State v. Morel-Vargas

STATE OF CONNECTICUT v. NUELITO MOREL-VARGAS (SC 20572) McDonald, D’Auria, Mullins, Kahn, Ecker and Keller, Js. Syllabus Convicted of the crime of sexual assault in the first degree, the defendant appealed. The defendant, a non-English speaker who required the use of an interpreter, did not testify in his own defense at trial. The prosecutor, before deciding whether to rest the state’s case, indicated that she would proceed directly to closing argument if the defense was not going to introduce any evidence. Defense counsel replied that he had had exten- sive conversations with the defendant…