In re Azareon Y.
CourtSupreme Court of Connecticut
Date FiledJuly 30, 2013
DocketSC19087
JudgeRogers; Norcott; Palmer; Zarella; Eveleigh; McDonald and
Vertefeuille
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
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IN RE AZAREON Y. ET AL.*
(SC 19087)
Rogers, C. J., and Norcott, Palmer, Zarella, Eveleigh, McDonald and
Vertefeuille, Js.
Argued May 16—officially released July 30, 2013**
James P. Sexton, assigned counsel, for the appellant
(respondent mother).
Michael Besso, assistant attorney general, with whom
were Susan T. Pearlman, assistant attorney general,
and, on the brief, George Jepsen, attorney general, Greg-
ory T. D’Auria, solicitor general, and Benjamin
Zivyon, assistant attorney general, for the appellee
(petitioner).
Robert J. Moore, for the minor children.
David J. McGuire, Thomas J. Donlon and Jamie M.
Landry filed a brief for the American Civil Liberties
Union Foundation of Connecticut as amicus curiae.
Joshua Michtom and Sarah Healy Eagan filed a brief
for the office of the chief public defender et al. as
amici curiae.
Opinion
McDONALD, J. The respondent mother, Shayna Y.
(respondent),1 appealed from the trial court’s judg-
ments granting petitions to terminate her parental rights
with respect to her minor son and daughter filed by the
petitioner, the Commissioner of Children and Families,
pursuant to General Statutes § 17a-112.2 Before the
Appellate Court, the respondent sought review under
State v. Golding, 213 Conn. 233, 239–40, 567 A.2d 823
(1989), of a claim that she previously had not
advanced—namely, that the trial court’s application of
§ 17a-112 to her was unconstitutional because substan-
tive due process required the trial court to find by clear
and convincing evidence that termination of her paren-
tal rights was the least restrictive means necessary to
ensure the state’s compelling interest in protecting the
children’s safety and well-being (best interests), and no
such finding was made. The Appellate Court concluded
that it could not reach the merits of that claim due to
an evidentiary lacuna. In re Azareon Y., 139 Conn. App.
457, 463, 60 A.3d 742 (2012). We granted the respon-
dent’s petition for certification to appeal to this court
to consider: (1) whether the Appellate Court properly
determined that her unpreserved constitutional claim
was unreviewable because the record was inadequate;
and (2) if that determination was improper, whether the
trial court’s application of § 17a-112 to the respondent
violated her substantive due process rights. In re Azar-
eon Y., 308 Conn. 925, 64 A.3d 329 (2013). We agree
with the Appellate Court’s determination as to the inad-
equacy of the record, and, therefore, we do not reach
the second certified question. Accordingly, we affirm
the judgment of the Appellate Court.
The opinion of the Appellate Court recites the follow-
ing facts found by the trial court by clear and convincing
evidence in its oral decision, none of which is in dispute.
‘‘When the respondent, who was born in 1989, was a
young child, she was removed from her own mother’s
care and placed in the custody of her maternal aunt.
The respondent did not do well in school and, at the age
of ten and one-half years old, was referred to Riverview
Hospital. She has been diagnosed with attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression. . . .
[T]he respondent is transient and unemployed and has
mental health and domestic violence issues. She exhib-
its poor parenting skills, a failure to perceive safety
issues and poor judgment.3 The respondent has received
a variety of services from Hartford Behavioral Health,
Village for Children and Family and Klingberg Family
Services, but either has not completed the programs
offered or was not able to benefit from them. [Medica-
tion will not help the respondent’s memory and judg-
ment problems.]
