Connecticut Case Commentaries

Vacatur of Moot Commitment Orders for Insanity Acquittees: State v. Guild (Conn. 2025)

Date: Aug 25, 2025

Vacatur of Moot Commitment Orders for Insanity Acquittees: State v. Guild, 353 Conn. ____ (2025) Introduction State v. Guild confronts the Connecticut Supreme Court with an increasingly common...

State v. Evans (2025): Clarifying “More-Than-Minimal Familiarity” for Lay Identifications and Defining Reasonable Temporal Limits on CSLI Warrants

Date: Aug 18, 2025

State v. Evans (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 2025): Clarifying “More-Than-Minimal Familiarity” for Lay Identifications and Defining Reasonable Temporal Limits on CSLI Warrants Introduction In State...

“From Familiar Faces to Fleeting Glimpses” — State v. Evans (2025) and the New, Broadened Standard for Lay-Witness Identifications from Surveillance Images

Date: Aug 18, 2025

“From Familiar Faces to Fleeting Glimpses”: State v. Evans (Conn. 2025) Expands the Admissibility of Lay-Witness Identifications from Surveillance Media 1. Introduction State v. Evans is a murder...

State v. Myers (2025): Re-Drawing the Line Between Evidentiary and Constitutional Error in Third-Party Culpability Cases

Date: Aug 18, 2025

State v. Myers (Conn. 2025): Clarifying When the Exclusion of Third-Party Culpability Evidence is Merely Evidentiary, Not Constitutional Introduction State v. Myers, officially released on 12 August...

Jamie G. v. DCF: Sovereign Immunity Waiver Does Not Abrogate Quasi-Judicial Immunity under Connecticut General Statutes § 4-160

Date: Aug 6, 2025

Jamie G. v. Department of Children & Families (Conn. 2025): Preserving Quasi-Judicial Immunity Despite a Sovereign Immunity Waiver under § 4-160 Introduction On 5 August 2025 the Connecticut Supreme...

White v. FCW Law Offices: Harmonising Treble Damages and CUTPA Punitive Damages

Date: Aug 6, 2025

White v. FCW Law Offices (2025): Harmonising Treble Damages for Identity Theft with Punitive Damages under CUTPA 1. Introduction In White v. FCW Law Offices, the Supreme Court of Connecticut...

High Watch Recovery Center Rule: Competitors Lack Standing to Appeal Connecticut Certificate-of-Need Approvals

Date: Aug 6, 2025

High Watch Recovery Center Rule: Competitors Lack Standing to Appeal Connecticut Certificate-of-Need Approvals Introduction On 5 August 2025 the Supreme Court of Connecticut delivered its opinion in...

Airey v. Feliciano: The “No-Candidate, No-Primary” Rule – Connecticut Supreme Court Clarifies the Limits of § 9-329a(b)(3)

Date: Jul 31, 2025

Airey v. Feliciano: The “No-Candidate, No-Primary” Rule – Connecticut Supreme Court Clarifies the Limits of § 9-329a(b)(3) Introduction On 29 July 2025 the Connecticut Supreme Court delivered its...

State v. Parris: A Heightened Intolerance for Prosecutorial Misstatements on Affirmative Defenses

Date: Jul 31, 2025

State v. Parris: A Heightened Intolerance for Prosecutorial Misstatements on Affirmative Defenses Introduction In State v. Parris, the Connecticut Supreme Court addressed whether repeated...

State v. Parris: A New Guard-Rail for Prosecutorial Summations on Extreme Emotional Disturbance

Date: Jul 31, 2025

State v. Parris: A New Guard-Rail for Prosecutorial Summations on Extreme Emotional Disturbance Introduction State v. Parris (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 2025) is a landmark decision that...

“Best-Judgment” as an Enforceable Contractual Duty and the Limits of Exculpatory Clauses: A Commentary on Clinton v. Aspinwall (Conn. 2025)

Date: Jul 31, 2025

“Best-Judgment” as an Enforceable Contractual Duty and the Limits of Exculpatory Clauses: Commentary on Clinton v. Aspinwall, Supreme Court of Connecticut, 2025 1. Introduction Parties & Setting....

