Opinion ID: 2326772
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the state's appeal to this court

Text: On appeal to this court, the state contends, contrary to the determination of the Appellate Court, that the state's attorney's comments during final arguments were not improper. The state further claims that, even if some of those comments were improper, they were not so egregious or prejudicial as to warrant a new trial. Although we conclude that some of the state's attorney's remarks were improper, we conclude that they did not violate the defendant's right to a fair trial. The following additional evidence that was adduced at trial is necessary to our analysis of the various issues raised by the state's appeal. At approximately 9 p.m. on February 14, 1997, Officers Frederick Jainchill and Mark Selander of the Hartford police department were conducting a surveillance of suspected drug activity in the north end of Hartford. While sitting in their unmarked police cruiser, the two officers observed a pickup truck pull up to the curb next to a group of men who Jainchill and Selander had reason to believe were selling drugs. The group alerted the driver of the pickup truck, a white male, that the police were in the immediate vicinity. Instead of leaving the area, however, the driver proceeded down the street about 100 feet and, with the engine still running, stopped his vehicle and turned off the lights. Jainchill and Selander decided to approach the pickup truck. They drove up directly behind the truck with their strobe lights flashing. Selander, who was in uniform, exited his vehicle and walked toward the truck. As Selander was approaching the truck, however, the driver of the truck drove away at a high rate of speed. Selander returned to his vehicle, and he and Jainchill pursued the truck. After the truck sped through an intersection without stopping, however, the officers terminated their pursuit and notified the dispatcher. Shortly thereafter, Officer O'Callaghan spotted the truck and pursued it. The defendant and his partner, Officer Middleton, joined in the pursuit. As the pickup truck entered Bloomfield, members of the Bloomfield police department, including Officers Michaud, Fredericks, Driscoll, Mark Manson, Mark Samsel and John Lazarus, [18] also began to pursue the truck. [19] The chase ended when Wilson pulled his vehicle onto the curb directly across the street from the Bloomfield police department. Driscoll and Michaud were the first officers to arrive, and the other officers from the Hartford and Bloomfield police departments arrived shortly thereafter. As those other officers were arriving, Driscoll exited his vehicle and ran to the cab of the pickup truck. Wilson opened the driver's side door of the cab, and Driscoll pulled him out, forcing him toward the back of the truck. Wilson did not resist Driscoll's use of force when Driscoll removed him from the truck. As Driscoll was placing Wilson on the ground to handcuff him, the defendant ran over to Wilson with his gun drawn. Middleton also ran over to Wilson and struck Wilson twice in the back with the butt of her service revolver. Michaud then approached Middleton to assist in the arrest. However, Driscoll, who was supervising Michaud, a police trainee, grabbed Michaud by the back of her jacket and pulled her away. Wilson subsequently was handcuffed. O'Callaghan thereafter placed Wilson in one of the Hartford police cruisers. A video camera affixed to the dashboard of Lazarus' cruiser captured Driscoll removing Wilson from his pickup truck and the defendant running toward the truck. The videotape also depicted the defendant raising his handgun in the air and then bringing it down swiftly in the area where Wilson, who was on his hands and knees, was located. It cannot be discerned from the videotape, however, where the defendant's gun made contact with Wilson's body. [20] Wilson was transported by ambulance to Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford for treatment of the injuries that he had sustained after being apprehended. [21] Wilson sustained a serious laceration over his right eye and other lacerations to his head and scalp, abrasions and cuts on his right hand, bruises on his left thigh and left shoulder, and significant swelling around his right eye. During the ambulance ride to the hospital, Wilson was complaining that the police had beaten him. The Hartford police issued Wilson a summons for one or more motor vehicle infractions, but he was not charged with committing a crime. The defendant filed a report following the incident. According to the report, the defendant pulled up directly behind the pickup truck when it came to a stop. The report continued: As this officer [22] was exiting his cruiser this officer observed Officer O'Callaghan [s]truggling with [Wilson], as this [officer] was approaching Officer O'Callaghan and Bloomfield [o]fficers [who] were on scene this officer [o]bserved [Wilson] with a closed fist swing around and punch Officer O'Callaghan in the chest. At this time Officer O'Callaghan was still attempting to control [Wilson] who now was pulling away from Officer O'Callaghan, when [Wilson] hit his forehead into the steel side rail of the [pickup] truck, on the driver's side. This officer now had finally reached Officer O'Callaghan and [Wilson] who was now swinging his arms violently at the officers with closed fists. As [Wilson] attempted to turn toward