Opinion ID: 1962224
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: the hearsay statement

Text: At trial the defendant offered in evidence a signed written statement given to a state policeman by John Ricciuti, owner of a bar which the defendant had visited the night of the murders. Ricciuti, a fugitive from New Jersey authorities, could not be located and was unavailable to testify. The statement indicated that the defendant was not drunk at 1 a.m., and therefore contradicted the testimony of Deborah Veilleux that the defendant had slurred speech and walked kind of staggered. The court refused to admit the Ricciuti statement on the ground that it was hearsay. Unquestionably the statement was hearsay, and therefore admissible only if permitted under some exception to the rule. Izzo v. Crowley, 157 Conn. 561, 563, 254 A.2d 904 (1969); see Tait & LaPlante, Handbook of Connecticut Evidence (1976) c. 11. The defendant has not shown or even argued that the Ricciuti statement comes within any exception recognized in Connecticut. See, e.g., State v. Gold, 180 Conn. 619, 630, 431 A.2d 501, cert. denied, 449 U.S. 920, 101 S. Ct. 320, 66 L. Ed. 2d 148 (1980); State v. DeFreitas, 179 Conn. 431, 450-51, 426 A.2d 799 (1980). Moreover, here, the trial court specifically found that there was no evidence that the circumstances surrounding the statement provide any sanction for ascertaining its truth ...; that is, the trial court did not find it trustworthy. [16] Nothing before us indicates that this determination was an abuse of discretion, and we find no error in the trial court's decision to exclude the statement.