The state’s Appellate Court denied an appeal from a man convicted of a 2012 Derby murder.
Cordaryl Silva, who is serving a 53-year prison sentence for the killing of Javon Zimmerman in a bar parking lot in Derby, had asked for a new trial. Silva said a judge at Superior Court in Milford should have let him represent himself during his 2014 murder trial.
The appeal also asked the guilty verdict against him set aside. Silva argued a prosecutor should not have been allowed to ask a police detective whether Silva denied being the shooter, or refer later to the answer during closing arguments.
A panel of three Appellate Court judges heard the appeal in Hartford during a hearing March 7.
Click here to read more about the hearing.
And click here to read more about the case.
In a 20-page June 14 ruling, the Appellate Court said the judge who presided over Silva’s murder trial acted properly.
First, they concluded Judge Denise Markle properly backed up her reasons for denying Silva’s requests to represent himself.
“The trial court determined that the defendant’s reasons for wanting to represent himself would ultimately waste the court’s time and be prejudicial to the defendant,” the decision reads.
“We therefore find no basis to conclude that the trial court abused its discretion,” the decision adds later.
The Appellate Court also ruled that the prosecutor’s questioning and closing argument “was not a violation of (Silva’s) fifth and fourtheen amendment privilege against self-incrimination.”
The ruling noted Silva answered some questions while being questioned by the detective.
“The defendant did not refuse to answer any questions about the crime, and in fact, was quite forthcoming about details relating to his relationship with the victim and his presence at the scene of the murder,” the decision notes.
Silva was “selectively silent” only on one question, the decision says — so he wasn’t really invoking his right to remain silent.
“He continued to answer questions thereafter and did not stop the interview,” the decision says.
The document is posted below.
