Connecticut Supreme Court Decisions 2019
Date: December 31, 2019
Docket Number: SC20071
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the trial court with respect to an award of damages, holding that Conn. Gen. Stat. 51-183c applies when the Supreme Court reverses the trial court's judgment as to damages only…
Date: December 31, 2019
Docket Number: SC20087
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the appellate court affirming Defendant's conviction of conspiracy to commit robbery in the first degree, holding that there was no clear, obvious or indisputable error…
Date: December 24, 2019
Docket Number: SC20042
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Appellate Court concluding that the record was inadequate to review Defendant's challenge under Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), to the prosecutor's exercise of a…
Date: December 24, 2019
Docket Number: SC20048
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Appellate Court upholding Defendant's conviction of felony murder on the basis of its rejection of his claim brought under Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), holding…
Date: December 17, 2019
Docket Number: SC19940
Justia Opinion Summary: In this breach of contract action, the Supreme Court reversed in part the trial court's judgment rendered in favor of Plaintiff as to his derivative claims, holding that Plaintiff lacked standing to bring them under the…
Date: December 17, 2019
Docket Number: SC20062
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Appellate Court affirming the trial court's judgment rendered in favor of Defendant after the jury found that, although Defendant had perpetrated an intentional assault and…
Date: December 10, 2019
Docket Number: SC20136
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the habeas court denying Petitioner's successive petition for a writ of habeas corpus, holding that the State's failure to correct certain testimony deprived Petitioner of a new…
Date: December 10, 2019
Docket Number: SC20137
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the habeas court denying Petitioner's successive petition for a writ of habeas corpus, holding that the State's failure to correct certain testimony deprived Petitioner of a new…
Date: December 10, 2019
Docket Number: SC20381
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court declining to order a new 2019 Democratic primary election for municipal office in the city of Bridgeport pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. 9-329a(b), holding that the…
Date: December 3, 2019
Docket Number: SC20129
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the Appellate Court reversing the judgment of the trial court after concluding that expert testimony was necessary to establish the standard of care in this negligence action,…
Date: November 26, 2019
Docket Number: SC19903
Justia Opinion Summary: In this writ of error the Supreme Court held that state courts lack jurisdiction to extend the automatic stay provision of the federal bankruptcy code, 11 U.S.C. 362(a)(1), to motions proceedings against nondebtor…
Date: November 26, 2019
Docket Number: SC20150
Justia Opinion Summary: In this complaint alleging that a residential loan servicer engaged in systematic misrepresentations and delays over several years of post default loan modification negotiations with mortgagors the Supreme Court affirmed…
Date: November 19, 2019
Docket Number: SC20215
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court dismissed this appeal from the trial court's conclusion that Plaintiff was entitled to a credit for income taxes that he paid in New York, thus reversing in part the decision of the Commissioner of…
Date: November 12, 2019
Docket Number: SC20119
Justia Opinion Summary: In this antitrust action alleging that Defendant, a quasi-public agency, engaged in a sham competitive bidding procedure and awarded a contract to a preselected entity for corrupt reasons and in violation of a…
Date: November 5, 2019
Docket Number: SC19972
Date: November 5, 2019
Docket Number: SC19972
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court dismissing Plaintiff's appeal from a decision of the Zoning Board of Appeals of the City of Stamford (zoning board) granting the application of Paul Breunich for…
Date: November 5, 2019
Docket Number: SC20078
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case concerning how pre-embryos created through in vitro fertilization should be distributed upon the divorce of their progenitors the Supreme Court reversed the trial court's judgment insofar as the court…
Date: October 29, 2019
Docket Number: SC20002
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Appellate Court affirming the judgment of the trial court denying Defendant's motion to suppress evidence of a firearm that police seized during an investigatory stop,…
Date: October 22, 2019
Docket Number: SC20204
Date: October 22, 2019
Docket Number: SC20204
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the habeas court denying Petitioner's second petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging his 1998 murder conviction, holding that the habeas court properly denied the…
