Budrawich v. Budrawich

Syllabus

The defendant, whose marriage to the plaintiff previously had been dis- solved, appealed to this court from the postjudgment rulings of the trial court modifying his alimony obligation and denying his motion to reassign to a different court the plaintiff's motion for an order seeking reimbursement from him for certain expenses of the parties' children. The defendant also challenged on appeal the trial court's granting of the plaintiff's motion to correct the court's memorandum of decision. The trial court had requested of the parties a waiver of the 120 day deadline mandated in the applicable rule of practice (§ 11-19) to issue a decision on the plaintiff's motion for an order seeking reimbursement. When the defendant did not respond to the request, a status conference was scheduled at which the plaintiff agreed to extend the 120 day deadline but which the defendant did not attend because, he asserted, he went to the incorrect courthouse. The court stated at the status conference that it would proceed with the agreement of counsel. The defendant thereafter sought reassignment of the plaintiff's motion for an order, claiming that the court had failed to render a timely decision under Practice Book § 11-19. The defendant's motion was assigned to a different court, which denied the motion after indicating that the prior court had found that the defendant consented to the extension of time. The prior court then ruled in favor of the plaintiff on her motion for an order. Held: 1. The trial court's finding that the defendant had consented to the prior court's request for an extension of time to rule on the plaintiff's motion for an order was clearly erroneous, the court having been required under Practice Book § 11-19 to reassign the plaintiff's motion to a different judge; the defendant timely filed his motion for reassignment, there was no evidence to support a finding of consent, and, although this court did not condone the defendant's failure to respond to the court's