State v. Cooper

In State v. Cooper, 38 Conn. App. 661, 664 A.2d 773, cert. denied, 235 Conn. 908, 665 A.2d 903 (1995), cert. denied, 517 U.S. 1214, 116 S. Ct. 1837, 134 L. Ed. 2d 940 (1996), the trial court permitted the jury to consider the results of a blood test to determine whether the defendant was guilty of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor in violation of 14-227a (a) (1) and (2). Id., 662-63. Section 14-227a (d) specifically provides that the test result is admissible in a prosecution for a violation of 14-227a (a) (1) "only at the request of the defendant," and it was conceded in Cooper that the defendant had not made such a request. Id., 672. The Court granted review in that case because noncompliance with a mandatory statutory provision constitutes plain error, and this court concluded that the trial court's instruction constituted an extraordinary situation in which the error was so obvious that the fairness, integrity of and public confidence in the judicial process would be impaired were this court to fail to address the issue. Id., 673.