State v. Andriulaitis
State v. Andriulaitis
Opinion
In
State
v.
Indrisano
,
The following day, Kalie, fearing for her safety, obtained a police escort to accompany her to 61 Curtiss Road to collect her belongings. Officer Michael Smegielski of the Plymouth Police Department met Kalie, as well as a few of Kalie's friends and family members, at 61 Curtiss Road. At that time, the defendant was present inside the residence with his mother and Mary Wysocki, a woman with whom the defendant had a long-standing close, personal relationship. Officer Smegielski arrived with Kalie and knocked on the front door, at which point the defendant instructed his mother and Wysocki "to stay in [an upstairs bedroom] and lock the door." When no one answered the front door, Kalie, using a key she had obtained from inside a vehicle in the garage, partially opened a door to the residence that was inside the garage, but did not enter because she saw the defendant inside.
Officer Smegielski, whose testimony the court credited at trial, testified that he called out to the defendant, intending to speak with him prior to Kalie entering the residence in order to avoid a confrontation. Officer Smegielski further testified that the defendant appeared from a room in the hallway and approached the door. According to Officer Smegielski, he was "angry" and was "shouting profanities," including "F*** you. She doesn't live here. I don't want her here." Officer Smegielski further testified that, at that point, he instructed Kalie to close the door, not to enter the home, and to "reconvene [with him] outside the garage [to] figure out what's going on." As a result of the defendant's conduct, Kalie never entered into 61 Curtiss Road and never retrieved her belongings.
The defendant was charged in a substitute long form information with disorderly conduct in violation of § 53a-182 2 and two counts of criminal lockout in violation of General Statutes § 53a-214. Following a trial, 3 the court found the defendant guilty of disorderly conduct and not guilty on the two counts of criminal lockout. The court imposed a sentence of three months imprisonment, execution suspended, and one year of probation. The court explained its reasoning for finding the defendant guilty of disorderly conduct, in relevant part, as follows: "[A] key piece of evidence in my mind was the testimony of ... Wysocki quoting the defendant as saying before Kalie came up to the house, the defendant said stay in the room and lock the door. This to me reveals that the defendant knew, intended and/ or planned a confrontation. From that point, the accounts of the incident varied from witness to witness, but I credit [Officer Smegielski's] version of the incident ...." The court found that "[b]ased on [Officer Smegielski's] testimony, primarily, what followed once Kalie came to the door was a tirade from the defendant, a tirade of profanities and untruths such as Kalie does not live here. All of this, including the defendant's comments to ... Wysocki, reveals the defendant's intent to cause inconvenience, annoyance or alarm in engaging in offensive or disorderly conduct." This appeal followed.
The defendant claims that "the court did not find-and the evidence would not support a finding-that the defendant's conduct was 'grossly offensive, under contemporary community standards, to a person who actually overhear[d] it or [saw] it,' " as required under
State
v.
Indrisano
, supra,
"The standard of review employed in a sufficiency of the evidence claim is well settled. [W]e apply a two part test. First, we construe the evidence in the light most favorable to sustaining the verdict. Second, we determine whether upon the facts so construed and the inferences reasonably drawn therefrom the [finder of fact] reasonably could have concluded that the cumulative force of the evidence established guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. ... This court cannot substitute its own judgment for that of the [finder of fact] if there is sufficient evidence to support the [finder of fact's] verdict." (Internal quotation marks omitted.)
State
v.
Mann
,
We begin by reviewing the individual components of § 53a-182 (a) (2) as defined by the court in
Indrisano
. Section 53a-182 (a) provides in relevant part: "A person is guilty of disorderly conduct when, with intent to cause inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof, such person ... (2) by offensive or disorderly conduct, annoys or interferes with another person ...." The court in
Indrisano
held that § 53a-182 (a) (2) was unconstitutionally vague on its face;
State
v.
Indrisano
, supra,
At the outset, we reject the defendant's argument that his conviction should be reversed because the court, in articulating the factual and evidentiary bases in support of its guilty verdict, did not explicitly find that the defendant's conduct was grossly offensive under contemporary community standards.
6
First, this contention ignores the principle that, when reviewing a trial court's legal determinations, "we presume that the trial court ... undertook the proper analysis of the law and the facts." (Internal quotation marks omitted.)
Elm City Cheese Co.
v.
Federico
,
Moreover, in relying on the court's failure to reference the
Indrisano
gloss as a basis for a reversal of his conviction, the defendant misapprehends our standard of review for sufficiency of the evidence claims. In ruling on such claims, "the relevant question is whether, after viewing
the evidence
in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt." (Emphasis added; internal quotation marks omitted.)
State
v.
Louis
,
The defendant next argues that the evidence introduced at trial was insufficient to convict him of disorderly conduct. He specifically contends that the state adduced evidence merely that he refused to permit his adult daughter from entering her home to collect her belongings, and that he did so by utilizing a raised voice and a single curse word, which does not amount to conduct that is grossly offensive under contemporary community standards. We are not persuaded.
As previously noted, § 53a-182 (a) (2) proscribes "offensive or disorderly conduct" that annoys or interferes with another person. " '[O]ffensive or disorderly conduct' " is "conduct that is grossly offensive, under contemporary community standards, to a person who actually overhears it or sees it."
State
v.
