Argued
April 10, 2019
Appeal
from the Superior Court, Judicial District of
Stamford-Norwalk, Blawie, J., of three counts of interfering
with an officer and disorderly conduct. Defendant appealed.
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Yoon
Chul Shin, self-represented, the appellant (defendant).
Sarah
Hanna, assistant states attorney, with whom, on the brief,
were Richard J. Colangelo, Jr., states attorney, and Daniel
E. Cummings, deputy assistant states attorney, for the
appellee (state).
Keller,
Bright and Beach, Js.
OPINION
KELLER,
J.
[193
Conn.App. 351] The self-represented defendant, Yoon Chul
Shin, appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered by
the trial court following a jury trial, of three counts of
interfering with an officer in violation of General Statutes
§ 53a-167a and one count of disorderly conduct in violation
of General Statutes § 53a-182. On appeal, the defendant
raises a plethora of claims. Primarily, he claims that (1) he
was illegally seized by the police because he was arrested
without probable cause or an arrest warrant; (2) the evidence
was insufficient to find him guilty of any of the crimes with
which he was charged because testimony elicited from police
officers at trial was fabricated; (3) the court improperly
admitted testimony from police officers about statements the
defendant made in a video he posted on the Internet; (4) the
court abused its discretion in denying his request to excuse
a prospective juror for cause during voir dire; (5) the court
violated his constitutional
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right to compulsory process by declining to issue a subpoena;
(6) the court improperly found him incompetent to stand trial
but restorable before later determining that he was
competent; [1] and (7) the court improperly imposed
on him as part of his conditional discharge a [193 Conn.App.
352] special condition that he stay out of the state of
Connecticut.[2] We dismiss the last claim as moot and,
with respect to the remaining claims, affirm the judgment of
the trial court.
On the
basis of the evidence adduced at trial, the jury reasonably
could have found the following facts. In August, 2016, the
Maccabi Games, an athletic event for Jewish athletes, were
held over a span of four days at West Hill High School
(school) in Stamford. On August 10, 2016, the Stamford Police
Department (department) received from the Stamford Jewish
Community Centers internal security staff a memorandum
alerting it that a suspicious individual from California,
later identified as the defendant, was driving a blue Toyota
Celica covered in white painted writing across the country to
various synagogues and that he may be seen around the school
during the Maccabi Games. Upon receipt of the memorandum, the
department forwarded it to the Federal Bureau of
Investigations (FBI) joint terrorism task force, which, in
turn, sent an email to the department stating that it had
opened an investigation of the defendant in Cincinnati, Ohio,
and that it found a video posted on the Internet by the
defendant in which he stated that he was in the process of
desecrating Jewish temples and that he was "on a mission
to rid the Jew ... of the planet." This information was
disseminated to the Stamford police officers assigned to
provide security at the Maccabi Games on August 11, 2016.
[193
Conn.App. 353] On the morning of August 11, 2016, Officer
Michael Montero alerted other officers via radio that he had
seen the defendants vehicle passing the school and
continuing north on Roxbury Road. After receiving the radio
call, Lieutenant Christopher Baker and Sergeant Steven
Perrotta drove north on Roxbury Road, where they eventually
observed the defendants parked vehicle blocking a
residential driveway directly across from Temple Beth El, a
Jewish temple. Lieutenant Baker and Sergeant Perrotta turned
on their vehicles overhead lights and pulled behind the
defendants vehicle. When Lieutenant Baker approached the
defendants vehicle, he noticed that the rear window was
covered in tin foil, making it impossible to see who or what
was in the vehicle. When Lieutenant Baker asked the defendant
for his drivers license and vehicle registration, the
defendant did not comply with his request. The defendant also
was agitated and repeatedly stated that he was only praying
and that the police had no right to stop him. Lieutenant
Baker observed on the dashboard of the defendants car two
pyramid shaped metal devices, one of which had 12 gauge wire
sticking out of it. When Lieutenant Baker asked about the
objects, the defendant stated that they were what he used to
desecrate the temples.
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Lieutenant Baker subsequently asked the defendant several
times to turn off his vehicles motor, but he refused.
Sergeant Perrotta then reached into the vehicle and shut it
off. Lieutenant Baker on several occasions ordered the
defendant out of his vehicle, but he repeatedly refused. Due
to the defendants noncompliance, Lieutenant Baker opened the
defendants door and extricated him from the vehicle.
Sergeant Felix Martinez, who had arrived to assist Lieutenant
Baker and Sergeant Perrotta, attempted to escort the
defendant to the back of his police vehicle. As he was being
placed in the back of the police vehicle, the defendant was
[193 Conn.App. 354] screaming anti-Semitic comments loud
enough to be overheard by a group of civilians who had
gathered near the scene. Sergeant Martinez and Sergeant
Perrotta attempted to place the defendant in the police car,
but the defendant braced himself against the vehicle to
prevent himself from being placed into the car. Eventually,
Sergeant Martinez and Sergeant Perrotta were able to
physically push the defendant into the police car.
On the
basis of the information provided by the FBI, the video made
by the defendant, the defendants behavior while interacting
with the police officers, and the pyramids on the dashboard
of the defendants car, Lieutenant Baker requested the
presence of a bomb sniffing dog to ensure that the
defendants car did not contain any explosives. Upon arrival,
the bomb sniffing dog indicated that explosives were either
present or had been present.[3] Accordingly, a safety
perimeter around the defendants vehicle was established
while it was being searched. As a precaution, children who
had been playing outside at a nearby school were evacuated
from the area. While the defendants vehicle was being
searched for explosives, the defendant was twice taken out of
Sergeant Martinez police car so that Sergeant Erin Trew
could question him about the pyramid devices on his
dashboard. During his second conversation with Sergeant Trew,
the defendant again began to scream obscenities and
anti-Semitic comments audible to a crowd of bystanders. The
defendant then was put in handcuffs and placed under arrest.
When Sergeant Martinez again tried to place the defendant
back in his police vehicle, the defendant began yelling and
screaming while he resisted attempts to be placed in the
vehicle. Due to the defendants resistance, Sergeant Trew
needed to go to the other side of the vehicle and pull the
defendant into the car. The defendant was thereafter
transported to the police station.
[193
Conn.App. 355] The defendant originally was charged with
breach of the peace in the second degree in violation of
General Statutes § 53a-181 and inciting injury to persons or
property in violation of General Statutes § 53a-179a. [See
file] In a substitute information filed before trial, the
defendant was charged with three counts of interfering with
...