Managerial “Good-Faith” Is Not a Contractual Duty: Clinton v. Aspinwall and the Boundary Between Exculpation and Obligation

Date: Jul 31, 2025

Managerial “Good-Faith” Is Not a Contractual Duty: Clinton v. Aspinwall and the Boundary Between Exculpation and Obligation Introduction In Clinton v. Aspinwall, 352 Conn. 597 (2025), the Connecticut...

State v. Traynham: Clarifying “Degree-Versus-Kind” Inculpation and the Trustworthiness Standard for Dual Inculpatory Statements Against Penal Interest

Date: Jul 23, 2025

State v. Traynham: Clarifying “Degree-Versus-Kind” Inculpation and the Trustworthiness Standard for Dual Inculpatory Statements Against Penal Interest 1. Introduction In State v. Traynham, 0 Conn. 1...

“Contextual Nexus” Requirement for Third-Party Culpability Instructions – A Commentary on State v. Simmons (Conn. 2025)

Date: Jul 23, 2025

“Contextual Nexus” Requirement for Third-Party Culpability Instructions A Structured Commentary on State v. Simmons, 358 Conn. ___ (July 22, 2025) I. Introduction On 22 July 2025 the Supreme Court of...

Proposed Rule: Admit Showup Identifications Only in “True Exigencies” Where a Showup Is the Only Feasible Procedure

Date: Jul 23, 2025

Proposed Rule: Admit Showup Identifications Only in “True Exigencies” Where a Showup Is the Only Feasible Procedure Case: State v. McLaurin (Dissent) Court: Supreme Court of Connecticut Date:...

Reliability as the Decisive Safeguard: Connecticut Upholds a Showup Identification Even Assuming Unnecessary Suggestiveness (State v. McLaurin)

Date: Jul 23, 2025

Reliability as the Decisive Safeguard: Connecticut Upholds a Showup Identification Even Assuming Unnecessary Suggestiveness Introduction In State v. McLaurin (officially released July 22, 2025), the...

State v. Bolton: Neutral Handling of Juror Dissent During a Practice Book § 42-31 Jury Poll; No Per Se Need for a Chip Smith Charge

Date: Jul 23, 2025

State v. Bolton: Neutral Handling of Juror Dissent During a Practice Book § 42-31 Jury Poll; No Per Se Need for a Chip Smith Charge I. Introduction State v. Bolton (Supreme Court of Connecticut,...

State v. Iverson: Strategic Waiver Bars Golding Review of Confrontation Challenges to Nontestifying Autopsy Authors; Whistnant Requires a Real Dispute Between Intent and Recklessness

Date: Jul 16, 2025

State v. Iverson: Strategic Waiver Bars Golding Review of Confrontation Challenges to Nontestifying Autopsy Authors; Whistnant Requires a Real Dispute Between Intent and Recklessness Court: Supreme...

State v. Villanueva: Evidentiary Predicate for Investigative-Inadequacy Instructions; No Per Se Suppression for § 54-1p Warning Omissions; Autopsy Photographs Are Nonhearsay for Confrontation Purposes

Date: Jul 16, 2025

State v. Villanueva: Evidentiary Predicate for Investigative-Inadequacy Instructions; No Per Se Suppression for § 54-1p Warning Omissions; Autopsy Photographs Are Nonhearsay for Confrontation...

The Aquarion Rule: Prohibiting Hindsight Prudence Review and Isolating ROE from Cost Disallowances in Connecticut Utility Rate-Setting

Date: Jul 11, 2025

The Aquarion Rule: Prohibiting Hindsight Prudence Review and Isolating ROE from Cost Disallowances in Connecticut Utility Rate-Setting Aquarion Water Co. of Connecticut v. Public Utilities Regulatory...