‘‘The respondent gave birth to her son in 2008 and
to her daughter in 2009. A social worker from the depart-
ment of children and families [department] removed
the children from the respondent’s home in November,
2010, pursuant to a ninety-six hour hold. The petitioner
. . . filed a motion for an order of temporary custody
on November 12, 2010. On May 10, 2011, the court,
Dyer, J., adjudicated the children neglected and
ordered specific steps for the respondent. [The peti-
tioner thereafter filed permanency plans seeking termi-
nation of the respondent’s parental rights and adoption,
which the trial court, Frazzini, J., approved on Septem-
ber 20, 2011. That same day] the petitioner filed peti-
tions to terminate the respondent’s parental rights with
respect to her son and her daughter. Since October 13,
2011, the children have resided with the respondent’s
maternal aunt, a licensed foster parent, who has pre-
sented herself as an adoptive resource. [The trial court,
Cofield, J.] granted the petitions to terminate the
respondent’s parental rights with respect to her minor
son and daughter on May 18, 2012, after finding that
termination was in the best interests of the children.
The court found that the children were in need of a
secure and permanent environment.’’ (Footnotes
altered.) In re Azareon Y., supra, 139 Conn. App. 459–60.
The record reveals the following additional undis-
puted facts and procedural history. Although the
respondent had contended during proceedings in the
trial court on the petitions for termination that she
should be given the opportunity to rehabilitate and
reunify with her children, before the Appellate Court the
respondent ‘‘concede[d] that ‘her cognitive limitations
preclude reunification with her children as a viable
means of providing a stable environment for them going
forward.’ ’’ Id., 460. Nonetheless, she claimed that § 17a-
112, as applied to her, violated her substantive due
process rights under the federal constitution, or alterna-
tively under the state constitution, because the trial
court should have been required to find by clear and
convincing evidence that the permanency plan ordered
was the least restrictive means necessary to ensure the
state’s compelling interest in protecting the children’s
best interests. Id., 460–61. The respondent acknowl-
edged that she had failed to preserve this claim at trial
and, therefore, sought to prevail under State v. Golding,
supra, 213 Conn. 239–40. In re Azareon Y., supra, 139
Conn. App. 461.
In response to this claim, the Appellate Court con-
cluded: ‘‘The record contains the petitioner’s perma-
nency plan but is devoid of alternatives, and the
respondent has not indicated that she requested that the
court consider any alternatives. Moreover, the court’s
memorandum of decision does not indicate whether
the court considered a permanency plan other than the
one advocated by the petitioner, and the respondent did
not ask the court to articulate whether it had considered
other options. . . . Our role is not to guess at possibili-
ties, but to review claims based on a complete factual
record developed by the trial court. . . . Without the
necessary factual and legal conclusions furnished by
the trial court . . . any decision made by us respecting
[the respondent’s claims] would be entirely specula-
tive.’’ (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omit-
ted.) Id., 463. Accordingly, the Appellate Court affirmed
the trial court’s judgment, holding that the respondent’s
claim failed under the first prong of Golding ‘‘for lack of
an adequate record.’’4 Id. This certified appeal followed.
The respondent claims that the Appellate Court’s con-
clusion as to the state of the record was improper and
that she is entitled to prevail on her substantive due
process claim. With respect to the first issue, the respon-
dent contends that the Appellate Court confused the
first and fourth prongs of Golding, and, in the process,
not only impermissibly shifted the burden to her to
prove that the alleged constitutional violation would
have produced a different outcome at trial, but also
relieved the petitioner of her burden of proof under
the proper constitutional standard.5 In the respondent’s
view, the deficiency in the evidentiary record actually
confirms that the trial court could not have undertaken
the constitutional analysis that substantive due process
required. As authority for her position that she should
not be required to demonstrate that she can prevail on
the record as it exists under the new standard she seeks,
the respondent points to United States Supreme Court
cases involving fundamental parental rights in which
that court had remanded cases for a new trial when the
judgments had been obtained under a constitutionally
deficient standard, despite the uncertainty of whether
the parent ultimately would prevail in light of the evi-
dence adduced under the old standard. Finally, the
respondent contends that the Appellate Court improp-
erly concluded that the record is ambiguous as to
whether the trial court considered permanency plans
other than termination because the absence of any evi-
dence regarding the availability of such plans would
have made a least restrictive means analysis
impossible.
