(Download) "State v. Ramos" by The Supreme Court of the State of Connecticut * eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: State v. Ramos
- Author : The Supreme Court of the State of Connecticut
- Release Date : January 23, 2004
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 64 KB
Description
Argued April 15, 2004 Opinion The defendant, Nelson Ramos, was convicted after a jury trial on charges of assault in the second degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-60 (a) (2)1 and having a weapon in a motor vehicle in violation of General Statutes (Rev. to 1997) § 29-38.2 The Appellate Court reversed his conviction under § 29-38 on the ground that there was insufficient evidence that the defendant had possession of the weapon, a hammer, in his vehicle with the intent to use it as a dangerous instrument. State v. Ramos, 70 Conn. App. 855, 863, 800 A.2d 631 (2002). On appeal to this court,3 the state challenges that determination. The defendant claims as an alternate ground for affirmance that there was insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the hammer was in the motor vehicle when he used it. The defendant also claims that, should the state prevail on its claim on appeal, this court should order a new trial because: (1) the trial court improperly instructed the jury that the affirmative defense of self-defense did not apply to a charge of having a weapon in a motor vehicle under § 29-38; and (2) as applied in the present case, § 29-38 violates a citizen's right to bear arms in self-defense as guaranteed by article first, § 15, of the constitution of Connecticut.4 We conclude that the Appellate Court improperly found that there was insufficient evidence to support the defendant's conviction under § 29-38. We also reject the defendant's alternate ground for affirmance and his claim that he is entitled to a new trial. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the Appellate Court. The opinion of the Appellate Court sets forth the following relevant facts and procedural history. ""In October, 1998, the victim, Emil Szymczak, was employed as the superintendent of an apartment building at 38 Main Street in New Britain. As part of his duties, Szymczak collected rent payments from tenants. On the evening of October 5, 1998, as he drove his car into the parking lot behind the apartment building, Szymczak saw the defendant, who resided in the building, sitting in a motor vehicle. Prior to that evening, Szymczak had attempted, without success, to collect overdue rent payments from the defendant. Szymczak walked to the defendant's vehicle and, through the open operator's side window, asked the defendant about the overdue rent. In response, the defendant handed Szymczak a piece of paper that presumably indicated that he was waiting for money from the state. As Szymczak was reading the paper, the defendant picked up a twenty ounce hammer that was in the vehicle and forcefully struck Szymczak with it twice on the forehead. Szymczak grabbed the hammer and struggled with the defendant for control of it. William Colon, a resident of the apartment building who witnessed the incident, called the New Britain police after both men called out to him to do so.
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