Atlantic St. Heritage Associates, LLC v. Bologna

Citations

• 204 Conn. App. 163

Syllabus

The plaintiff sought, by way of summary process, to regain possession of certain premises occupied by the defendant. The trial court granted the plaintiff's motion for default for failure to plead and rendered a judgment of possession in favor of the plaintiff. The following day, the defendant filed a motion to open the judgment, which the court denied one week later. Notice of the court's decision denying the motion to open issued two days after that, and the defendant appealed that same day. There- after, the plaintiff filed a motion to terminate the appellate stay, which sought, in substance, a determination that there was not, in fact, an appellate stay in effect because the defendant had not filed his appeal within the five day statutory (§ 47a-35) appeal period in summary process actions and that the filing of the motion to open did not extend the appeal period. The defendant filed an objection, arguing that the case was controlled by Young v. Young (249 Conn. 482). Following a hearing, the court determined that no appellate stay was in effect that would prevent the execution of the judgment of possession during the pendency of the appeal. The defendant thereafter filed a timely motion for review with this court. Held that the case was controlled by Young, and, there- fore, the defendant's appeal was timely and, pursuant to § 47a-35 (b), execution of the judgment of possession was stayed until the final determination of the cause: because the defendant filed his motion to open well within the five day appeal period and, pursuant to the applica- ble rule of practice (§ 63-1 (c) (1)), a motion to open is a motion that, if granted, would render the judgment ineffective, a new five day appeal period arose when notice of the court's decision denying the motion to open issued, and the defendant filed his appeal on that same day, well within the new appeal period; accordingly, the defendant's motion for review and the relief requested therein were granted, and the tr