Although the petitioner mounts numerous attacks
on the respondent’s position, we are persuaded by the
petitioner’s contention that a proper understanding of
the respondent’s constitutional claim and the proper
application of Golding support the Appellate Court’s
conclusion. Therefore, we have no occasion to express
an opinion as to the merits of the respondent’s substan-
tive due process claim.
Under Golding, ‘‘a defendant can prevail on a claim
of constitutional error not preserved at trial only if all
of the following conditions are met: (1) the record is
adequate to review the alleged claim of error; (2) the
claim is of constitutional magnitude alleging the viola-
tion of a fundamental right; (3) the alleged constitu-
tional violation clearly exists and clearly deprived the
defendant of a fair trial; and (4) if subject to harmless
error analysis, the state has failed to demonstrate harm-
lessness of the alleged constitutional violation beyond
a reasonable doubt.’’ (Emphasis omitted; footnote omit-
ted.) State v. Golding, supra, 213 Conn. 239–40. ‘‘The
first two steps in the Golding analysis address the
reviewability of the claim, while the last two steps
involve the merits of the claim.’’ (Internal quotation
marks omitted.) State v. Britton, 283 Conn. 598, 615,
929 A.2d 312 (2007).
An appellant who has not preserved her claim before
the trial court must overcome hurdles that are not
imposed when the issue was properly presented to that
court. This court repeatedly has underscored that
‘‘Golding is a narrow exception to the general rule that
an appellate court will not entertain a claim that has
not been raised in the trial court. The reason for the
rule is obvious: to permit a party to raise a claim on
appeal that has not been raised at trial—after it is too
late for the trial court or the opposing party to address
the claim—would encourage trial by ambuscade, which
is unfair to both the trial court and the opposing party.
. . . Nevertheless, because constitutional claims impli-
cate fundamental rights, it also would be unfair auto-
matically and categorically to bar a defendant from
raising a meritorious constitutional claim that warrants
a new trial solely because the defendant failed to iden-
tify the violation at trial. Golding strikes an appropriate
balance between these competing interests: the defen-
dant may raise such a constitutional claim on appeal,
and the appellate tribunal will review it, but only if the
trial court record is adequate for appellate review. The
reason for this requirement demands no great elabora-
tion: in the absence of a sufficient record, there is no
way to know whether a violation of constitutional mag-
nitude in fact has occurred. Thus, as we stated in Gold-
ing, we will not address an unpreserved constitutional
claim [i]f the facts revealed by the record are insuffi-
cient, unclear or ambiguous as to whether a constitu-
tional violation has occurred . . . .’’ (Emphasis added;
internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Canales, 281
Conn. 572, 580–81, 916 A.2d 767 (2007).
To determine whether the record is adequate to ascer-
tain whether a constitutional violation occurred, we
must consider the respondent’s alleged claim of impro-
priety and whether it requires any factual predicates.
‘‘[P]arents’ interest in the care, custody and control of
their children, [i]s ‘perhaps the oldest of the fundamen-
tal liberty interests recognized by [the United States
Supreme] Court.’ Troxel v. Granville, [530 U.S. 57, 65,
120 S. Ct. 2054, 147 L. Ed. 2d 49 (2000)].’’ Roth v. Weston,
259 Conn. 202, 216, 789 A.2d 431 (2002). In reliance on
this right, the respondent contends that the following
judicial gloss must be engrafted onto § 17a-112 in order
not to violate substantive due process, which was not
applied to her: ‘‘[T]he [trial] court must find by clear
and convincing evidence that a viable permanency plan
recognized by statute that is less restrictive than termi-
nation of parental rights is not capable of providing the
children with a permanent, safe and nurturing home in
light of their age and needs. The petitioner has the
burden of proof as to this finding.’’ Applying Golding
properly, according to the respondent, the only facts
that need to be reflected in the record in support of
this claim are: (1) that she is the children’s biological
mother; (2) that the trial court terminated her parental
rights with respect to her children, thereby forever
destroying her fundamental liberty interest in their care,
custody, and concern; and (3) that the trial court termi-
nated these rights without first finding that a less restric-
tive permanency plan was not available to secure the
petitioner’s compelling interest in protecting the chil-
dren.6 Because such facts indisputably are reflected
in the record, the respondent contends that we must
consider whether she had a substantive due process
right that required the trial court to make this finding.
