the victims identified the defendant as the individual who had burned their hands on the open flame from the stove burner. Prior to trial, the defendant filed a motion in limine to preclude the state from entering video recordings of the forensic interviews into evidence, which the trial court denied on the first day of trial. At the close of the state's case, and again at the close of the defendant's case, the defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal with respect to two counts that charged him with risk of injury to a child, and the court denied those motions. Following the jury's verdicts, the defendant filed a motion for a new trial on the ground that the admission into evidence of the forensic interviews necessitated a new trial, which the court denied prior to sentencing. Held: 1. The defendant's unpreserved claim that