Opinion ID: 2338879
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: admissibility of weapons

Text: Over the objections of the defendant, the state was allowed to introduce into evidence Exhibit BBB, a 16 gauge sawed-off shotgun, and Exhibit CCC, a P-38 9 mm. pistol, alleged to have been used in the commission of the crimes, which, the defendant claims, constituted reversible error. Of the six persons found dead at the scene of the crimes on October 19, 1974, one, John Salerni, had been slain by a shotgun blast and each of the others was killed by a bullet. During the investigation of the scene on that night, the following items were discovered by the police and were admitted into evidence at the trial: four 9 mm. bullets, one taken from the body of one of the victims; six 9 mm. casings, three of which were found on or near two victims' bodies; a lead fragment, found near Salerni's body; a fiber wad from a shotgun shell taken from Salerni's skull; lead slug fragments, fiber wad, plastic powder gas check and black materials found in the cellar directly below a floor tile with a hole in it near the body of Salerni; and lead fragments taken from Salerni's body at the autopsy. At the trial, Christian D. Noury testified that he had been in possession of a P-38 pistol which the defendant and Schrager borrowed from him, with some cartridges, shortly before October 19, 1974, and that the defendant had indicated to Noury his desire to buy a shotgun. According to Noury, on October 17, 1974, the defendant and his companion bought an old 16 gauge double-barrel shotgun and obtained two shotgun shells from William Mindek. Noury identified Exhibit BBB as the shotgun which Mindek sold to the defendant; Mindek identified the shotgun as the one which had belonged to him and which he had sold to the defendant; and Donna Avery testified that she recognized Exhibit BBB as a shotgun which Mindek had owned and which the defendant had in his possession on October 16 or 17, 1974. As related in Part VIII, infra, Noury further testified: on the night of October 19, 1974, he observed the defendant holding under a faucet what appeared to be the pistol the defendant had obtained from him and washing something red off it; Schrager handed the defendant the shotgun which Mindek had sold to him; at the defendant's request, Noury drove him to a point where they stopped by a pond; the defendant took a bandanna from his head and put the pistol and some wallets in it and left the car, returning without them; and the two then drove back to New Britainthe defendant having possession of the shotgun during the drive. Testimony presented by the state also revealed that on October 22, 1974, the defendant went to the residence of Clifford Chamberland and Jeffrey Chamberland and asked Clifford if he had found the gun. Thereupon, the defendant went into Jeffrey's bedroom and returned with a shotgun, after which he was told by Clifford that he could leave the gun in the bedroom. The shotgun, identified as Exhibit BBB, was turned over to the police on November 7, 1974, by Jeffrey Chamberland. On November 20, 1974, a state police scuba diver recovered a bandanna from the pond to which Noury had driven the defendant on the night of October 19. Inside the bandanna were some wallets belonging to the male victims of the murders and the P-38 pistol. In his appeal to this court, the defendant argues that the admission of the shotgun and pistol into evidence was erroneous since the shotgun was irrelevant to the crime for which the defendant was on trial, [10] and since the state failed to sustain its burden of proof on the chain of custody of both the shotgun and the pistol. The trial court has broad discretion in determining the relevancy of evidence. Johnson v. Newell, 160 Conn. 269, 277, 278 A.2d 776; State v. Carnegie, 158 Conn. 264, 273, 259 A.2d 628, cert. denied, 396 U.S. 992, 90 S. Ct. 488, 24 L. Ed. 2d 455; State v. Smith, 157 Conn. 351, 355, 254 A.2d 447.... `Evidence is admissible when it tends to establish a fact in issue or to corroborate other direct evidence in the case.... No precise and universal test of relevancy is furnished by the law, and the question must be determined in each case according to the teachings of reason and judicial experience. State v. Towles, 155 Conn. 516, 523, 235 A.2d 639; Pope Foundation, Inc. v. New York, N.H. & H. R. Co., 106 Conn. 423, 435, 138 A. 444.' Federated Department Stores, Inc. v. Board of Tax Review, 162 Conn. 77, 82, 291 A.2d 715. State v. Schaffer, 168 Conn. 309, 317, 362 A.2d 893. Contrary to the defendant's assertion, the present case does not involve a situation where there was no evidence presented suggesting that the shotgun, Exhibit BBB, had any connection with the case. See State v. Ferraro, 160 Conn. 42, 45, 273 A.2d 694. In addition to the testimony and evidence noted previously, a witness for the state identified items found at the scene of the murders, including items taken from the body of Salerni, as components of .16 gauge shotgun shells. The fact that the evidence presented by the state did not scientifically establish that Exhibit BBB was the shotgun used in the commission of these crimes did not render this evidence inadmissible when viewed in light of all the other evidence tending to support the reasonable inference that it was in fact the same weapon. See State v. Brown, 168 Conn. 610, 616, 362 A.2d 910; State v. Groos, 110 Conn. 403, 407-408, 148 A. 350; State v. Warren, 292 N.C. 235, 239, 232 S.E.2d 419; 40 Am. Jur. 2d, Homicide, § 414. We find no error in the trial court's exercise of its broad discretion in determining the relevancy of Exhibit BBB; the weight to be accorded such evidence was properly for the consideration of the jury. See State v. Brown, supra, 617-18. Similarly we reject the defendant's claim that both the pistol and the shotgun were rendered inadmissible because of the state's failure to sustain its burden of proof regarding the chain of custody of these items. As a general rule, it may be said that the prosecution is not required or compelled to prove each and every circumstance in the chain of custody beyond a reasonable doubt; the reasonable doubt must be to the whole evidence and not to a particular fact in the case. United States v. Hall, 198 F.2d 726, 730-31 (2d Cir.); 30 Am. Jur. 2d, Evidence § 1172; 53 Am. Jur., Trial § 771.... There is no hard and fast rule that the prosecution must exclude or disprove all possibility that the article or substance has been tampered with; in each case the trial court must satisfy itself in reasonable probability that the substance had not been changed in important respects. United States v. S. B. Penick & Co. [136 F.2d 413, 415 (2d Cir.)]. The trial court must also decide under the same test of reasonable probability whether the identification and nature of contents is sufficient to warrant its reception in evidence. United States v. Clark [425 F.2d 827, 833 (3d Cir.)]; United States v. Gallego [276 F.2d 914, 917 (9th Cir.)]; United States v. S. B. Penick & Co., supra. The court must consider the nature of the article, the circumstances surrounding its preservation and custody and the likelihood of intermeddlers tampering with it in making its determination; and there is no rule which requires the state to produce as witnesses all persons who were in a position to come into contact with the substance sought to be introduced in evidence. United States v. Gallego, supra. The ruling of the trial judge may not be overturned except for a clear abuse of discretion. United States v. Von Roeder, 435 F.2d 1004, 1008 (10th Cir.); United States v. Clark, supra; United States v. Gallego, supra. State v. Johnson, 162 Conn. 215, 232-33, 292 A.2d 903; State v. Chesney, 166 Conn. 630, 638, 353 A.2d 783, cert. denied, 419 U.S. 1004, 95 S. Ct. 324, 42 L. Ed. 2d 280; see McCormick, Evidence (2d Ed.) § 212. Under all the circumstances, we find no such clear abuse of the trial court's discretion in admitting the weapons into evidence.