We disagree with the respondent’s attempt to character-
ize her claim as a mere question of law lacking factual
predicates beyond those she has cited.
The respondent’s claim actually is comprised of two
closely related elements: (1) that there is a substantive
constitutional entitlement to a less restrictive alterna-
tive to termination where one exists; and (2) that the
trial court cannot order termination of parental rights
without finding by clear and convincing evidence that
this constitutional requirement has been met. In other
words, unless there is some valid alternative to termina-
tion, it cannot violate substantive due process to termi-
nate parental rights. Therefore, the record must reflect
whether there is a valid alternative permanency plan
to termination and adoption.7 It is undisputed that the
record contains no such finding.
At trial, the petitioner was never put on notice of the
respondent’s proposed constitutional gloss to § 17a-112.
On appeal, the petitioner does not concede either that
there are available alternatives to termination/adoption
or that such alternatives would adequately safeguard
the children’s best interests. ‘‘In such circumstances,
the [petitioner] bears no responsibility for the eviden-
tiary lacunae, and, therefore, it would be manifestly
unfair to the [petitioner] for this court to reach the
merits of the [respondent’s] claim upon a mere assump-
tion that [the factual predicate to the respondent’s claim
has been met].’’8 (Emphasis omitted.) State v. Brunetti,
279 Conn. 39, 59, 901 A.2d 1 (2006), cert. denied, 549
U.S. 1212, 127 S. Ct. 1328, 167 L. Ed. 2d 85 (2007).
Not only would such an assumption be improper, but
because ‘‘under the test in Golding, we must determine
whether the [appellant] can prevail on his [or her] claim,
a remand to the trial court would be inappropriate. The
first prong of Golding was designed to avoid remands
for the purpose of supplementing the record.’’ (Empha-
sis omitted.) State v. Stanley, 223 Conn. 674, 689–90,
613 A.2d 788 (1992). Indeed, this is not a case in which
the record only would need to be supplemented by a
finding by the trial court after applying the proposed
standard to the existing record, as it arguably was in
Stanley.9 As both parties concede, there is an inade-
quate basis in the record for the trial court to determine
whether there are available alternatives to termination
that adequately would safeguard the children’s best
interests. Thus, in order to make the requisite finding,
the evidence would have to be opened. In cases of
unpreserved constitutional claims, this court consis-
tently has refused to order a new trial when it would
be necessary to elicit additional evidence to determine
whether the constitutional violation exists. See State v.
Dalzell, 282 Conn. 709, 721–22, 924 A.2d 809 (2007);
State v. Canales, supra, 281 Conn. 582; State v. Brunetti,
supra, 279 Conn. 59, 64; State v. Daniels, 248 Conn. 64,
80, 726 A.2d 520 (1999), overruled on other grounds by
State v. Singleton, 274 Conn. 426, 438, 876 A.2d 1 (2005);
State v. Medina, 228 Conn. 281, 301–302, 636 A.2d 351
(1994). Whether it would have been the appellee’s bur-
den of proof to demonstrate such additional facts on
remand has never been deemed a relevant factor.
Although such a stringent approach clearly limits
review of constitutional claims, Golding provides a lim-
ited exception to review of unpreserved claims. Appli-
cation of the same standard applied to preserved claims
would defeat the careful balance that this court struck
to permit review of unpreserved constitutional claims.
The respondent’s characterization of her claim as one
of a constitutionally deficient standard glosses over
the substantive requirement underlying that standard.