Indrisano
, supra,
In determining whether the use of vulgar language is sufficiently offensive to give rise to the crime of disorderly conduct, "ordinarily, not only the words used, but also all of the surrounding circumstances, must be considered; and generally on a case-by-case basis. Among these surrounding circumstances are the manner of the occurrence, the repetition of the remarks, and the relationship of the persons involved." (Footnotes omitted.) 27 C.J.S. 444, Disorderly Conduct § 4 (2009). "Not all language that is vulgar, obscene, offensive, or insulting rises to the level of disorderly conduct. Conversely, the use of language that in certain situations would not constitute the offense, may in others be subject to prosecution." (Footnotes omitted.) Id., pp. 444-45. Whether particular conduct is grossly offensive under contemporary community standards is a question for the fact finder; the state need not present evidence that a witness to the conduct was grossly offended by it. See
State
v.
Scott
, supra,
In the present case, we conclude, after a careful review of the record, that the state introduced sufficient evidence to prove that the defendant engaged in conduct that was grossly offensive under contemporary community standards. The court heard evidence that, immediately before confronting Kalie and Officer Smegielski, the defendant instructed his mother and Wysocki to stay in an upstairs bedroom and lock the door, suggesting, as the court found, that the defendant intended or planned to enter into a confrontation. Officer Smegielski testified that when he and Kalie opened the door to 61 Curtiss Road, the defendant "came from the room" in a hallway, was "angry" and uncooperative, was "shouting profanities," and at one point shouted: "F*** you. She doesn't live here. I don't want her here." Given this
testimony, the court reasonably could have inferred not only that the defendant used profane and vulgar
language in his encounter with Kalie and Officer Smegielski, but also that he shouted a multitude of profanities at them and was untruthful about whether Kalie still lived there. The court also could have inferred from this evidence, as well as the evidence of the defendant's statements to his mother and Wysocki immediately before the incident, that the defendant was shouting the profanities in an angry and visibly threatening manner for the purpose of deterring Kalie from entering the residence to collect her personal belongings, an activity the defendant concedes Kalie had a lawful right to do. Indeed, the defendant's conduct prompted Officer Smegielski to instruct Kalie to remove herself from the situation, rather than attempt to press the matter, further demonstrating that the defendant's demeanor was manifestly aggressive. The cumulative force of this evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to sustaining the conviction, provides a sufficient basis for a reasonable fact finder to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant intended to, and did, impede Kalie's ability to engage in the admittedly lawful activity of retrieving her personal belongings, and that he accomplished this result through conduct that is grossly offensive under contemporary community standards.
8
See
State
v.
Indrisano
, supra,
Finally, we note that the fighting words limitation does not apply in this case because the defendant's conduct did not consist purely of speech. "Our Supreme Court has held that verbal statements, unaccompanied by physical violence, are considered 'violent tumultuous or threatening behavior' [for purposes of § 53a-182 (a) (1) ] when they amount to 'fighting words that portend physical violence.' "
State
v.
Parnoff
,
The judgment is affirmed.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.
General Statutes § 53a-182 (a) provides in relevant part: "A person is guilty of disorderly conduct when, with intent to cause inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof, such person ... (2) by offensive or disorderly conduct, annoys or interferes with another person ...."
Although the substitute long form information does not indicate under which subdivision of § 53a-182 (a) the defendant was charged, it specifically alleges that on February 10, 2013, the defendant, with the intent to cause inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, "did annoy or interfere with Kalie ... by denying her access to her dwelling unit and personal possessions," which tracks the language of § 53a-182 (a) (2). (Emphasis added.) See footnote 1 of this opinion. Furthermore, the court found the defendant guilty of disorderly conduct by relying on the language of § 53a-182 (a) (2), although it did not specifically reference that subsection when explaining its verdict, and both parties in this appeal understand this case as arising under § 53a-182 (a) (2). Accordingly, we analyze the issues raised in this appeal under § 53a-182 (a) (2).
At the conclusion of the state's case-in-chief, the defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal, which the court denied.
We note that the defendant's legal sufficiency claim is limited to whether the state introduced sufficient evidence to support the court's finding that the defendant's conduct was "offensive or disorderly" under the interpretive gloss set forth in
Indrisano
. The defendant explicitly concedes that his conduct "annoyed or interfered with another person" as that phrase was defined in
Indrisano
. At oral argument before this court, the defendant agreed that as a result of his conduct, Kalie "was prevented from doing something
she had a lawful right to do
," namely, enter into 61 Curtiss Road to collect her belongings. (Emphasis added.) See
State
v.
Indrisano
, supra,
The defendant also states, in the headings of his briefs, that "the facts found by the court do not constitute the crime of disorderly conduct," but does not explain or provide any analysis in support of this argument. Accordingly, to the extent the defendant intends this statement to constitute a separate claim or argument, we deem it inadequately briefed and do not address it. See
State
v.
Wahab
,
The defendant argues that the court's failure to consider
Indrisano
amounts to an abuse of discretion. As previously noted, however, we interpret the defendant's claim on appeal as a challenge to the legal sufficiency of the evidence, and abuse of discretion is not the standard of review applicable to such claims. See
State
v.
Mann
, supra,
To the contrary, another of the court's factual findings affirmatively suggests that it
did
consider
Indrisano
. It found that, by preventing Kalie from entering 61 Curtiss Road, the defendant's conduct "interfer[ed] with Kalie in a lawful request to ... retrieve her personal belongings," which mirrors the
Indrisano
definition of the phrase "annoys or interferes with another person" as meaning "disturbs or impedes the lawful activity of another person." (Internal quotation marks omitted.)
State
v.
Indrisano
, supra,
The defendant's reliance on
State
v.
Scott
, supra,
"
Indrisano
avoided first amendment difficulties that would criminalize mere verbal speech by clarifying that a conviction under § 53a-182 must be based on a defendant's conduct rather than on a defendant's statements."
State
v.
McKiernan
,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STATE of Connecticut v. William ANDRIULAITIS
- Cited By
- 9 cases
- Status
- Published