Date: October 15, 2019
Docket Number: SC19954
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Appellate Court affirming the trial court's dismissal of Defendant's motion to correct an illegal sentence, holding that because Defendant is now eligible for parole under…
Date: October 15, 2019
Docket Number: SC20081
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the appellate court affirming the judgment of the trial court denying Defendant's motion to correct an illegal sentence, holding that the legislature may and has remedied the…
Date: October 15, 2019
Docket Number: SC20179
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the habeas court rendering judgment against Petitioner, a juvenile offender, on his claim that the evolution of Connecticut's "standards of decency" regarding acceptable…
Date: October 8, 2019
Docket Numbers: SC20000, SC20001, SC20003
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the appellate court affirming in part and reversing in part numerous interlocutory decisions made by the trial court in connection with the first and second phases of a trial…
Date: October 8, 2019
Docket Number: SC20151
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that in case a case involving the termination of parental rights where an indigent parent has a constitutional right to appellate counsel, appointed counsel may not be permitted to withdraw without…
Date: October 1, 2019
Docket Number: AC20097
Justia Opinion Summary: In this action to recover damages for personal injuries resulting from an allegedly defective product the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the trial court granting summary judgment in favor of Defendants, holding…
Date: September 24, 2019
Docket Number: SC19888
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, holding that there was no error in the trial court's evidentiary rulings. On appeal, Defendant argued that the trial court…
Date: September 17, 2019
Docket Number: SC19946
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the trial court granting Defendants' motions for summary judgment and dismissing Plaintiff's claim that Defendants' negligent disposal of cigarettes inside an abandoned,…
Date: September 17, 2019
Docket Number: SC20031
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the appellate court upholding Defendant's convictions for several offenses stemming from the sexual assault of his minor daughter, holding that the evidence was sufficient to…
Date: September 10, 2019
Docket Numbers: SC19809, SC19811
Date: September 10, 2019
Docket Numbers: SC19809, SC19811
Date: September 10, 2019
Docket Numbers: SC19809, SC19811
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the Appellate Court reversing Defendant's conviction for murder and three counts of capital felony and remanding the case for a new trial, holding…
Date: September 10, 2019
Docket Number: SC19841
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the Appellate Court concluding that Appellant's claim that his conviction violated the corpus delicti rule was unreviewable on appeal, holding that unpreserved corpus delicti…
Date: September 10, 2019
Docket Number: SC19968
Justia Opinion Summary: In this breach of contract and negligent infliction of emotional distress action the Supreme Court affirmed the appellate court's judgment affirming the trial court's judgment denying Defendant's motion for judgment…
Date: September 3, 2019
Docket Number: SC19971
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the trial court denying the City of Bridgeport's motion for summary judgment on Plaintiff's complaint that the City was negligent by failing to follow a local emergency service…
Date: September 3, 2019
Docket Number: SC20227
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court granting motions to dismiss Plaintiff's state law claims for vexatious litigation and unfair and deceptive business acts or practices during Plaintiff's…
Date: August 27, 2019
Docket Number: SC19934
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant of murder and risk of injury to a child, holding that none of Defendant's claims of error warranted reversal of his convictions. Defendant…
Date: August 27, 2019
Docket Number: SC19977
Justia Opinion Summary: In this medical negligence action, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court rendered in accordance with the court's granting of Defendants' motions to dismiss and for summary judgment, holding that the…
Date: August 27, 2019
Docket Number: SC20016
Justia Opinion Summary: In this dissolution of marriage action, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the appellate court reversing the decision of the trial court awarding appellate attorney's fees to Plaintiff under the bad faith…
Date: August 20, 2019
Docket Number: SC20131
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court determining that a money judgment against Department of Transportation had been satisfied, holding that the Department satisfied its judgment to White Oak…
Date: August 13, 2019
Docket Number: SC19929
