State v. Falzone
| Decision Date | 10 August 1976 |
| Citation | 370 A.2d 988,171 Conn. 417 |
| Court | Connecticut Supreme Court |
| Parties | STATE of Connecticut v. Salvo N. FALZONE. |
Robert E. Beach, Jr., Asst. State's Atty., for appellant (state).
Michael A. Merati, Torrington, for appellee (defendant).
Before HOUSE, C.J., and LOISELLE, BOGDANSKI, LONGO and BARBER, JJ.
The sole issue presented in this appeal is whether the state may appeal in any circumstance from an adverse decision of the Court of Common Pleas in a criminal case to the Appellate Session of the Superior Court.
An appellate review of claimed errors on the face of the record in a criminal case by the state is a matter of right from any trial court by way of writ of error. State v. Muolo, 118 Conn. 373, 172 A. 875. There is, however, no common-law right of appeal by the state in criminal matters. State v. Brown, 16 Conn. 54, 58-59. The right of the state to appeal in criminal cases is granted only by statute. State v. Audet, 170 Conn. 337, 340, 365 A.2d 1082; State v. Carabetta, 106 Conn. 114, 115, 137 A. 394. The right of appeal by the state in criminal matters was expressly granted by legislative enactment in 1886 Public Acts, c. 15, but was restriced to questions of law and to appeals from the Superior Court. The right was expanded by 1897 Public Acts, c. 194, § 20, to include the Court of Common Pleas. 1959 Public Acts, No. 28, created the Circuit Court to replace the former municipal and justice courts, and abolished the criminal jurisdiction of the Court of Common Pleas (§ 141), effective January 1, 1961. It was two years later, in 1963 Public Acts, No. 642, § 74, that the words 'common pleas' were deleted from § 54-96 of the General Statutes, which as amended gives the state a right to appeal in criminal cases only from the Superior Court on questions of law with permission of the presiding judge.
Criminal Jurisdiction was restored to the Court of Common Pleas in the 1974 court reorganization which merged the Circuit Court with the Court of Common Pleas. 1974 Public Acts, No. 183, §§ 1, 5. No new statute has been enacted expressly granting to the state the right of appeal in criminal cases from the Court of Common Pleas.
The state claims statutory authority for an appeal in § 52-6a of the General Statutes, 1 which does not speak expressly of the state or of the defendant in granting a right to appeal, and argues that if this statute gives defendants in criminal cases a right to appeal, it is broad enough to give the state that right also. Taken in historical context, that argument is not persuasive.
The right of the defendant in a criminal action to appeal, even in minor criminal matters, is an ancient statutory right. See General Statutes of 1821, title 22, § 101, predecessor to former § 54-12 of the General Statutes, Revision of 1958, expressly granting criminal defendants that right. The latter statute was repealed by 1959 Public Acts, No. 28, § 204, creating the Circuit Court, effective January 1, 1961. Section 30 of the same act became § 51-265 of the General Statutes, and stated in part: 'Appeals from any final judgment or action of the circuit court . . . shall be taken to an appellate session.' This statute was included with those creating the Circuit Court in chapter 885. As part of the court reorganization, it was amended to substitute 'common pleas' for 'circuit' court by 1974 Public Acts, No. 183, § 9, and in 1975 was transferred to the section on 'Civil Actions,' title 52, as § 52-6a. Although neither §§ 51-265 nor 52-6a expressly provides for a right of appeal by a defendant, General Statutes §§ 54-13 and 54-14 give a defendant appealing from the Court of Common Pleas enumerated rights while an appeal is pending. This makes it clear that a defendant's right to appeal is included in § 52-6a.
There are no similar statutes referring to the state's right to appeal in criminal cases from the Court of Common Pleas. In State v. Muolo, supra,...
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State v. Nardini
... ... Pac, supra; it lacks any independent discretionary authority to impose its own sentence. If the modified sentence is illegal in any respect the appropriate remedy for correcting such illegality is by appeal to this court; State v. Heyward, supra; by writ of error; State v. Falzone, ... Page 314 ... 171 Conn. 417, 370 [187 Conn. 128] A.2d 988 (1976); State v. Muolo, 118 Conn. 373, 172 A. 875 (1934); or by writ of habeas corpus. State v. Kyles, 169 Conn. 438, 443, 363 A.2d 97 (1975) ... There is no error ... In this opinion the ... ...
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...to appeal to be jurisdictional because, at common law, the state had no right to appeal in criminal cases. State v. Falzone, 171 Conn. 417, 417-18, 370 A.2d 988 (1976); State v. Audet, supra, 170 Conn. at 340-42, 365 A.2d 1082; State v. Brown, 16 Conn. 54, 58-59 It is plausible to draw an a......
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...state in criminal matters. ... The right of the state to appeal in criminal cases is granted only by statute." 13 State v. Falzone, 171 Conn. 417, 417-18, 370 A.2d 988 (1976); see State v. Audet, 170 Conn. 337, 340, 365 A.2d 1082 (1976); State v. Carabetta, 106 Conn. 114, 115, 137 A. 394 (1......
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"incorporation" of the Criminal Procedure Amendments: the View from the States
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