Stevens v. Khalily

Citations

• 194 Conn. App. 626

Syllabus

The plaintiff sought to recover damages for, inter alia, intentional infliction of emotional distress from the defendants E and T, who filed a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction due to improper service of process as a result of the plaintiff's failure to serve them at their last known addresses, and neither of whom was a resident of this state. The trial court granted the motion to dismiss and rendered judgment in part thereon, concluding that where, as here, there was a challenge to personal jurisdiction of nonresident individuals, it was the plaintiff's burden to produce evidence adequate to establish such jurisdiction, and that the plaintiff had failed to use diligent and persistent efforts to properly serve E and T at their last known addresses. On the plaintiff's appeal to this court, held that the trial court properly granted the motion to dismiss filed by E and T: because there was a dispute as to the location of the last known addresses of E and T, once their affidavits raised a factual question challenging the court's jurisdiction for insuffi- cient service of process, the burden shifted to the plaintiff to prove the court's jurisdiction over the nonresident defendants, the plaintiff did not cite to any counter authority to disclaim his burden to prove jurisdic- tion, nor did he provide evidence of his diligent and persistent efforts to locate the last known addresses of E and T within a reasonable time of his attempt to serve process on them, as mere notice of the action is not sufficient to confer personal jurisdiction over a party who has not been properly served, and the plaintiff failed to account for his efforts to remain current on the whereabouts of E and T before attempting service of process to commence this action; accordingly, because the plaintiff failed to sustain his burden that he properly served E and T at their respective last known addresses and that he made a reasonably diligent search to find out their last known addres