In re Vada V.

Citations

• 343 Conn. 730

Syllabus

The respondents appealed from the judgments of the trial court terminating their parental rights with respect to their minor children. After the In accordance with the spirit and intent of General Statutes § 46b-142 (b) and Practice Book § 79a-12, the names of the parties involved in these appeals are not disclosed. The records and papers of these cases shall be open for inspection only to persons having a proper interest therein and upon order of the Appellate Court. 343 Conn. 730 JUNE, 2022 731 In re Vada V. children were adjudicated neglected and committed to the care and custody of the petitioner, the Commissioner of Children and Families, the petitioner sought to terminate the respondents' parental rights with respect to the children on the ground that the respondents had failed to rehabilitate. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a virtual trial on the termination petitions was held via Microsoft Teams. The respondents were represented by separate counsel and participated in the proceed- ings through audio and video means. The respondents joined the trial via a shared cell phone, outside the proximity of their counsel, but they were able to communicate with counsel through e-mail, text messages, and a messaging application. After the conclusion of the trial, the trial court terminated the respondents' parental rights. On appeal from the trial court's judgments, held: 1. The respondents' unpreserved claims that the trial court had violated their rights under article first, § 10, and article fifth, § 1, of the Connecticut constitution by conducting the termination of parental rights trial virtu- ally rather than in person, and that they had been denied their rights under the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment to physically confront the witnesses against them at the virtual trial were unavailing; this court, having addressed the same issues and underlying arguments in the companion case of In re Annessa J. (343 Conn. 642), adopted the reasoning and conclusi