State of Connecticut v. Stephen M. Sabato.

Summary

The court affirmed the Appellate Court's judgment, holding that the state could not sustain the defendant's attempt-to-interfere conviction by advancing a true-threat theory that it had not presented to the jury. Because the state relied at trial only on the defendant's instruction that Mason not cooperate with police, and that conduct was constitutionally protected, the conviction on that count could not stand. The court also held that the Facebook messages sufficiently established the defendant's belief that a criminal proceeding would probably occur, that Mason would probably testify, and that the defendant intended to influence or prevent that testimony.