State v. Vertefeuille
State v. Vertefeuille
Opinion of the Court
The defendant, after a trial to the court, without a jury, was found guilty of driving an automobile recklessly, in violation of G-eneral Statutes § 14-222, and has appealed from the judgment. His sole assignment of error is that the court could not, upon all the evidence, have found him guilty of the crime charged beyond a reasonable doubt. No finding was requested or made, nor was one necessary. Practice Book § 995. Hnder such an assignment, this court examines all the evidence as disclosed by the transcript of evidence filed by the appellant.
The essential facts are not seriously disputed. On July 14,1965, at about 5:45 p.m., the complaining
Both on trial and on appeal the parties confined themselves to the portion of § 14-222 which reads: “(a) No person shall operate any motor vehicle upon any public highway of the state . . . recklessly, having regard to the width, traffic and use of such highway, . . . the intersection of streets and the weather conditions.” The only question before us is whether the defendant’s conduct constituted reckless driving. We are not concerned with what the motives or intentions of the defendant might have been or whether he meant to do harm, attract attention, inject consternation, inspire fear, make way for himself in his haste, or indulge his ebullience in what to
The testimony of the defendant that the bump occurred when he was forced back into his line of traffic by an oncoming car, appearing suddenly and unexpectedly, the trial court could believe or disbelieve. It was a matter of credibility. At most it might tend to account for one of three successive and similar incidents. This could lead reasonably to the conclusion of the trial court that the defendant’s acts amounted to a persistent course of conduct after a warning of danger, that this conduct was wilful and intentional, and that the defendant was guilty of reckless driving as defined in the statute. Cf. State v. Frowein, 3 Conn. Cir. Ct. 21, 25.
There is no error.
In this opinion Kinmonth and Levine, Js., concurred.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.