Opinion ID: 2704
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Connecticut's Invalidation of the Challenged Warrants

Text: After a Connecticut jury found Walczyk guilt of disorderly conduct, see Conn. Gen. Stat. § 53a-182(a)(2); reckless endangerment, see id. § 53a-64(a); and two counts of improper firearm storage, see id. § 29-37i, [12] he was sentenced to pay a fine of $100 for each count of conviction. The Appellate Court of Connecticut reversed Walczyk's conviction, holding that the search warrant that resulted in seizure of the charged guns was not supported by probable cause. See State v. Walczyk, 76 Conn.App. at 180-82, 818 A.2d at 875-76. [13] In reaching this conclusion, the court faulted the warrant's supporting affidavit for failing to reconcile a construction of the `bloodbath' statement as a threat . . . with the statement . . . of what the defendant actually had said. Id. at 180, 818 A.2d at 875. Specifically, the court held that [a] statement to a police officer that the police needed to act to avoid a `bloodbath' cannot be the basis of probable cause to believe that the defendant, at that time or in the immediate future, would engage in threatening behavior. Id. at 181-82, 818 A.2d at 876 (emphasis in original). The Connecticut court also noted that the affidavit failed to establish probable cause because it did not state that any of Walczyk's earlier misconduct had resulted in his conviction of threatening or of any other crime, distinguish between recent incidents and those that ha[d] become stale, or state that his firearm possession was in any way unlawful. Id. at 180, 818 A.2d at 875 (emphasis in original). Nor did the court think that Walczyk's prior statement to Captain Rio  that he would take matters into his own hands and do what he had to do to protect his property  established probable cause because Rio advised Walczyk not to do so, and, on August 30, 1999, Walczyk  followed instructions to report any possible trespass to the police. Id. at 181, 818 A.2d at 876 (emphasis in original).