The mission of the Connecticut Judicial Branch is to serve the interests of justice and the public by resolving matters brought before it in a fair, timely, efficient and open manner.

Criminal Law Supreme Court Opinion

by Townsend, Karen

 

SC20925 - State v. Patrick M. (Murder; prosecutorial impropriety; double jeopardy; “The defendant had been previously convicted of the currently pending murder charge following a jury trial, as well as criminal possession of a firearm in violation of General Statutes § 53a-217 (a) (1) following a bench trial, resulting in a total effective sentence of fifty-five years of incarceration. This court reversed the defendant’s murder conviction and remanded the case for a new trial on that charge after determining that the prosecutor had improperly commented on the defendant’s post-Miranda silence at trial, violating his right to a fair trial under Doyle v. Ohio, 426 U.S. 610, 619, 96 S. Ct. 2240, 49 L. Ed. 2d 91 (1976). See State v. Patrick M., 344 Conn. 565, 569–70, 280 A.3d 461 (2022). The defendant argues that the double jeopardy clause of the fifth amendment to the federal constitution, which is applicable to the states through the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment; see, e.g., Benton v. Maryland, 395 U.S. 784, 794, 89 S. Ct. 2056, 23 L. Ed. 2d 707 (1969); bars a retrial because the prosecutor had violated Doyle with the intent to prevent an acquittal that the prosecutor believed was imminent absent the Doyle violation. We disagree and affirm the trial court’s decision.”)