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...
McDONALD , J. We have been asked by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to consider whether the "[g]ood tobacco" exception to strict products liability contained in comment (i) to 402A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts 1 precludes an action in this state against a cigarette manufacturer for including additives and manipulating the nicotine in its cigarettes in a manner that ultimately increases the user's risk of cancer. See 2 Restatement (Second), Torts...
PALMER , J. This case is before us on a writ of error brought by the plaintiff in error, Josephine Smalls Miller, who claims that the Appellate Court abused its discretion in suspending her from the practice of law before that court for a period of six months, in addition to imposing other sanctions, due to her failure to comply with Appellate Court rules and deadlines, and for filing a frivolous appeal. We disagree and, accordingly, dismiss the writ of error. The record reveals the...
ZARELLA , J. The plaintiff, Standard Oil of Connecticut, Inc., appeals from the judgment of the trial court dismissing its appeal from the decision of the Employment Security Appeals Division, Board of Review (board). The board denied in part the plaintiff's motion to correct findings of fact made by the appeals referee and concluded that the workers at issue are the plaintiff's employees under the test set forth in the Connecticut Unemployment Compensation Act (act), General Statutes 31-...
ROGERS , C.J. The principal issue in this case is whether, under the totality of the circumstances, the police possessed a reasonable and articulable suspicion to detain the defendant, Kyle Peterson. After the defendant's motion to suppress was denied, the defendant entered a conditional plea of nolo contendere, pursuant to General Statutes 54-94a, 1 to possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell in violation of General Statutes 21a-277 (b). The trial court thereafter...
EVELEIGH , J. The dispositive issue in this appeal is the determination of the meaning of the term "professional offices" as used in a right-of-way agreement (agreement), which created an express easement for the benefit of property owned by the plaintiff, NPC Offices, LLC, over a driveway located on the property owned by the defendant 184-188 South Main Street, LLC, a limited liability company under the ownership and control of the defendants William Kowaleski and Sharon Kowaleski. The...
EVELEIGH , J. The sole issue in this appeal is whether the trial court properly concluded that the duration of a child support order was governed by the law of the state in which it was originally issued. The defendant, John Carl Studer, appeals from the judgment of the trial court modifying the duration of his child support obligation and ordering that he pay child support indefinitely to the plaintiff, Beverly Studer, for the benefit of their autistic child 1 in accordance with Florida...
PALMER , J. In 2013, the legislature amended the statutes governing Connecticut's public land records system to create a two tiered system in which a mortgage nominee operating a national electronic database to track residential mortgage loans must pay recording fees approximately three times higher than do other mortgagees. The plaintiffs, MERSCORP Holdings, Inc., and Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., who are currently the only entities required to pay the increased...
ZARELLA , J. The defendant, Alain Leconte, appeals from the judgments of the trial court convicting him of crimes committed during a string of armed robberies in the cities of Stamford and Norwalk, and the town of Greenwich, between October and December, 2009. 1 The defendant claims that his convictions resulting from the Stamford robbery should be reversed on the ground that his constitutional right to counsel was violated when the trial court admitted incriminating statements he made...
PER CURIAM . The defendant, Anthony Dyous, appealed to the Appellate Court from the judgment of the trial court granting the state's second petition for an order of continued commitment filed pursuant to General Statutes 17a-593 (c). In his appeal to the Appellate Court, the defendant claimed that: "(1) the order of continued commitment to the Psychiatric Security Review Board (board) violate[d] his right to equal protection as against mentally disordered prison inmates, and (2) his...
