State v. Maia

Opinion

FREEDMAN, J.

The defendant, Derek Maia, appeals from a judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54a (a).1 On appeal, the defendant claims that the trial court improperly (1) charged the jury that intoxication was relevant only to negate the specific intent required for murder and failed to instruct that it could also be affirmative proof of recklessness for the lesser included offenses, (2) shifted and diluted the state’s burden of proof in its charge on intoxication, (3) charged the jury regarding the statutory definition of…