State v. Rivera

Citations

• 200 Conn. App. 401

Syllabus

Convicted of the crime of breach of the peace in the second degree, the defendant appealed to this court. The defendant was involved in an altercation with an instructor at a tractor trailer training school, where he was enrolled. The altercation began in the school's student breakroom and then continued outside to a parking lot area in front of a garage on the premises. The defendant claimed that the evidence was insuffi- cient to support a finding that the conduct giving rise to the conviction had occurred in a public place, a necessary element of the applicable statute (§ 53a-181 (a) (1)). Held: 1. The state could not prevail on its argument that the defendant's claim on appeal was unreviewable in that the defendant, through counsel, explicitly waived his right to have the state prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the altercation occurred in a public place under § 53a-181 (a) (1) by conceding during closing argument that the altercation occurred in a public place, as defense counsel's remarks, whether viewed either in isolation or alongside the state's closing arguments and the court's jury instructions, did not demonstrate that the defendant intentionally relinquished or abandoned his right to have the state prove the public place element beyond a reasonable doubt. 2. The evidence was not sufficient to support the defendant's conviction of breach of the peace in the second degree, as the cumulative force of the state's evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to sus- taining the verdict, was insufficient to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the area in which the altercation occurred was a public place; the plain and ordinary meaning of ''public'' confirmed that the legislature intended for § 53a-181 (a) (1) to apply only to conduct that occurs on property that is held out for use by all members of the public, not just select groups, and, based on the text of the statute, its relationship to other statutes, and the plain meaning of the word ''pub