Supreme Court of Connecticut
State v. Tomlinson
September 8, 2021340 Conn. 533
Summary
The court affirmed the defendant’s convictions for murder and carrying a pistol without a permit. It held that challenges to gang-related expert testimony and a rap music video were either unpreserved, abandoned, or harmless, and that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting photographs of mirror writings and a recording of an eyewitness’s immediate post-shooting statements. The court also explained limits on using hearsay as the basis for gang-expert opinions and encouraged safeguards against unfair prejudice from violent or gang-related media evidence.