Justia Civil Rights Opinion Summaries
Articles Posted in Connecticut Supreme Court
State v. Bryan
After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of assault in the first degree and attempt to commit assault in the first degree. Defendant appealed, arguing that the trial court erred by denying Defendant's request that the jury be instructed on the theory that Defendant was acting in defense of another. The appellate court reversed and remanded for a new trial, concluding that the trial court's refusal to charge the jury on the defense of others was improper. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the evidence in the record was insufficient to support Defendant's request to have the jury instructed on the defense of others, and therefore, the trial court properly refused to instruct the jury as requested. Remanded with direction to affirm the judgment of the trial court. View "State v. Bryan" on Justia Law
Comm’r of Envtl. Prot. v. Farricielli
This litigation was the latest chapter in the efforts of Plaintiffs, including the commissioner of environmental protection, to close and remediate an area known as the "tire pond," a solid waste disposal area on land owned by Defendants, an individual and various corporate entities he owned or controlled. The nonparty plaintiff in error, Corporation, which conducted its business on land leased from an industrial park that contained a portion of the tire pond, brought this writ of error from the judgment of the trial court ordering it to vacate that land in order to effectuate the environmental remediation that the trial court had ordered in the action underlying this writ of error. The Supreme Court dismissed the writ of error, holding that the trial court properly ordered Corporation to vacate where (1) the trial court had the authority to enforce the injunctions ordered in the underlying action against Corporation; (2) such an order was necessary to effectuate the remediation; and (3) the trial court's enforcement of the injunctive orders rendered in the underlying action against Corporation did not violate Corporation's due process rights. View "Comm'r of Envtl. Prot. v. Farricielli" on Justia Law
State v. Bennett
Defendant was charged with aiding and abetting murder, felony murder, home invasion, and burglary in the first degree. Defendant elected a trial to a three judge court. The panel found Defendant guilty on all of the charges. Defendant appealed, contending that there was insufficient evidence to convict him of aiding and abetting murder and that he did not knowingly waive his right to a jury trial. The Supreme Court (1) reversed in part with respect to Defendant's conviction of aiding and abetting murder, as the evidence was insufficient to convict Defendant on that count; and (2) concluded that Defendant's waiver of his right to a jury trial was valid. Remanded. View "State v. Bennett" on Justia Law
State v. Hill
After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder, capital felony, carrying a pistol without a permit, and criminal possession of a firearm. Defendant appealed, raising three claims relating to testimony and demonstrative evidence of his flight from police after the commission of the crimes, which were admitted as evidence of his consciousness of guilt. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that the prejudicial impact of the admission of the evidence of flight did not outweigh its probative value; and (2) Defendant failed to preserve his claim that the trial court improperly failed to give the jury a limiting instruction on uncharged misconduct evidence, and Defendant was not entitled to relief on this claim under the plain error doctrine or under the Court's supervisory authority. View "State v. Hill" on Justia Law
State v. Lavigne
After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of larceny in the second degree by embezzlement from a person who is sixty years of age or older. The court of appeals affirmed. Defendant appealed, contending that the trial court erred in instructing the jury that the ownership of funds in a jointly held account is a factual issue for the jury to resolve. Defendant argued that the instruction was improper because a joint holder of an account, as a matter of law, jointly owns the funds in the account and, consequently, cannot be charged with stealing those funds. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of conviction, holding that the trial court's jury instruction was legally correct, where the ownership of a joint account, as between its coholders, is not controlled by statute, but, rather, is a question of fact dependent on the intent of the joint account holders and all of the circumstances surrounding the joint account's creation and maintenance. View "State v. Lavigne" on Justia Law
State v. Thompson
Defendant entered a conditional plea of nolo contendere to the charge of possession of marijuana with intent to sell by a person who is not drug-dependent. Defendant entered the plea after the trial court denied his motion to suppress evidence obtained during a search of his recreational vehicle, which was parked on the property of Edward Jevarjian, and of Jevarjian's home and garage. The plea was conditioned on Defendant's right to appeal from the trial court's denial of the motion to suppress. The appellate court affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the appellate court, holding (1) the appellate court properly determined that the contested search was not unlawfully premature; and (2) the appellate court properly determined that Defendant lacked standing to challenge the search of Jevarjian's home and garage. View "State v. Thompson" on Justia Law
State v. Jevarjian
Defendant entered a conditional plea of nolo contendere to the charge of possession of marijuana with intent to sell by a person who is not drug-dependent. Defendant's plea was conditioned on his right to appeal the trial court's denial of his motions to suppress evidence obtained from a search of his home and of a recreational vehicle not belonging to him, which was parked on Defendant's property at the time of the search. The appellate court affirmed the judgment of conviction, determining that Defendant lacked standing to contest the search of the recreational vehicle. The Supreme Court granted Defendant's petition for certification to appeal, limited to the issue of whether the appellate court properly determined that the judge issuing the search warrant made a scrivener's error as to the time of execution. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, holding that because the issue of whether Defendant had standing to contest the search of the recreational vehicle was not before the Court, the resolution of the certified issue could yield no practical relief, and therefore, Defendant's appeal was moot. View "State v. Jevarjian" on Justia Law
State v. Custodio
Defendant appealed from the judgment of the appellate court affirming the findings and order of the trial court, which committed Defendant to the custody of the commissioner of mental health and addiction services and required Defendant to submit to periodic competency examinations. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the appellate court properly determined (1) Conn. Pub. Acts 98-88, 2, which amended Conn. Gen. Stat. 54-56d(m) by authorizing a court to order periodic competency examinations in certain circumstances, applied retroactively; (2) the trial court properly exercised in personam jurisdiction over Defendant when it conceded that Defendant had no notice of the proceeding that resulted in an arrest warrant for failure to appear; and (3) the trial court did not abuse its discretion in ordering periodic competency examinations when there was not a substantial probability that Defendant would regain competence. View "State v. Custodio" on Justia Law
State v. Henderson
Defendant appealed from the judgment of the trial court denying his motion to correct an illegal sentence on the ground that the sentence was imposed without the assistance of counsel in violation of his rights under the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Conn. Const. art I, 8. On appeal, Defendant contended that the trial court improperly concluded, in connection with accepting his nolo contendere pleas to numerous offenses and sentencing him to fifty-four months of imprisonment, that he had waived his right to counsel and was not indigent and therefore did not qualify for the services of a public defender. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the trial court properly determined that Defendant's decision to waive counsel was competently made, and knowing, intelligent, and voluntary; and (2) the trial court's conclusion that Defendant failed to carry his burden of proving his eligibility for public defender services was not clearly erroneous. View "State v. Henderson" on Justia Law
State v. Cameron M.
Defendant appealed from the judgment of the trial court, rendered after a jury trial, convicting him of one count of risk of injury to a child in violation of Conn. Gen. Stat. 53-21(a)(1) and one count of risk of injury to a child in violation of section 53-21-(a)(2). The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court, holding (1) the trial court properly admitted into evidence a video recording and transcript of a forensic interview of the victim as a prior inconsistent statement under the rule set forth in State v. Whelan, and Defendant's confrontation rights were not violated because the victim appeared a testified at trial, where she could have been subjected to cross-examination; and (2) the record was inadequate for review of Defendant's unpreserved double jeopardy claims. View "State v. Cameron M." on Justia Law