the officers [Wilson] punched this officer with a closed fist, hitting this officer twice, once to the left shoulder, and then [to] the chest area. These officers [namely, the undersigned], O'Callaghan and Middleton, then pushed [Wilson] to the ground, at the road side which was/is covered with rocks, sand, [d]irt, [s]tones and [o]ther [d]ebris. As [Wilson] was on the ground facedown, and was still swinging his arms with closed fists while kicking his feet toward the officers ... [t]he officers continued to attempt to control [Wilson] with arm locks and baton strikes to his legs and arms. This officer was finally able to place his baton under [Wilson's] left arm, securing [the] same so [that Wilson] could be handcuffed by Officer Middleton. [Wilson] was then placed and secured in a police cruiser. The defendant checked a box on his report to indicate that a copy should be forwarded to the office of the state's attorney. O'Callaghan filed a report that corroborated the defendant's account of the incident in significant respects. O'Callaghan, who had been pursuing the pickup truck, observed Wilson pull the truck onto the curb and stop. O'Callaghan then exited his cruiser and ran toward the driver's side of the truck. According to O'Callaghan's report, the driver's door opened suddenly and ... Wilson began to step from the vehicle. O'Callaghan ordered [Wilson] to stay in the vehicle but Wilson, in defiance of the command, stepped from the vehicle in A BOXER STANCE and began to charge the officers. O'Callaghan then ordered [Wilson] to place his hands above his head but [Wilson] refused and ... continued to lunge toward O'Callaghan, who attempted to grab hold of [Wilson's] [r]ight [a]rm.... According to O'Callaghan, Wilson then pulled his arm back and struck [O'Callaghan] in the chest. Because O'Callaghan feared further injury to himself and other officers, he attempted to strike ... Wilson on the [r]ight shoulder with [his] [d]epartment issued baton. Wilson, however, ducked down, and O'Callaghan struck [him] in the head ... [as Wilson] continued to swing his [a]rms at the officers.... [A] violent struggle then took place ... [between Wilson] [a]nd [other officers].... During the struggle [Wilson] [a]nd [other] officers were pushed into the side of [Wilson's] vehicle and then [d]own to the ground.... [Wilson] continued to flail his arms around nearly striking [O'Callaghan] again and ... several officers had to hold [Wilson] [d]own until he was placed in handcuffs. O'Callaghan's report further indicated that he intended to seek a warrant for Wilson's arrest in connection with Wilson's alleged assault of and interference with the police officers. Officer Middleton, who was riding in a cruiser with the defendant on the evening of the incident, also filed a report concerning Wilson's apprehension and arrest. Middleton stated in her report that Wilson had charged toward O'Callaghan and then began to fight him. According to Middleton, she and the defendant intervened because they were not sure if Officer O'Callaghan was injured. Middleton further stated in her report that, during the ensuing struggle, Wilson and several officers slammed into the truck before hitting the ground. Shortly after Wilson was taken into custody, both the Hartford and Bloomfield police departments began to investigate the incident. Thereafter, the defendant was charged, in separate informations, with assault in the second degree with a firearm, assault in the second degree, fabricating physical evidence, conspiracy to fabricate physical evidence and falsely reporting an incident. [23] At trial, the state contended that the defendant and other officers had used excessive and unnecessary force during Wilson's arrest and, further, that the defendant and other officers had attempted to cover up their assault by submitting false incident reports. At trial, a number of police officers testified as witnesses for the state. Officer Lazarus testified that when he arrived at the scene, he noticed Wilson struggling with several Hartford police officers behind Wilson's truck. Although Lazarus believed that Wilson was resisting arrest, he had glanced only very briefly at the altercation before proceeding to check the interior of Wilson's pickup truck. By the time Lazarus returned to the rear of the truck, Hartford officers had handcuffed Wilson and the altercation was over. Officer Driscoll testified that, contrary to the reports that the defendant, O'Callaghan and Middleton had filed, he was the first officer to reach Wilson after Wilson's truck had come to a stop. According to Driscoll, Wilson initially did not resist arrest, and Driscoll was surprised when one or more Hartford police officers pulled Wilson away from him. Driscoll believed that those officers pulled Wilson away from him because they wanted to beat [Wilson] up or to hit him. Driscoll thereafter observed the officers beating Wilson. After viewing the videotape that had been taken with the camera on the dashboard of Lazarus' cruiser, Driscoll further testified that he believed that the defendant had taken Wilson from him and had struck Wilson. Officer Michaud, who was a Bloomfield police officer trainee at the time of the incident, testified that when she arrived at the scene, she exited her cruiser and ran to the passenger side of Wilson's truck. Michaud checked the interior of the cab for other occupants and for weapons. She then turned around to see what