State v. Tilus ( 2016 )

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STATE OF CONNECTICUT v. TINESSE TILUS
(SC 19503)
Rogers, C. J., and Palmer, Eveleigh, McDonald, Espinosa and Robinson, Js.
Argued November 14—officially released December 27, 2016
Mark Rademacher, assistant public defender, with
whom, on the brief, was Janice N. Wolf, assistant public
defender, for the appellant (defendant).
Emily D. Trudeau, assistant state’s attorney, with
whom, on the brief, were John C. Smriga, state’s attor-
ney, and Joseph J. Harry, senior assistant state’s attor-
ney, for the appellee (state).
Opinion
PER CURIAM. Following a jury trial, the defendant,
Tinesse Tilus, was convicted of robbery in the first
degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-134 (a) (2)
in connection with an incident in Bridgeport in 2011.
The trial court sentenced him to a term of twelve years
incarceration, execution suspended after eight years,
followed by four years of probation. The defendant
appealed from the judgment of the trial court to the
Appellate Court, claiming, among other things, that: (1)
the trial court failed to secure a valid waiver of his
constitutional right to conflict free representation; and
(2) the prosecutor violated the defendant’s right to a
fair trial by committing several improprieties in closing
and rebuttal arguments to the jury. The Appellate Court
affirmed the judgment of the trial court, holding that the
defendant’s waiver was valid and that the prosecutor’s
isolated improper statements did not deprive the defen-
dant of a fair trial in light of its consideration of the
factors set forth in State v. Williams, 204 Conn. 523,
540, 529 A.2d 653 (1987). State v. Tilus, 157 Conn. App.
453, 460, 489, 117 A.3d 920 (2015). We then granted the
defendant’s petition for certification to appeal, limited
to the following issues: (1) ‘‘Did the Appellate Court
properly determine that the trial court secured a valid
waiver of the defendant’s constitutional right to conflict
free representation?’’; and (2) ‘‘Did the Appellate Court
properly determine that the prosecutor did not violate
the defendant’s right to a fair trial in the prosecutor’s
closing argument?’’ State v. Tilus, 317 Conn. 915, 117
A.3d 854 (2015).
After examining the entire record on appeal and con-
sidering the briefs and oral arguments of the parties,
we have determined that the appeal in this case should
be dismissed on the ground that certification was
improvidently granted.
The appeal is dismissed.