State v. Ruocco
Annotate this CaseDefendant was found guilty by a jury of burglary in the third degree and larceny in the third degree. The Appellate Court reversed defendant's convictions, concluding that it was plain error for the trial court not to instruct the jury, as mandated by General Statutes 54-84 (b), that it may draw no unfavorable inferences from defendant's failure to testify. The court granted the state’s petition for certification to appeal, limited to the issue of whether the Appellate Court properly reversed defendant’s conviction under the plain error doctrine. The court concluded that, even if a violation of section 54-84 (b) is subject to harmless error analysis, the state cannot establish that the violation in the present case was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
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