had happened to Wilson and observed him on the ground with several officers on top of him. She further observed a uniformed arm strike Wilson in the back with a black object. Michaud simultaneously heard another female officer, subsequently identified as Middleton, say, `don't you ever,' in a very angry voice.... According to Michaud, she started to approach Wilson and the officers who were with Wilson, but Driscoll pulled her back. [24] Officer Manson testified that he and his supervisor were the last officers to arrive at the scene. When he arrived, he saw Wilson on the ground, facedown. According to Manson, it appeared as though Wilson was not cooperating with the officers who were attempting to handcuff him. Manson witnessed several blows to Wilson's thigh and back area and told his supervisor that he remembered thinking that the Hartford officers fucked [Wilson] up. Manson stated, however, that he could not identify the police officers who had struck Wilson. Officer Fredericks, who also was a Bloomfield police officer trainee at the time of the incident, testified that, upon arriving at the scene, he saw something going on behind the truck, but stopped to inspect the interior of the cab before proceeding to the rear of the truck. When Fredericks did reach the rear of the truck, he observed Wilson lying facedown on the ground with two officers by his feet and a third officer on his back. Fredericks testified that he saw the officer on Wilson's back strike Wilson in the head with his weapon. Fredericks testified that he said, `Hey, what are [you] doing?' Fredericks identified the defendant from a photographic array as the officer whom he had seen strike Wilson in the head with a revolver. O'Callaghan testified that, contrary to the statement in his written report and contrary to the reports that the defendant and Middleton had filed, he was not the first officer to confront Wilson at the scene. Rather, he arrived after Wilson already was out of the truck and on the ground. [25] O'Callaghan testified that when he arrived, Wilson had his hands beneath him, and that Middleton and the defendant were attempting, unsuccessfully, to grab Wilson's arms so that they could handcuff him. O'Callaghan testified that he asked Wilson to release his arms and, when Wilson failed to comply, O'Callaghan hit him on the shoulder with his baton. O'Callaghan further testified that the defendant had told him shortly after the incident that he previously had been involved with internal affairs, [26] and that he had been in a couple of situations and he didn't want to be involved with this one. According to O'Callaghan, the defendant asked him to write a report that would justify Wilson's injuries. The defendant then told O'Callaghan that Wilson came out of the [truck] fighting ... [and] throwing punches, that the defendant and the other officers weren't able to control [Wilson], and that they therefore had to put him down onto the ground where he continued to struggle and fight. O'Callaghan agreed to state in his report that, after Wilson had pulled his truck over onto the curb, he was the first officer to arrive and, further, that Wilson had attacked him in the manner described by the defendant in his report. O'Callaghan also stated in his report that he had attempted to subdue Wilson by striking him on the right shoulder with his baton, but that Wilson had ducked and, as a result, O'Callaghan struck Wilson in the head. Finally, O'Callaghan testified that, before Middleton had drafted her report, he told her what he was planning to write in his own report. Several witnesses testified for the defense, including Samsel. Samsel testified that he was riding with Fredericks, whom Samsel was supervising, on the evening of the incident. According to Samsel, when he and Fredericks arrived at the scene, Wilson was on the ground struggling with several officers. Samsel saw a uniformed arm strike Wilson with a shiny object in the area of Wilson's left arm. Samsel also observed other officers strike Wilson. According to Samsel, however, he was unable to identify any of the officers who had struck Wilson. The defendant testified in his own defense. According to the defendant, he believed that everything in his report was true when he wrote it. He further testified that he had not conspired either with O'Callaghan or Middleton to submit a false report or reports. The defendant did acknowledge, however, that, although he had indicated in his report that he personally had witnessed the events described therein, he actually had received some of the information contained in his report from O'Callaghan. In particular, the defendant acknowledged that, contrary to his report, he did not observe O'Callaghan pull Wilson from the cab of the pickup truck and did not observe Wilson strike O'Callaghan in the chest. The defendant testified that he had included that information in his report because O'Callaghan had told the defendant that that was what had happened. The defendant further testified that, although he had stated in his report that Wilson had struck him twice, Wilson actually was facedown on the ground at that time and [i]t may have been other officers who had struck the defendant. The defendant also acknowledged that he struck Wilson at least once, perhaps, twice, with his gun, and that it was possible that he also struck Wilson with his baton, but that he had failed to include this information in his report.