Justia Connecticut Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Plaintiff contested the legality of the decedent’s will. Plaintiff then filed a second notice of claim seeking reimbursement of money advanced to the decedent. A number of motions subsequently followed, along with an affidavit filed by Plaintiff indicating his intention to remove the case to the superior court for a jury trial. After a hearing, the probate court concluded that some of the matters were eligible for removal and the remainder were not. Plaintiff later filed a complaint alleging that the probate court lacked jurisdiction over the matters decided at the hearing. Defendant filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, arguing that, as an appeal, it was untimely. Plaintiff argued in response that the action was not an appeal but an action challenging the probate court’s retention of jurisdiction over the case. The trial court rejected Plaintiff’s arguments, concluded that Plaintiff’s action was untimely, and granted Defendant’s motion to dismiss. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the trial court correctly treated the present action as an appeal but incorrectly determined that the appeal was barred by the statute of limitations set forth in Conn. Gen. Stat. 45a-186(a). Under the facts of this case, however, the appeal was filed prematurely. View "Connery v. Gieske" on Justia Law

Plaintiff brought this action against The Boy Scouts of America Corporation alleging that, while he was a member of the Boy Scouts during the mid-1970s, he was sexually abused during scouting activities by his Boy Scout patrol leader. Plaintiff alleged negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress, recklessness, and a violation of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Plaintiff on all claims, and the trial court rendered judgment in accordance with the verdict. Defendant appealed, arguing primarily that the trial court erred in denying its request to charge the jury that Defendant could not be held liable for negligence unless Plaintiff proved that Defendant’s own conduct increased the risk that Plaintiff would be subjected to sexual abuse. The Supreme Court agreed with Defendant and reversed, holding that the trial court improperly denied Defendant’s request to instruct the jury that Defendant could not be held liable for negligence unless Plaintiff proved that Defendant’s conduct created or increased the risk that Plaintiff would be harmed by his patrol leader. Remanded for a new trial. View "Doe v. Boy Scouts of America Corp." on Justia Law

In 2015, the legislature amended the juvenile transfer statute to increase the age of a child whose case was subject to an automatic transfer to the regular criminal docket by one year, to fifteen years old. Automatic transfer is required in cases involving children who have been charged with the commission of a class A or class B felony. At issue in this case was whether that amendment applied retroactively so that the case of a child, such as Defendant, who had been charged with committing a class A or class B felony prior to the amendment for crimes he committed when he was fourteen years old, and whose case had already been transferred to the regular criminal docket, should have his case transferred back to the juvenile docket. The trial court reserved this question of law for the advice of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court granted the request and answered the question in the affirmative, concluding that the legislature intended that the amendment apply retroactively. View "State v. Nathaniel S." on Justia Law

Defendant served as Plaintiff’s defense counsel in a criminal jury trial in which Plaintiff was convicted of fourteen offenses. While awaiting sentencing, Plaintiff filed this action against Defendant, alleging legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty. After precluding Plaintiff from presenting expert testimony on the issue of causation due to her failure to disclose an expert witness by a date previously ordered, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Defendant. Plaintiff appealed, arguing that the trial court erred in concluding that expert testimony was necessary to prove her allegations. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that expert testimony was required for Plaintiff to establish the element of causation in her legal malpractice case. View "Bozelko v. Papastavros" on Justia Law

James Doughty was injured during the course of his employment with Connecticut Reliable Welding, LLC (Reliable). Pacific Insurance Company, Ltd. (Pacific) had issued an insurance policy providing workers’ compensation coverage to Reliable and, therefore, paid Doughty workers’ compensation benefits. Pacific brought this action against Defendants - steel and construction companies - alleging negligence. Defendants moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that that Pacific did not have standing to bring an action under either Conn. Gen. Stat. 31-293 or the common law doctrine of equitable subrogation. Pacific filed a motion to substitute Reliable as the party plaintiff. The trial court denied Pacific’s motion and granted Defendants’ motions to dismiss the complaint. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that a workers’ compensation insurer can maintain an equitable subrogation claim against third-party tortfeasors to recover benefits it has paid on behalf of an insured employer to an injured employee, and therefore, Pacific can properly assert an equitable subrogation claim. Remanded. View "Pacific Ins. Co., Ltd. v. Champion Steel, LLC" on Justia Law