Justia Opinion Summary: In this negligence action, the Supreme Court reversed the Appellate Court's decision determining that the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it denied Plaintiff's motion to set aside the jury verdict for…
Date: August 13, 2019
Docket Number: SC20067
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the Appellate Court affirming the trial court's judgment of strict foreclosure in favor of Plaintiff's mortgagee, U.S. Bank National Association, holding that the Appellate…
Date: August 13, 2019
Docket Number: SC20101
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed in part the judgment of the Appellate Court concluding that Defendant failed to establish that his Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses against him was violated at trial, holding that,…
Date: August 6, 2019
Docket Number: SC20075
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Appellate Court dismissing Appellant's appeal from the judgment of the habeas court denying Appellant's amended petition for a writ of habeas corpus, holding that Appellant…
Date: August 6, 2019
Docket Number: SC20133
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the trial court rendering summary judgment in favor of Defendants after concluding that Plaintiff's unjust enrichment claims were governed by Delaware law and were thus…
Date: August 6, 2019
Docket Number: SC20177
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court denying Defendant's petition seeking erasure of an earlier finding that he had violated his probation, holding that the trial court properly rejected Defendant's…
Date: July 30, 2019
Docket Number: SC20076
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court determining that Plaintiff's various statements and gestures regarding gun violence and mass shootings that led to his expulsion from the university were true…
Date: July 30, 2019
Docket Number: SC20084
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme dismissed the writ of error filed by Appellant, who was suspended from the practice of law before the appellate court for a six-month period, holding that an additional order issued by the appellate court in…
Date: July 30, 2019
Docket Number: SC20134
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of sexual assault in a cohabiting relationship, holding that alleged improper comments made by the prosecutor during closing argument and cross-examination did not…
Date: July 23, 2019
Docket Number: SC19938
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed in part the judgment of the appellate court affirming Defendant's conviction of two counts of assault in the first degree, holding that the evidence was insufficient to support Defendant's…
Date: July 23, 2019
Docket Numbers: SC20013, SC20014
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court in this action seeking, inter alia, to enforce a foreign judgment, holding that a plaintiff who is neither a party to a mortgage nor an intended beneficiary of…
Date: July 16, 2019
Docket Number: SC19783
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed Defendant's murder conviction and remanded the case for a new trial, holding that the trial court erred in denying Defendant's motion to suppress. Defendant was arrested for drug offenses and…
Date: July 16, 2019
Docket Number: SC19879
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case alleging negligence against a physician, the Supreme Court recognized a third-party cause of action for negligent misreporting of sexually transmitted disease (STD) test results, holding that a physician who…
Date: July 16, 2019
Docket Number: SC20041
Justia Opinion Summary: In this foreclosure action, the Supreme Court held that Defendants John Sanzo and Maria Sanzo were not entitled to the homestead exemption, which is available when a creditor forecloses on a judgment lien but not on a…
Date: July 9, 2019
Docket Number: SC19932
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Appellate Court affirming the trial court's judgment convicting Defendant of one count of possession of narcotics with intent to sell by a person who is not drug-dependent,…
Date: July 9, 2019
Docket Number: SC19983
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the trial court granting summary judgment in favor of Defendant on the grounds that the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970, 49 U.S.C. 20101 et seq., preempted Plaintiff's…
Date: July 2, 2019
Docket Number: SC20023
Justia Opinion Summary: In this negligence action, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Appellate Court affirming the trial court's grant of Defendants' motion for summary judgment, holding that Spitzer v. Waterbury, 154 A. 157 (Conn.…
Date: July 2, 2019
Docket Numbers: SC20049, SC20053
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court denying Father's postjudgment motion for a no contact order between his minor child and the child's maternal aunt, holding that Father failed to meet his burden…
Date: June 25, 2019
Docket Numbers: SC20032, SC20033, SC20036, SC 20034, SC 20035
