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 Slip Opinion

by Booth, George

 

SC20250 - State v. Manuel T. ("Following a jury trial, the defendant, Manuel T., was convicted of six counts of sexual assault and four counts of risk of injury to a child arising from the sexual abuse of his girlfriend's daughter, J. The defendant now appeals, upon our grant of his petition for certification, from the judgment of the Appellate Court affirming the judgment of conviction. See State v. Manuel T., 186 Conn. App. 51, 53, 198 A.3d 648 (2018). On appeal, the defendant claims that the Appellate Court improperly upheld (1) the admission into evidence of a video recording of a forensic interview of J by a nonmedical professional under the medical diagnosis and treatment exception to the hearsay rule, ยง 8-3 (5) of the Connecticut Code of Evidence, because medical care was not the "primary purpose" of the interview, and (2) the exclusion of screenshot photographs of text messages purportedly sent by J to the defendant's niece on the ground that they had not been sufficiently authenticated. We disagree with the defendant's claim that a primary purpose standard applies to the medical treatment exception. We agree, however, that the Appellate Court incorrectly concluded that the trial court had properly excluded the text messages, and we further conclude that this evidentiary error requires a new trial. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the Appellate Court.")