State of Connecticut v. Luis Diaz

Summary

The court affirmed the defendant’s convictions for murder and two weapons offenses, holding that the trial court did not commit plain error by failing sua sponte to give special credibility instructions for three witnesses with criminal-justice involvement. The court declined to exercise supervisory authority to require such an instruction whenever a witness might receive a governmental benefit, while reaffirming that trial courts may give a cautionary instruction when the circumstances indicate that testimony may be particularly unreliable. PALMER, J., concurring, agreed with the result but would have required such an instruction in future cases whenever a government informer had a potential interest sufficient to motivate falsification.