State v. Vazquez

Argued May 27 Opinion The defendant, Juan Vazquez, appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of one count of murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54a, and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-48 and § 53a-54a. The defendant claims that he was denied a fair trial because of a repeated pattern of prosecutorial misconduct. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. The jury reasonably could have found the following facts. On the night of July 29, 1996, John Townsend, the victim, and John Okon went to a bar in Southington for a few drinks. At around midnight, the two decided to pool their money and attempt to buy some cocaine. They then drove to a housing project on Willow Street in New Britain. Okon remained in the car as the victim got out and approached some men to ask where cocaine might be purchased. After some discussion, the victim returned to the car with the cocaine. As they began to drive off, something hit the car, and the victim instructed Okon, who was driving, to stop. The victim exited the car to investigate. Moments later, Okon heard a shot, got out of the car and saw the victim lying on the ground, dead. Okon drove away from the scene until he found a police officer to whom to report the event.