Opinion ID: 2338879
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: admissibility of maps and testimony of woodward

Text: From the evidence presented at trial, the jury could reasonably have found that on the night of October 19, 1974, the defendant was seen at about 7:45 to 7:50 p.m. at the home of Jeffrey and Clifford Chamberland located at 629 High Road in Kensington, and that the murders occurred sometime between 8:10 and 8:45 that night. William Woodward, a Connecticut state policeman, testified for the state that, during the investigation following the murders, he was assigned to measure mileage and elapsed time between the High Road address and the murder scene, and that he in fact investigated two or three different routes between the two points. Over the objections of the defendant, the state was permitted to introduce into evidence Exhibits SSS and TTT, maps depicting the streets of Berlin and New Britain, respectively. Using the maps to illustrate his testimony, Trooper Woodward explained and pointed out one route that he in fact measured. He testified that his odometer reading indicated that, when traveling that route, the distance between the two points measured 4.9 miles. The admissibility of the maps and the admissibility of the above portions of Woodward's testimony constitute the defendant's next claims of error. In sum, the defendant argues that a proper foundation was not established by the state for the admission of the maps, and that the testimony of Woodward was irrelevant. The state does not dispute the fact that the maps offered into evidence were not established to be fair and accurate representations of the areas depicted as they were on October 19, 1974, since it was established only that the exhibits were accurate representations as of December 31, 1974. Rather, the exhibits were admitted solely for the limited purpose of assisting the jury in understanding the testimony of Woodward. Such evidence, which is illustrative of a witness' testimony, is admissible in the discretion of the court even though it is not drawn to scale and is not entirely accurate in its portrayal of the locus. Capone v. Sloan, 149 Conn. 538, 543, 182 A.2d 414. In view of the limitation placed upon these exhibits, as explained to the jury, [25] the court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the maps into evidence for the purpose of aiding the trier in understanding the evidence. Zaist v. Olson, 154 Conn. 563, 579, 227 A.2d 552; Dawson v. Davis, 125 Conn. 330, 332, 5 A.2d 703. Under the circumstances, [t]he accuracy of the [maps] was a proper subject for cross-examination and the fact that ... [they were] not ... authenticated accurate map [s] of the locality, did not render [them] inadmissible but only affected [their] weight. Hall v. Sera, 112 Conn. 291, 295,152 A. 148. We similarly find no error in the admissibility of the testimony of Trooper Woodward. The witness' testimony that was admitted for the consideration of the jury was that he traveled one route between the High Road address and the bakery which, according to the reading he observed on his automobile odometer, measured 4.9 miles. Woodward did not record the mileage on any other route between the two points, and, on cross-examination, conceded that there are alternate routes which he did not attempt to measure. When an offer of evidence is challenged as irrelevant, the court must test the strength of the inference between the fact to be proved and the fact in issue. This question of relevancy must be determined according to reason and judicial experience. Eason v. Williams, 169 Conn. 589, 591, 363 A.2d 1090. The testimony of Woodward tended to show that the distance between the Chamberland residence and the murder scene was relatively short, and, inferentially, that it could possibly be traveled in a comparatively short period of time. The admission of this testimony did not, under all the circumstances, constitute an abuse of the trial court's broad discretion in determining the relevancy of evidence. See State v. Carr, 172 Conn. 458, 464, 374 A.2d 1107.