10 results for 'judge:"Ecker"'.
J. Ecker finds the trial court properly instructed the jury and denied defendant’s claim that he was deprived of his right to a fair trial under the due process clause due to conflicting statements by the prosecutor during cross-examination and rebuttal argument. The defendant fails to establish that the jury instruction was an injustice. Affirmed.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: Ecker, Filed On: April 5, 2024, Case #: SC20720, Categories: Robbery, Due Process, Jury Instructions
J. Ecker finds the lower court's order granting the police officer's request for a bill of discovery does not become a final judgment until the parties agree on the scope of the discovery order related to IP addresses of internet commenters; therefore, this court lacks jurisdiction over the blog operator's appeal, which must be dismissed.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: Ecker, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: SC20699, Categories: Defamation, Jurisdiction, Discovery
J. Ecker finds the trial court erroneously determined the city was required to increase the retired firefighters' pension benefits after a retroactive wage increase. Although the firefighters were not retired on the retroactive application date, language in the union's pension and collective bargaining agreements was ambiguous as to whether such changes would apply to pension benefits. Only mandatory retirees are eligible for retroactive increases, according to the agreements, and so the forced retirees at issue in this case are necessarily excluded from the increase awarded by the arbitration panel. Reversed.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: Ecker, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: SC20803, Categories: Arbitration, Pensions, Labor / Unions
J. Ecker finds the lower court erroneously dismissed the inmate's petition for a writ of habeas corpus as untimely. Although it was filed more than five years after the certification of his conviction, there is no evidence in the record the inmate's attorney advised him of any filing deadline or the need to refile the petition after his initial filing was voluntarily dismissed. Therefore, the case will be remanded to allow for proper analysis of the petition. Reversed.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: Ecker, Filed On: December 7, 2023, Case #: SC20558, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Habeas
J. Ecker finds the lower court erroneously dismissed the beneficiaries' fiduciary duty claims against the trustee. Although she was not the executor of the estate and could not exert influence over its assets, she retained a duty to protect the interests of the trust and file claims against the executor based on evidence of self-dealing. Additionally, even though there was no claim of self-dealing against the trustee, such an allegation is not required for a fiduciary duty claim such as this, when the trustee allegedly failed to diligently protect the interests of the beneficiaries. Reversed.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: Ecker, Filed On: November 7, 2023, Case #: SC20676, Categories: Trusts, Wills / Probate, Fiduciary Duty
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J. Ecker finds the trial court properly ruled in favor of the home health care company on claims of tortious interference with a contract against its competitor. Statements made by the competitor's executive during litigation against a state agency regarding implementation of a new billing system were verifiably false and allowed the competitor to poach more than 80 clients when the home health care company's contract was terminated by the agency. Repeated statements from an executive that his company did not plan to implement the new billing system and would not poach clients also allowed the home health care company to prove damages in excess of $118,000 based on lost clients. Affirmed.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: Ecker, Filed On: October 6, 2023, Case #: SC20642, Categories: Fraud, Health Care, Interference With Contract
J. Ecker finds the lower court properly upheld the Freedom of Information Commission's order requiring the department of mental health services to provide certain investigative documents to the media outlet. Although the documents were related to a patient, they did not deal with the diagnosis or treatment of any disorder and, therefore, were not exempt from disclosure. The police report requested by the media after the patient's death was not part of the patient's clinical file, and while certain sensitive personal information and names of other patients are required to be redacted, the report is not a privileged communication and was properly disclosed. Affirmed in part.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: Ecker, Filed On: August 29, 2023, Case #: SC20686, Categories: Government, Public Record, Privilege
[Consolidated.] J. Ecker finds that the lower court properly granted the hospital and doctors' motion for summary judgment on state law medical malpractice and wrongful death claims brought by the estate of the woman who died of cardiac arrest during the Covid-19 pandemic because the providers were entitled to immunity under the executive orders issued during the pandemic. Although the patient had a history of heart problems and some symptoms of a heart attack when she was admitted for treatment, the information known about Covid-19 at the time gave the providers a good faith belief she was suffering from a Covid-related ailment and not any heart issue, which rendered them immune under the executive orders. However, because the type of immunity afforded under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act is much narrower and does not cover the actions taken by the doctors after the decedent's negative Covid-19 test, those claims will be reinstated. Affirmed in part.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: Ecker, Filed On: August 8, 2023, Case #: SC20763, Categories: Immunity, Wrongful Death, Covid-19
J. Ecker finds that the lower court improperly dismissed petitioner’s appeal. Unpreserved claims challenging the habeas court’s handling of the proceeding are reviewable under the plain error doctrine and Golding. Reversed.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: Ecker, Filed On: July 24, 2023, Case #: SC 20621, Categories: Habeas