Justia Opinion Summary: In this construction dispute between a property owner and a general contractor the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the appellate court that, in the absence of clear evidence of contrary intent by the parties,…
Date: June 25, 2019
Docket Number: SC20135
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Appellate Court upholding the trial court's grant of summary judgment to the municipal defendants in this personal injury action, holding that there was no genuine issue of…
Date: June 18, 2019
Docket Number: SC20043
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the Appellate Court reversing the judgment of the trial court dismissing the summary process action initiated by Landlord, holding that the the trial court properly concluded…
Date: June 18, 2019
Docket Number: SC20047
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the trial court insofar as it rendered judgment in Defendant's favor on counts alleging fraudulent transfer under the Connecticut Uniform Fraudulent…
Date: June 11, 2019
Docket Numbers: SC20025, SC20026, SC20027, SC20028
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed in part the judgment of the trial court against Defendants in this public nuisance suit, holding that Defendants' contractual undertaking with the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT)…
Date: June 4, 2019
Docket Number: SC20052
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the trial court denying Defendant's motion for remittitur after a jury awarded $1.2 million in noneconomic damages to Plaintiff, as the administratrix of the decedent's estate,…
Date: May 28, 2019
Docket Number: SC20019
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court in favor of Defendants and upholding the legality of assessments of Plaintiffs' properties following a revaluation - which was a mass appraisal - conducted by…
Date: May 21, 2019
Docket Number: SC20054
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the appellate court vacating the trial court's order denying David Salinas's motion for a protective order seeking to prohibit the Town of Redding from taking his deposition,…
Date: May 21, 2019
Docket Number: SC20061
Justia Opinion Summary: In certified appeal arising from a consolidated zoning appeal and enforcement action relating to a manufacturing facility the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Appellate Court reversing the judgment of the…
Date: May 14, 2019
Docket Number: SC19937
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case concerning the proper recipient of heart and hypertension benefits under Conn. Gen. Stat. 7-433c for permanent disability if such benefits vested and were payable during the claimant's lifetime but were not…
Date: May 14, 2019
Docket Number: SC20127
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the trial court determining that the prosecutor did not abuse her discretion in a manner clearly contrary to manifest public interest when she entered a nolle prosequi on the…
Date: May 7, 2019
Docket Number: SC19785
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed in part the judgment of the Appellate Court affirming Defendant's conviction of one count of murder, holding that the trial court should have dismissed rather than denied Defendant's motion for…
Date: May 7, 2019
Docket Number: SC19905
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that inmates charged in criminal cases, some of whose telephone calls and noncontact visits have been recorded and reviewed by the Department of Corrections, are not entitled, under Brady v.…
Date: April 30, 2019
Docket Number: SC19987
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the habeas court granting Petitioner's petition for a writ of habeas corpus, holding that Petitioner established good cause for failing to raise his claim at trial or on direct…
Date: April 30, 2019
Docket Number: SC20140
Justia Opinion Summary: In this dispute between the Board of Education of the Town of New Milford (Board) and the New Milford Education Association (Union) the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court denying the Board's…
Date: April 23, 2019
Docket Number: SC20130
Justia Opinion Summary: In this negligence case, the Supreme Court answered a question certified to it by a federal district court by concluding that the trial evidence was not legally sufficient to support the jury's finding that a continuing…
Date: April 23, 2019
Docket Numbers: SC20216, SC20217, SC20218
Justia Opinion Summary: In these public interest appeals arising from a mix-up at a high school polling place in the town of Stratford where approximately seventy-six voters received the incorrect ballots, rendering those voters unable to cast…
Date: April 16, 2019
Docket Number: SC19993
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that, in light of Patsy v. Board of Regents, 457 U.S. 496, 501 (1982), and its progeny, a plaintiff is not required to exhaust administrative remedies prior to filing a 42 U.S.C. 1983 claim in…
Date: April 16, 2019
Docket Number: SC20009
