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Criminal Law Supreme Court Opinion

by Zigadto, Janet

 

SC20335 - State v. Davis ("In State v. Davis, 338 Conn. 458, 460, 258 A.3d 633 (2021), this court agreed with the defendant, Brock Davis, that, on two separate occasions, the trial court improperly failed to inquire into whether defense counsel, Kirstin B. Coffin, had a conflict of interest. We therefore remanded the case to that court for a determination of whether Coffin did, in fact, have such a conflict and, if so, whether it adversely affected her representation of the defendant. Id., 460, 475. Because a new trial would have been required if the trial court answered these two questions in the affirmative, we did not reach the defendant’s additional claim that the trial court had improperly admitted into evidence testimony from lay witnesses identifying him in a surveillance video recording. Id., 479. In accordance with this court’s remand order, the trial court, following a hearing, determined that the defendant had failed to establish that Coffin was burdened by an actual conflict of interest that adversely affected her performance. On appeal, the defendant challenges that determination. We reject this claim, and, because we also reject the defendant’s remaining claim, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.")