If we were to sanction the respondent’s approach,
almost any claim lacking a factual predicate in the
record could be reframed as a pure legal question as
to whether a deficient standard had been applied. For
example, in State v. Brunetti, supra, 279 Conn. 56, the
defendant sought review of an unpreserved claim that
the search of his parents’ home was illegal because his
father’s consent to the search should not prevail over
his mother’s refusal to consent, when both were present
and had equal authority to consent to the search of
their residence. We deemed the record inadequate to
review that claim because the record did not clearly
reflect whether the defendant’s mother, who had
declined to sign a consent form, had refused consent.
Id. Under the respondent’s approach, however, the Bru-
netti defendant could have avoided this problem by
framing his claim as presenting a pure question of law,
namely, that the trial court had applied a constitution-
ally defective standard because: (1) the trial court was
required to find that consent to search was given by both
parents; and (2) the state bore the burden of proving
consent. To allow appellants to reframe their unpre-
served claims in such a manner would undermine the
balance this court struck in Golding.
The United States Supreme Court cases cited by the
respondent do not support the result she seeks, and
indeed underscore her mischaracterization of her claim.
Those cases involved claims of procedural due process.
See Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745, 102 S. Ct. 1388,
71 L. Ed. 2d 599 (1982); Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S.
645, 92 S. Ct. 1208, 31 L. Ed. 2d 551 (1972). In such
cases, proof of application of a defective standard
would establish the constitutional violation. The claim
that the respondent has advanced, however, is one of
substantive, not procedural, due process.10
Therefore, we agree with the Appellate Court that
the record is inadequate for review. Indeed, in addition
to the absence of a critical factual finding, we also agree
with the Appellate Court that there is an additional
Golding concern implicated in the present case. Specifi-
cally, the record is ambiguous as to whether the trial
court concluded that the petitioner proved by clear
and convincing evidence that termination was the only
option available to satisfy the best interests of the chil-
dren. The trial court expressly concluded that the peti-
tioner had proved by clear and convincing evidence
that termination was in the children’s best interests.
The court cited the ages of the respondent’s children,
approximately three and one-half years old and two
and one-half years old at the time the court ordered
termination, and their ‘‘need for a secure and permanent
environment.’’ At the time termination was ordered, the
statutory scheme provided four permanency options:
(1) reunification with the parent; (2) long-term foster
care with a relative; (3) transfer of guardianship; or (4)
termination followed by adoption.11 General Statutes
§ 17a-111b (c) and General Statutes (Rev. to 2011) § 46b-
129 (j) and (k) (2) (B). As the respondent concedes on
appeal, reunification is not a viable option. The lack of
evidence as to whether the maternal aunt would have
agreed to either long-term foster care or a conventional
guardianship would not have precluded the trial court
from reasonably concluding that termination followed
by adoption was the only plan in the best interests of
the children. It was the only plan that would afford
these young children with a truly permanent placement.
Under State v. Golding, supra, 213 Conn. 240, ‘‘[i]f the
facts revealed by the record are insufficient, unclear or
ambiguous as to whether a constitutional violation has
occurred, we will not attempt to supplement or recon-
struct the record, or to make factual determinations,
in order to decide the [respondent’s] claim.’’
The judgment of the Appellate Court is affirmed.
In this opinion the other justices concurred.
* 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 this
appeal are not disclosed.
** July 30, 2013, the date that this decision was released as a slip opinion,
is the operative date for all substantive and procedural purposes.
1
The trial court also rendered judgments terminating the parental rights
of the respondent John Doe with respect to his minor son on the grounds of
abandonment and no ongoing parent-child relationship pursuant to General
Statutes § 17a-112 (j) (3) (A) and (D), and the respondent Frederick R. with
respect to his minor daughter on the ground of failure to achieve such a
degree of personal rehabilitation as would encourage the belief that, within
a reasonable time, he could assume a responsible position in the life of his
daughter pursuant to § 17a-112 (j) (3) (B) (i). Neither father is a party to
this appeal. We therefore refer to the respondent mother as the respondent
in this opinion.
