McDONALD , J. Trial court judges have the difficult task of maintaining order over the judicial proceedings before them and ensuring the integrity of those proceedings. To do so, judges have broad discretion to impose the sanctions necessary to ensure parties' compliance with court orders and the rules of the court. In this certified appeal, the defendant, Mount Vernon Fire Insurance Company, contends that the Appellate Court improperly determined that the trial court abused its discretion...
ROGERS , C.J. The issues in this case, which comes to us on certification from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit pursuant to General Statutes 51-199b(d), 1 are: (1) Does Connecticut public policy support imposing a duty on a school to warn about or protect against the risk of a serious insect-borne disease when it organizes a trip abroad (2) If so, does a damages award of approximately $41.5 million, $31.5 million of which are noneconomic damages, warrant a...
ESPINOSA , J. The primary question presented in this appeal is whether evidence of uncharged sexual misconduct that occurred twelve years before a charged offense is too remote to be admissible pursuant to the factors set forth in State v. DeJesus, 288 Conn. 418 , 476, 953 A.2d 45 (2008). The defendant, Roberto Acosta, appeals 1 from the judgment of the Appellate Court affirming his judgment of conviction, following a jury trial, of sexual assault in the first degree in violation...
ROBINSON , J. In this appeal, we consider whether an attorney, who represented clients in contingency fee matters that originated while he was a member of a two person law firm and continued to represent them after the dissolution of that firm, is obligated to share a portion of those fees with his former law partner when those fees were not paid until after the firm's dissolution. The defendant, Jeffrey S. Bagnell, appeals 1 from the judgment of the trial court, rendered after a court...
The defendant's petition for certification for appeal from the Appellate Court, 171 Conn.App. 328 , 157 A.3d 120 (2017), is denied.
The defendant's petition for certification for appeal from the Appellate Court, 171 Conn.App. 311 , 157 A.3d 97 (2017), is granted, limited to the following issues: "1. Did the Appellate Court properly affirm the trial court's judgment by concluding that, notwithstanding any improper conduct by the state, the defendant was not deprived of a fair trial "2. Did the Appellate Court properly conclude that the trial court lost jurisdiction to hear the defendant's motion for a new trial "3....
The defendant's petition for certification for appeal from the Appellate Court, 170 Conn.App. 733 , 155 A.3d 756 (2017), is denied. EVELEIGH, J., did not participate in the consideration of or decision on this petition.
The defendant's petition for certification for appeal from the Appellate Court, 170 Conn.App. 99 , 153 A.3d 715 (2017), is denied.
The defendant's petition for certification for appeal from the Appellate Court, 169 Conn.App. 906 , 155 A.3d 328 (2016), is denied.
McDONALD , J. This case is the second of two diversity actions in which the federal courts certified questions for this court's advice regarding the viability of an action under Connecticut's Product Liability Act (act) 1 alleging that a cigarette's design had increased consumers' risk of cancer. The courts sought advice whether specific theories advanced in those actions are precluded by this court's adoption of 402A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts, which imposes liability for...
PER CURIAM . In the course of a civil action pending between the plaintiff, Julie M. Sowell, and the defendants Southbury-Middlebury Youth and Family Services, Inc. (Southbury-Middlebury), Dierdre H. DiCara, and Mary Jane McClay, 1 the plaintiff sought to support her challenge to Southbury-Middlebury's counterclaim against her by filing an application, pursuant to General Statutes 33-1089, to determine the validity of the election of its directors and officers. The plaintiff now appeals,...
PALMER , J. The plaintiff, W. Hudson Connery, Jr., appeals from the judgment of the trial court, which granted the motion of the named defendant, Elizabeth May Gieske, executrix of the estate of the decedent, Ann May Moore, 1 to dismiss the plaintiff's action. The defendant sought dismissal on the ground that the Probate Court lacked jurisdiction over the parties' dispute because it was barred by the applicable statute of limitations. See General Statutes 45a-186 (a). 2 The plaintiff,...
ROBINSON , J. In this certified appeal, we consider whether it is so "entirely obvious" that a trial court lacks subject matter jurisdiction to modify a property distribution in a dissolution of marriage judgment that such a modification, rendered in accordance with a stipulation by the parties, is subject to collateral attack under Vogel v. Vogel, 178 Conn. 358 , 362-63, 422 A.2d 271 (1979), and 12 of the Restatement (Second) of Judgments. 1 The plaintiff, Eric P. Sousa, appeals,...
ZARELLA , J. This is the second of two administrative appeals in which the principal issue is whether state laws regulating the fees charged for certain services provided in the course of the nonconsensual towing of a motor vehicle are preempted by federal law. The defendant, the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles (commissioner), appeals from the judgment of the trial court reversing the decision of the Department of Motor Vehicles (department) that the plaintiff, Raymond's Auto Repair, LLC,...
ZARELLA , J. The principal issue in this administrative appeal is whether state laws regulating the fees charged for certain services provided in the course of the nonconsensual towing of a motor vehicle are preempted by federal law. The defendant, the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles (commissioner), appeals from the judgment of the trial court reversing in part the decision of the Department of Motor Vehicles (department) that Connecticut's statutes and regulations regarding nonconsensual...
ESPINOSA , J. This certified appeal requires this court to consider several claims that the defendant, Roosevelt Drakes, raises in regard to General Statutes (Rev. to 2009) 54-102g, 1 which requires convicted felons in the custody of the Commissioner of Correction to submit to the taking of a DNA sample for inclusion in a state administered DNA data bank used to assist in law enforcement investigations. The defendant appeals, following our grant of certification, 2 from the judgment of...
ESPINOSA , J. In this certified appeal 1 we consider whether the Appellate Court properly resolved a series of claims that the defendant, Mark Banks, raises in connection with General Statutes (Rev. to 2009) 54-102g, 2 which authorizes the Commissioner of Correction to collect DNA samples from currently incarcerated felons in order to maintain a DNA data bank to assist in criminal investigations. The defendant appeals, following our grant of certification, from the judgment of the...
ROGERS C.J. The issue that we must resolve in this certified appeal is whether the plaintiff's medical malpractice action is barred by the statute of limitations or, instead, the statute of limitations was tolled under the continuing course of treatment doctrine. The plaintiff, Lisa J. Cefaratti, brought this action against the defendants, Jonathan S. Aranow, Shoreline Surgical Associates, P.C. (Shoreline), and Middlesex Hospital (Middlesex), alleging that Aranow had left a surgical...
ROGERS , C.J. The primary issue that we must resolve in this certified appeal is whether this court should recognize the doctrine of apparent agency in tort actions, under which a principal may be held vicariously liable for the negligence of a person whom the principal has held out as its agent or employee. The plaintiff, Lisa J. Cefaratti, brought a medical malpractice action against the defendants, Jonathan S. Aranow, Shoreline Surgical Associates, P.C. (Shoreline), 1 and Middlesex...
EVELEIGH , J. The plaintiff, Marian Pikula, appeals from the judgment of the trial court dismissing her appeal from the decision of an administrative hearing officer for the defendant, the Department of Social Services (department), 1 denying her application for benefits under the state administered Medicaid program (Medicaid) 2 because her assets, in the form of a testamentary trust, exceeded prescribed Medicaid limits. We conclude that the trial court should not have dismissed the...
