State v. Brescia
CourtSupreme Court of Connecticut
Date FiledOctober 23, 2012
DocketSC18739
JudgeRogers; Norcott; Palmer; Zarella; Eveleigh; Vertefeuille
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
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STATE OF CONNECTICUT v. MARK BRESCIA
(SC 18739)
Rogers, C. J., and Norcott, Palmer, Zarella, Eveleigh and Vertefeuille, Js.
Argued September 20—officially released October 23, 2012
Martin Zeldes, public defender, for the appellant
(defendant).
Laurie N. Feldman, special deputy assistant state’s
attorney, with whom, on the brief, were Michael Dear-
ington, state’s attorney, and James Turcotte, supervi-
sory assistant state’s attorney, for the appellee (state).
Opinion
PER CURIAM. On March 10, 2006, during criminal
sentencing proceedings, the trial court found the defen-
dant, Mark Brescia, to be in contempt of the court and,
following a summary contempt proceeding at which
the defendant admitted that his conduct constituted
contempt, sentenced him to six months imprisonment.
See General Statutes § 51-33; Practice Book § 1-16. On
September 17, 2008, the defendant filed a motion to
correct an illegal sentence or disposition pursuant to
Practice Book § 43-22 (motion to correct), claiming that
the contempt sentence was imposed in an illegal man-
ner, thereby rendering it invalid. On February 27, 2009,
the trial court dismissed the defendant’s motion for
lack of subject matter jurisdiction after concluding that
the defendant’s sole remedy was by writ of error. The
defendant appealed to the Appellate Court, which
affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of the defendant’s
motion to correct for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
State v. Brescia, 123 Conn. App. 342, 347, 1 A.3d 1145
(2010). We then granted the defendant’s petition for
certification to appeal to this court limited to the follow-
ing issue: ‘‘Did the Appellate Court properly conclude
that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction
over the defendant’s Practice Book § 43-22 motion to
correct an illegal sentence imposed after a summary
criminal contempt proceeding pursuant to General Stat-
utes § 51-33?’’ State v. Brescia, 300 Conn. 901, 12 A.3d
574 (2011).
After examining the entire record on appeal and con-
sidering the briefs and oral arguments of the parties,
we have determined that the appeal in this case should
be dismissed on the ground that certification was
improvidently granted.
The appeal is dismissed.