2
General Statutes § 17a-112 provides in relevant part: ‘‘(j) The Superior
Court, upon notice and hearing as provided in sections 45a-716 and 45a-
717, may grant a petition filed pursuant to this section if it finds by clear
and convincing evidence that (1) the Department of Children and Families
has made reasonable efforts to locate the parent and to reunify the child
with the parent in accordance with subsection (a) of section 17a-111b, unless
the court finds in this proceeding that the parent is unable or unwilling to
benefit from reunification efforts, except that such finding is not required
if the court has determined at a hearing pursuant to section 17a-111b, or
determines at trial on the petition, that such efforts are not required, (2)
termination is in the best interest of the child, and (3) (A) the child has
been abandoned by the parent in the sense that the parent has failed to
maintain a reasonable degree of interest, concern or responsibility as to the
welfare of the child; (B) the child (i) has been found by the Superior Court
or the Probate Court to have been neglected or uncared for in a prior
proceeding, or (ii) is found to be neglected or uncared for and has been in
the custody of the commissioner for at least fifteen months and the parent
of such child has been provided specific steps to take to facilitate the return
of the child to the parent pursuant to section 46b-129 and has failed to
achieve such degree of personal rehabilitation as would encourage the belief
that within a reasonable time, considering the age and needs of the child,
such parent could assume a responsible position in the life of the child . . .
(D) there is no ongoing parent-child relationship, which means the relation-
ship that ordinarily develops as a result of a parent having met on a day-
to-day basis the physical, emotional, moral and educational needs of the
child and to allow further time for the establishment or reestablishment of
such parent-child relationship would be detrimental to the best interest of
the child . . . .
‘‘(k) Except in the case where termination is based on consent, in determin-
ing whether to terminate parental rights under this section, the court shall
consider and shall make written findings regarding: (1) The timeliness,
nature and extent of services offered, provided and made available to the
parent and the child by an agency to facilitate the reunion of the child with
the parent; (2) whether the Department of Children and Families has made
reasonable efforts to reunite the family pursuant to the federal Adoption
Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980, as amended; (3) the terms of any
applicable court order entered into and agreed upon by any individual or
agency and the parent, and the extent to which all parties have fulfilled
their obligations under such order; (4) the feelings and emotional ties of
the child with respect to the child’s parents, any guardian of such child’s
person and any person who has exercised physical care, custody or control
of the child for at least one year and with whom the child has developed
significant emotional ties; (5) the age of the child; (6) the efforts the parent
has made to adjust such parent’s circumstances, conduct, or conditions to
make it in the best interest of the child to return such child home in the
foreseeable future, including, but not limited to, (A) the extent to which
the parent has maintained contact with the child as part of an effort to
reunite the child with the parent, provided the court may give weight to
incidental visitations, communications or contributions, and (B) the mainte-
nance of regular contact or communication with the guardian or other
custodian of the child; and (7) the extent to which a parent has been
prevented from maintaining a meaningful relationship with the child by
the unreasonable act or conduct of the other parent of the child, or the
unreasonable act of any other person or by the economic circumstances of
the parent. . . .’’
3
Examples of such issues reflected in the record include leaving the
children unattended, leaving the children with inappropriate caregivers,
letting her two year old son bathe himself, and forgetting to give her daughter
ringworm medication.
4
The Appellate Court also rejected the respondent’s claim that the trial
court had denied her due process under the federal constitution by failing
to order, sua sponte, an evaluation to determine whether she was competent
to understand the proceedings and assist her counsel. In re Azareon Y.,
supra, 139 Conn. App. 463–67. That determination is not before us in this
certified appeal.
5
The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Connecticut filed an
amicus curiae brief in support of the respondent’s position on this issue.
