State v. Johnson

A jury found the defendant, Douglas Johnson, guilty of murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54a (a),1 arson in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-111 (a) (1),2 and larceny *163in the sixth degree in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-119 and 53a-125b (a).3 The trial court thereupon sentenced him to a total effective sentence of eighty-five years and ninety days incarceration. On appeal from this judgment, the defendant claims that the trial court erred in: (1) admitting into evidence the testimony of five state’s witnesses whose taped statements had been destroyed…