State v. Thorpe

Citations

• 353 Conn. 783

Syllabus

Convicted of murder in connection with the shooting death of the victim after unsuccessfully asserting a self-defense claim at trial, the defendant appealed to this court. The defendant, who had testified at trial, claimed that the trial court committed plain error by permitting the prosecutor to cross-examine him regarding his prearrest silence, specifically, his failure to report to the police after the murder but before being arrested that he allegedly had shot the victim in self-defense. Held: The trial court did not commit plain error in permitting the prosecutor to cross-examine the defendant regarding his prearrest silence, as the relevant case law did not support the defendant's claim that the trial court's admission of his prearrest silence constituted an obvious and readily discernable error. Argued November 3—officially released December 23, 2025