6
The respondent asserts that she does not contend that the trial court
would be constitutionally obligated to order, sua sponte, an alternative, less
restrictive permanency plan if it believed one to be available. Rather, she
contends that the trial court would be required to deny the termination
petition, leaving the petitioner with the options of submitting a new perma-
nency plan with such an alternative or submitting a new termination petition
supported with sufficient proof of no less restrictive alternatives.
7
We note that the respondent has framed her claim inconsistently through-
out the appellate proceedings, in some cases framing it in a manner that
makes clear that an available alternative is a factual predicate. For example,
in her brief to the Appellate Court, the respondent asserted: ‘‘The central
question in this termination of parental rights appeal is whether the substan-
tive due process clauses of the federal and state constitutions permit a trial
court to terminate parental rights when less restrictive means of securing
the children’s best interests are available.’’ (Emphasis added.) In re Azareon
Y., Appellate Court Records & Briefs, October Term, 2012, Respondent’s
Brief p. 1. We also note that, in one of her iterations of her claim in her
brief to this court, the respondent asserts that ‘‘[t]he only question is whether
long-term foster care or a permanent guardianship with [the maternal aunt]
would secure the children’s needs without requiring the respondent’s paren-
tal rights forever be destroyed.’’ Although we question how the resolution
of this question satisfies the broader standard articulated by the respondent,
we note that the respondent never has represented that the aunt is amenable
to either option nor did she propose such an option to the trial court. The
aunt did indicate that she was amenable to an open adoption, an arrangement
that would provide the respondent with visitation, but at the aunt’s discre-
tion. Given the long-standing, and apparently amicable, relationship between
the respondent and the aunt, who was the respondent’s own foster parent,
the respondent would seem to have been readily able to obtain such infor-
mation.
8
The respondent attempts to avoid the force of Golding’s first prong
by underscoring the fact that the petitioner bears the burden of proof in
termination proceedings. This point, however, simply illustrates that the
respondent’s claim, in effect, is that the petitioner failed to adduce sufficient
evidence in support of its petition when the petitioner had no notice that
additional evidence was required.
9
In State v. Stanley, supra, 223 Conn. 689, this court concluded that the
record was inadequate for Golding review of the defendant’s claim that the
state had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, rather than by a preponder-
ance of evidence, that the defendant knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily
waived his Miranda rights. See Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 478–79,
26 S. Ct. 1602, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694 (1966). This court reasoned that we had no
basis on which to determine whether the trial court would have found that
the state had sustained that higher burden of proof. State v. Stanley, supra,
689. In the present case, the respondent recognizes that Stanley directly
undermines her claim even as she frames it as a purely legal question as
to the proper ‘‘standard,’’ but she contends that we should not follow Stanley
because it is an outlier. We agree that Stanley differs from other cases,
cited subsequently in this opinion, in which this court has declined to remand
due to an inadequate record because additional evidence was required to
supplement the record to determine whether the appellant could prevail on
the constitutional claim. In Stanley, no additional evidence necessarily
would have been required, although it could be argued that the state might
have chosen to put on additional evidence if it had known that it was subject
to a heightened burden of proof. Because the claim in the present case
undoubtedly would require additional evidence in order to establish an
essential factual predicate, however, we need not address the suggestion
of the respondent that we should disavow Stanley’s application of Golding.
10
Although the respondent relies on the remedy afforded in these United
States Supreme Court procedural due process cases, the fact that she does
not provide the requisite analysis for such claims; see In re Lukas K., 300
Conn. 463, 469, 14 A.3d 990 (2011) (noting three part balancing test for
procedural due process claims under Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319,
335, 96 S. Ct. 893, 47 L. Ed. 2d 18 [1976]); further demonstrates that she
presents her claim as a matter of substantive, not procedural, due process.
11
After the trial concluded in the present case, the statutory scheme was
amended to add an option of a permanent guardianship. See Public Acts,
Spec. Sess., June, 2012, No. 12-1, §§ 272-273, codified as General Statutes
§ 46b-129 (j) and (k) (2). The respondent seeks a new trial at which this
option would be available to the court.