2012 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 54 - Criminal Procedure
Chapter 961 - Trial and Proceedings After Conviction
Section 54-95 - Appeal by defendant in criminal prosecution; stay of execution.

(a) Any defendant in a criminal prosecution, aggrieved by any decision of the Superior Court, upon the trial thereof, or by any error apparent upon the record of such prosecution, may be relieved by appeal, petition for a new trial or writ of error, in the same manner and with the same effect as in civil actions. No appeal may be taken from a judgment denying a petition for a new trial unless, within ten days after the judgment is rendered, the judge who heard the case or a judge of the Supreme Court or the Appellate Court, as the case may be, certifies that a question is involved in the decision which ought to be reviewed by the Supreme Court or by the Appellate Court. It shall be sufficient service of any such writ of error or petition for a new trial to serve it upon the state’s attorney for the judicial district where it is brought.

(b) When such defendant is convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment and, within two weeks after final judgment, files with the clerk of the court wherein the conviction was had an appeal to the Supreme Court or gives oral or written notice of his intention to appeal to said court or to petition for a new trial, the appeal or the notice shall operate as a stay of execution pending the final determination of the case, provided the defendant is admitted to bail, except the appeal or the notice shall not operate as a stay of execution, if within five days after the filing of the appeal or notice thereof, the judge before whom the criminal prosecution was tried directs in writing that the appeal or the notice shall not operate as a stay of execution. Such order shall be accompanied by a written statement of the judge’s reasons for denying the stay of execution. The order and the statement shall become a part of the files and record of the case. If any defendant has been admitted to bail following an oral or written notice of intent to appeal or petition for a new trial and such defendant has failed, within twenty days after the judgment from which the appeal is to be taken, or such further period as the court may grant, to perfect the appeal or petition, a mittimus for his arrest shall issue. If any defendant is imprisoned after sentencing and before he is admitted to bail, such period of imprisonment shall be counted toward satisfaction of his sentence. If any defendant is admitted to bail and subsequently surrendered and remitted to custody while his appeal is pending, the period of imprisonment following thereafter shall be counted toward satisfaction of his sentence.

(c) In any criminal prosecution in which the defendant has been sentenced to death and has taken an appeal to the Supreme Court of this state or the Supreme Court of the United States or brought a writ of error, writ of certiorari or petition for a new trial, the taking of the appeal, the making of the application for a writ of certiorari or the return into court of the writ of error or petition for a new trial shall, unless, upon application by the state’s attorney and after hearing, the Supreme Court otherwise orders, stay the execution of the death penalty until the clerk of the court where the trial was had has received notification of the termination of any such proceeding by decision or otherwise, and for thirty days thereafter. No appellate procedure shall be deemed to have terminated until the end of the period allowed by law for the filing of a motion for reargument, or, if such motion is filed, until the proceedings consequent thereon are finally determined. When execution is stayed under the provisions of this section, the clerk of the court shall forthwith give notice thereof to the warden of the institution in which such defendant is in custody. If the original judgment of conviction has been affirmed or remains in full force at the time when the clerk has received the notification of the termination of any proceedings by appeal, writ of certiorari, writ of error or petition for a new trial, and the day designated for the infliction of the death penalty has then passed or will pass within thirty days thereafter, the defendant shall, within said period of thirty days, upon an order of the court in which the judgment was rendered at a regular or special criminal session thereof, be presented before said court by the warden of the institution in which the defendant is in custody or his deputy, and the court, with the judge assigned to hold the session presiding, shall thereupon designate a day for the infliction of the death penalty and the clerk of the court shall issue a warrant of execution, reciting therein the original judgment, the fact of the stay of execution and the final order of the court, which warrant shall be forthwith served upon the warden or his deputy.

(1949 Rev., S. 8811; 1953, S. 3328d; 1957, P.A. 483; 1959, P.A. 474; 1963, P.A. 416, S. 1; 642, S. 73; 1972, P.A. 66, S. 1; P.A. 76-336, S. 14; P.A. 78-280, S. 1, 127; 78-379, S. 22, 27; P.A. 80-313, S. 51; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 83-29, S. 51, 82.)

History: 1959 act amended Subsec. (b) to provide appeal operate as a stay “provided the defendant is admitted to bail or makes an election in writing not to commence service of the sentence” and added provisions re filing of election not to commence service and re factors determining when sentence is satisfied; 1963 acts amended Subsec. (a) to delete obsolete references to the court of common pleas and amended Subsec. (b) to provide for filing of appeal two weeks after final judgment rather than one week after conviction; 1972 act specified that notice of intention to appeal may be oral or written and provision re issuance of mittimus for arrest of person who fails to perfect appeal within 20 days from judgment in Subsec. (b); P.A. 76-336 replaced specific references to Somers correctional facility with general references to “institution in which such defendant is in custody”; P.A. 78-280 substituted “judicial district” for “county” where appearing; P.A. 78-379 restated provision in Subsec. (b) re judge’s direction that appeal shall not stay execution and deleted provisions re defendant’s power to elect not to commence service of sentence; P.A. 80-313 made minor changes in wording but made no substantive changes; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 83-29 included reference to appellate court in Subsec. (a).

See Sec. 52-582 re time limit for bringing petitions for new trial.

Cited. 1 CA 724. Cited. 12 CA 621. Cited. 19 CA 686. Cited. 37 CA 252; judgment reversed, see 236 C. 388. Cited. 41 CA 530. Statutory requirement that court make a determination that ruling on a motion to suppress or dismiss would be dispositive of the case is a matter of substance necessary to achieve goals of statute and therefore is mandatory. 87 CA 122. Denial of petition for certification made pursuant to section is not a bar to this court’s jurisdiction, but is a threshold issue on appeal. 88 CA 572.

Term “execution” means “to put into effect”. 15 CS 273. Cited. 24 CS 60. Cited. 29 CS 339.

Cited. 2 Conn. Cir. Ct. 635. Cited. 5 Conn. Cir. Ct. 314.

Subsec. (a):

Cited. 183 C. 418. Cited. 229 C. 178; Id., 397. Since legislature did not expressly prohibit appellate review of the denial of certification to appeal, petitioner is entitled to appellate review of such denial. Petitioner may establish an abuse of discretion in such denial if there are issues that are debatable among jurists of reason, if a court could resolve the issues in a different manner or if there are questions that are adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed further. 246 C. 514. Although petitioner’s failure to seek certification to appeal pursuant to the statute does not deprive appellate tribunal of jurisdiction over the appeal, appellate tribunal should nevertheless decline to entertain an appeal challenging denial of petition for a new trial until petitioner has satisfied the certification requirement of the statute. 261 C. 533.

Cited. 23 CA 559.

Subsec. (b):

Cited. 38 CS 552. Cited. 41 CS 454.