State v. Christian3/9/2004
The defendant, Bruce R. Christian, Jr., appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of manslaughter in the second degree with a motor vehicle in violation of General Statutes § 53a-56b (a), operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor in violation of General Statutes (Rev. to 1999) § 14-227a (a) (2) (A), as amended by No. 99-255, § 1, of the 1999 Public Acts, and reckless driving in violation of General Statutes § 14-222 (a). The defendant claims that the trial court improperly: (1) permitted the defendant's wife, Joan Christian, to testify, over the defendant's objection, regarding his confidential marital communications to her; (2) refused to admit the testimony of a certain witness to show that the defendant's wife had a motive for falsely testifying against the defendant; and (3) refused to admit emergency medical "run sheets," as either prior inconsistent statements, or under the business record exception to the hearsay rule, to impeach emergency personnel who testified for the state. Although we agree with the defendant's first two claims, we nevertheless conclude that the trial court's improprieties were harmless. We disagree with the defendant's third claim. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. On the evening of March 17, 2000, the defendant went to a bar in Southwick, Massachusetts with the victim, Victoria Ryan, and the victim's roommate, Alexander Imperatrice. They arrived at the bar sometime between 9 and 9:30 p.m., whereupon the defendant, the victim and Imperatrice all consumed alcohol. At around 11 p.m., they left the bar and, with Imperatrice driving, proceeded to the victim's residence in Enfield, arriving there at approximately 11:30 p.m. Thereafter, the defendant and the victim told Imperatrice that they were "going back out," and at around 11:45 p.m., the two entered the victim's car, a 1996 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, and drove off, with the victim driving.
Sometime after midnight, Debra Wilson was traveling on Suffield Street in Windsor Locks when she noticed that the car in front of her did not have its headlights illuminated. The headlights remained unlit for approximately one mile before becoming illuminated somewhere near the border between the towns of Windsor Locks and Suffield. As Wilson continued on Suffield Street into the town of Suffield, she noticed that the car in front of her had increased its speed and was "pulling away" from her, although she herself was traveling at a rate of ten or fifteen miles above the posted speed limit. Soon thereafter, Wilson lost sight of the other car's taillights.
As Wilson continued on Suffield Street in a northerly direction, the road curved sharply to the right and passed under a railroad overpass. As Wilson approached the overpass, she observed that the guard posts along the left side of the road had been knocked down. She stopped her vehicle, whereupon she observed the victim's car resting under the railroad overpass, in a creek at the bottom of a six and one-half foot embankment off the side of the road, with steam rising from the front of the car. Wilson drove to her house, which was close to the scene of the accident, and called 911. She then returned to the accident scene and, standing at the edge of the embankment, pointed a flashlight at the victim's car. She yelled out that she had just called 911, and a male voice responded, "Thank you." According to Wilson, the voice sounded like it came from the male individual she observed sitting in the driver's seat, behind the steering wheel. Wilson asked the man if he was alright, and he responded, "We're okay." Wilson
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