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the appellate court's decision affirming the trial court's judgment dismissing Plaintiff's appeal from the decree of the probate court monitoring use of a September 11th Victim Compensation…
Date: April 9, 2019
Docket Number: SC19974
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the trial court granting summary judgment in favor of Defendant, Southeastern Connecticut Water Authority, on the basis of a rule (Rule) promulgated by Defendant immunizing…
Date: April 9, 2019
Docket Number: SC19980
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the Appellate Court affirming Defendant's conviction, holding that Defendant's statements during interrogation did not meet the standard set forth in Davis v. United States, 512…
Date: April 9, 2019
Docket Numbers: SC20037, SC20038
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Appellate Court in this interlocutory appeal regarding what preclusive effective to give in this action to the findings and judgment rendered by an English court in a prior…
Date: April 2, 2019
Docket Number: SC19960
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgments of the trial court granting Defendant's motions to suppress all cell site location information (CSLI) obtained by the State as a result of three ex parte orders that had been…
Date: April 2, 2019
Docket Number: SC20004
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Compensation Review Board affirming the decision of the Workers' Compensation Commissioner concluding that Plaintiff was not an employee of Intervale Group, LLC for purposes…
Date: April 2, 2019
Docket Number: SC20157
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the trial court denying Defendant's motion to suppress evidence discovered by the police during the forcible detention of Defendant, holding that Defendant's detention violated…
Date: March 26, 2019
Docket Number: SC19885
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Appellate Court concluding that the improper exclusion of P's testimony during the underlying criminal proceedings was not harmless, holding that the testimony was necessary…
Date: March 19, 2019
Docket Numbers: SC19832, SC19833
Date: March 19, 2019
Docket Numbers: SC19832, SC19833
Justia Opinion Summary: In this action brought by the administrators of the estates of nine people killed in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the Supreme Court held that the trial court properly determined that, although the trial…
Date: March 5, 2019
Docket Number: SC19788
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Appellate Court affirming Defendant’s judgment of conviction, holding that the evidence was sufficient to support Defendant’s conviction for attempt to commit murder under…
Date: February 26, 2019
Docket Number: SC19947
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Appellate Court affirming the judgment of the trial court denying Defendant’s motion to correct on illegal sentence, holding that the Appellate Court’s thorough and well…
Date: February 26, 2019
Docket Number: SC20063
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Appellate Court reversing the judgments of the trial court denying the petitions filed by the maternal grandmother (Petitioner) for termination of Father's parental rights…
Date: February 19, 2019
Docket Number: SC20160
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court dismissed this writ of error brought by the plaintiffs in error seeking to protect their rights with respect to the judgment of the trial court that was challenged on appeal in Independent Party of…
Date: February 19, 2019
Docket Number: SC20165
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court for Defendants Michael Telesca and Rocco Frank, Jr. in this battle between the Danbury faction and the Waterbury faction over the control of the state’s…
Date: February 12, 2019
Docket Number: SC19722
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the appellate court reversing the decision of the trial court and sustaining Plaintiff’s appeal, holding that the hearing officer did not abuse his discretion in admitting and…
Date: February 12, 2019
Docket Number: SC20154
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court in favor of Defendants after concluding that Plaintiff did not sufficiently plead that a transaction was an auction without reserve, holding that Plaintiff’s…
Date: January 22, 2019
Docket Number: SC19898
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Appellate Court reversing the trial court’s judgment in favor of Plaintiff in this personal injury case, holding that that Appellate Court correctly determined that…
Date: January 15, 2019
Docket Number: SC19889
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Appellate Court affirming the judgment of the habeas court denying Petitioner’s habeas petition, holding that the State did not violate the due process of Petitioner by not…
Date: January 8, 2019
Docket Number: SC19856
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the appellate court reversing in part the judgment of the habeas court granting in part Petitioner’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus on the ground that Petitioner’s defense…
