State v. Washington

Citations

• 345 Conn. 258

Syllabus

Convicted of the crimes of intentional manslaughter in the first degree with a firearm, criminal possession of a pistol or revolver, and carrying a pistol or revolver without a permit in connection with the shooting death of the victim, the defendant appealed. The defendant had parked his car in front of a gas station. The victim parked his car near the gas station and then walked along the adjacent sidewalk directly toward the defendant's car. When the victim reached the defendant's car, he attempted to see through the car's tinted windows. The driver's side door then opened, and both the defendant and the victim exchanged gunfire. One of the defendant's several shots at the victim proved to be fatal. At trial, defense counsel claimed that the defendant had killed the victim in self-defense. During the trial, the trial court heard arguments from both parties, outside of the jury's presence, regarding the admissi- bility of two recorded phone calls that the defendant had made to his sister, L, from a holding cell on the morning after he was arrested. The recordings captured conversations between the defendant, L, and two male acquaintances, and certain portions arguably constituted adoptive 345 Conn. 258 NOVEMBER, 2022 259 State v. Washington admissions that the defendant was parked in the car from which the fatal gunshot was fired. The trial court ultimately determined that the recordings were admissible. The jury returned its verdict in the early afternoon on March 12, 2020. On that same date, at an unspecified time, the chief court administrator of the Judicial Branch, in response to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, issued an order, providing that, with the exception of jury trials currently in progress and certain criminal trials, ''all jury trials, civil and criminal, are suspended for the next [thirty] days.'' At the defendant's sentencing in August, 2020, the trial court heard arguments on the defendant's motion for a new trial, in which he argued that a new t