Incident to the dissolution of his marriage to Plaintiff, Defendant was ordered to pay lump sum alimony in the amount of $7.5 million and attorney’s fees in the amount of $140,000. Defendant appealed, arguing that the lump sum alimony award constituted a functional property distribution in violation of the parties’ prenuptial agreement and that the award of attorney’s fees was an abuse of discretion. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding (1) the lump sum alimony award did not constitute a functional property distribution in contravention of the parties’ agreement; and (2) the trial court erred in awarding attorney’s fees to Plaintiff because Plaintiff received ample liquid funds as a result of the judgment. View "Hornung v. Hornung" on Justia Law

Defendant was charged with murder and other offenses. In 2010, the trial court found Defendant incompetent to stand trial. Thereafter, a judge found that Defendant had been restored to competency and granted his motion to represent himself. In 2015, the trial court again found Defendant incompetent to stand trial. After evidentiary hearings, the trial court granted the State’s motion for forcible medication of Defendant, finding that the State had established that forced medication would not violate Defendant’s federal due process rights under the test set forth by the United States Supreme Court in Sell v. United States. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the trial court correctly determined that forced medication was “substantially likely” to render Defendant competent to stand trial. View "State v. Wang" on Justia Law

Defendant entered a conditional plea of nolo contendere to possession of narcotics with intent to sell and failure to appear in the first degree. Defendant appealed, arguing that the trial court erred in denying Defendant’s motion to suppress narcotics evidence. The appellate court affirmed, concluding (1) the trial court correctly determined that Defendant was not seized until police officers performed a patdown search for weapons, and (2) the record was inadequate to review Defendant’s claim that he was unreasonably seized when two police cruisers descended upon him in a small parking lot and an officer verbally commanded him to stop. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the appellate court erred in concluding that Defendant was not seized until the officers patted him down for weapons and that certain of Defendant's claims in that regard were unreviewable; and (2) the evidence Defendant sought to suppress was seized in violation of the federal and state constitutions. View "State v. Edmonds" on Justia Law

James Rock (the decedent) was employed by the University of Connecticut for more than thirty-five years before he died from a form of cancer that can be caused by occupational exposure to asbestos. The decedent never filed a notice of claim for workers’ compensation benefits. Plaintiff, the Estate of James Rock, filed a notice of claim for workers’ compensation benefits on behalf of the decedent. The Workers’ Compensation Commissioner dismissed Plaintiff’s claim for benefits for lack of standing. The Compensation Review Board upheld the dismissal but remanded the case to allow Plaintiff to advance a claim for burial expenses, lost wages the decedent sustained between his injury and his death, and medical expenses attributable to a compensable injury. The Supreme Court reversed in part, holding that an estate is not a legal entity capable of advancing a claim for any form of workers’ compensation benefits, and therefore, Plaintiff did not have standing to pursue any type of workers’ compensation benefits. View "Estate of Rock v. Univ. of Conn." on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed a complaint with the Freedom of Information Commission after the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority (Defendant) failed to promptly produce certain requested communications. Defendant provided some documents to Plaintiff but withheld hundreds of others, asserting that the communications were covered by the attorney-client privilege. A hearing officer recommended that the Commission find that the documents were exempt from disclosure under the attorney-client privilege. Characterizing the communications as containing a mix of business and legal advice, the Commission voted to adopt the hearing officer’s decision. The superior court affirmed on appeal. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the Commission failed to apply the proper standard for assessing the communications at issue. Remanded. View "Harrington v. Freedom of Info. Comm’n" on Justia Law