Petrocelli v. Shelton

Citations

• 230 Conn. App. 639

Syllabus

The defendant state of Connecticut appealed from the trial court's judgment denying its motion to dismiss the count of the plaintiff's complaint asserted against it. The defendant claimed that the plaintiff's cause of action for personal injuries pursuant to statute (§ 13a-144) was barred by the doctrine of sovereign immunity because the defendant had abandoned that portion of the defective sidewalk where the plaintiff fell and, thus, the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over her claim. Held: The trial court properly denied the motion to dismiss because the question of abandonment involved a disputed issue of fact, which was critical to the determination of whether the court had subject matter jurisdiction, and the court had discretion to postpone resolution of that question until after a trial on the merits. Argued November 14, 2024—officially released February 11, 2025