U.S. Bank National Ass'n v. Iaquessa
U.S. Bank National Ass'n v. Iaquessa
Opinion of the Court
Opinion
The defendants Michael J. Iaquessa and Diane P. Iaquessa
On appeal, the defendants contend that in approving the committee’s sale of the property, the court violated their right to due process. That claim never was presented to the trial court and, hence, is unpreserved.
It is fundamental that claims of error must be distinctly raised and decided in the trial court. As a result, Connecticut appellate courts “will not address issues not decided by the trial court.” Willow Springs Condominium Assn., Inc. v. Seventh BRT Development Corp., 245 Conn. 1, 52, 717 A.2d 77 (1998); see also State v. Hampton, 293 Conn. 435, 442, 988 A.2d 167 (2009) (case law and rules of practice generally limit review to issues distinctly raised at trial); Crest Pontiac Cadillac, Inc. v. Hadley, 239 Conn. 437, 444 n.10, 685 A.2d 670 (1996) (claims neither addressed nor decided by trial court not properly before appellate tribunal); State v. Miller, 186 Conn. 654, 658, 443 A.2d 906 (1982) (“[o]nly in the most exceptional circumstances will this court consider even a constitutional claim not properly raised and decided in the trial court”). Similarly, Practice Book § 60-5 provides in relevant part that our appellate courts “shall not be bound to consider a claim unless it was distinctly raised at the trial . . . .” That requirement “means that it must be so stated as to bring to the attention of the court the precise matter on which its decision is being asked. . . . Woodruff v. Butler, 75
It is undisputed that the defendants did not meet that requirement. The defendants further did not affirmatively request review of their unpreserved due process claim pursuant to State v. Golding, 213 Conn. 233, 567 A.2d 823 (1989), in their principal appellate brief. See State v. Cutler, 293 Conn. 303, 324, 977 A.2d 209 (2009) (party obligated affirmatively to request review under Golding). Although they later invoked Golding in their reply brief, it is well settled that Golding cannot be raised for the first time by way of reply brief. See State v. McKenzie-Adams, 281 Conn. 486, 533 n.23, 915 A.2d 822 (“a party may seek to prevail on unpreserved claims ... if the claims are constitutional in nature, under Golding, if the party affirmatively requests and adequately briefs his entitlement to such review in his main brief’ [citation omitted]), cert. denied, 552 U.S. 888, 128 S. Ct. 248, 169 L. Ed. 2d 148 (2007); Lebron v. Commissioner of Correction, 274 Conn. 507, 532, 876 A.2d 1178 (2005) (declining to review constitutional claims under Golding because habeas petitioner had not briefed entitlement to Golding until he filed reply brief); State v. Garvin, 242 Conn. 296, 312, 699 A.2d 921 (1997) (“[t]he reply brief is not the proper vehicle in which to provide this court with the basis for our review under [Golding] analysis” [internal quotation marks omitted]); Embalmers’ Supply Co. v. Giannitti,
The judgment is affirmed.
Also named as defendants were New Haven Radiology Associates, P.C., Bank of America National Association and Roberta Napolitano, trustee of the bankruptcy estate of Michael J. Iaquessa et al. Because only Michael J. Iaquessa and Diane P. Iaquessa have appealed, we refer to them as the defendants in this opinion.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, TRUSTEE v. MICHAEL J. IAQUESSA
- Cited By
- 10 cases
- Status
- Published