2019 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 51 - Courts
Chapter 882 - Superior Court
Section 51-196 - Review of sentence or commitment. Decision.
(a) The review division shall, in each case in which an application for review is filed in accordance with section 51-195, review the judgment so far as it relates to the sentence or commitment imposed, either increasing or decreasing the penalty, and any other sentence imposed on the person at the same time, and may order such different sentence or sentences to be imposed as could have been imposed at the time of the imposition of the sentence under review, or may decide that the sentence or commitment under review should stand.
(b) In reviewing any judgment, the review division may, for good cause, waive its authority to increase the penalty and may, thereafter, conduct a hearing on such application without the applicant being present. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit an applicant from having counsel present or from appearing pro se at the hearing. In reviewing any judgment, said division may require the production of presentence or precommitment reports and any other records, documents or exhibits connected with such review proceedings.
(c) At a hearing held under this section, the review division shall permit any victim of the crime to appear before the division for the purpose of making a statement for the record concerning whether or not the sentence or commitment of the defendant should be increased or decreased or should stand. In lieu of such appearance, the victim may submit a written statement to the review division and the review division shall make such statement a part of the record at the hearing. For the purposes of this subsection, “victim” means the victim, the legal representative of the victim or a member of the deceased victim’s immediate family.
(d) If the review division orders a different sentence or disposition of the case, the Superior Court shall resentence the defendant or make any other disposition of the case ordered by the review division. Time served on the sentence reviewed shall be deemed to have been served on the sentence substituted. The decision of the review division in each case shall be final and the reasons for such decision shall be stated therein.
(e) The secretary of the review division shall act as its clerk or, if there is no such secretary, the clerk of the superior court for the judicial district in which the review division is meeting shall act as the clerk of the division. The acting clerk of the review division shall send the original of each decision to the clerk of the court where the judgment was rendered and a copy thereof to the Chief Justice, the judge who imposed the sentence or commitment reviewed, the person sentenced or committed, the principal officer of the correctional institution in which such person is confined and the Reporter of Judicial Decisions.
(1957, P.A. 436, S. 3; September, 1957, P.A. 14, S. 3; 1959, P.A. 194; 1963, P.A. 584, S. 2; P.A. 75-567, S. 31, 80; P.A. 82-472, S. 136, 183; P.A. 97-37; P.A. 03-129, S. 2; P.A. 17-99, S. 8.)
History: 1959 act added provisions re secretary and acting clerk of review division, deleted provision that all decisions be published in Connecticut Supplement and added provision re selection of decisions and provision re publication in Connecticut Law Journal and Connecticut Supplement; 1963 act included reformatory commitments and added reference to clerk of circuit court; P.A. 75-567 replaced reference to circuits with reference to judicial districts, circuit court functions having been transferred to court of common pleas by P.A. 74-183; P.A. 82-472 substituted a reference to the superior court for the “judicial district” for the superior court for the “county”; P.A. 97-37 added provision authorizing the division to waive its authority to increase the penalty and thereafter conduct a hearing without the applicant being present, added provision re the right of an applicant to have counsel present or to appear pro se, deleted provision re modification of reformatory commitments and deleted obsolete language re court locations; P.A. 03-129 divided existing provisions into Subsecs. (a), (b), (d) and (e), added new Subsec. (c) authorizing a crime victim to appear and make a statement before the division or submit a written statement to the division and defining “victim” and amended Subsec. (e) to make technical changes for purposes of gender neutrality; P.A. 17-99 amended Subsec. (e) by deleting provisions re Reporter of Judicial Decisions to select for publication decisions deemed useful for precedents or serving public interest and publication of decisions in the Connecticut Law Journal, effective June 30, 2017.
