State of Connecticut v. Peter Tarasco

Summary

The court affirmed the defendant’s murder conviction and fifty-year sentence, holding that the sentencing court did not impermissibly penalize him for testifying in his own defense by considering his drug dealing as an aggravating factor. The challenged information came from the presentence investigation report and was independently corroborated by other trial testimony, so the constitutional claim failed. PALMER, J., concurring, agreed with the result but separately concluded that a sentencing court may consider a defendant’s truthful adverse testimony without impermissibly burdening the right to testify.