Hlinka v. Michaels


*********************************************** The “officially released” date that appears near the be- ginning of each opinion is the date the opinion will be pub- lished in the Connecticut Law Journal or the date it was released as a slip opinion. The operative date for the be- ginning of all time periods for filing postopinion motions and petitions for certification is the “officially released” date appearing in the opinion. All opinions are subject to modification and technical correction prior to official publication in the Connecticut Reports and Connecticut Appellate Reports. In the event of discrepancies between the advance release version of an opinion and the latest version appearing in the Connecticut Law Journal and subsequently in the Connecticut Reports or Connecticut Appellate Reports, the latest version is to be considered authoritative. The syllabus and procedural history accompanying the opinion as it appears in the Connecticut Law Journal and bound volumes of official reports are copyrighted by the Secretary of the State, State of Connecticut, and may not be reproduced and distributed without the express written permission of the Commission on Official Legal Publica- tions, Judicial Branch, State of Connecticut. *********************************************** JAN HLINKA v. MARIA K. MICHAELS (AC 43759) Bright, C. J., and Alexander and Suarez, Js. Syllabus The plaintiff, J, sought, by way of summary process, to regain possession of certain premises that he owned with B, his wife, that were occupied by the defendant. The defendant filed special defenses, a counterclaim and prayers for relief. The trial court granted the defendant’s motion to cite in B as a counterclaim defendant. When J and B moved to strike the defendant’s counterclaim and prayers for relief, the trial court, sua sponte, struck all but one of the defendant’s special defenses. Following a trial, the court rendered judgment of possession of the premises in favor of J and B, and the defendant appealed to this court. Held: 1. The defendant could not prevail on her claim that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the action, as the record clearly reflected that the joint owners of the premises were unanimous in their desire that the defendant be evicted from the premises: after B was added as a party to the action, she joined with J, a joint owner, in all efforts to secure a judgment of possession for them and against the defendant and there was no evidence that B objected to the summary process action; moreover, there was no language or provision in the applicable statute (§ 47a-23) providing that the trial court was deprived of subject matter jurisdiction over a summary process action unless all owners of a subject property agreed with the initiation of the action by a statement in the complaint or some sworn statement. 2. The trial court improperly struck, sua sponte, the defendant’s special defense of laches; the defendant was not provided with reasonable notice that her special defense could be struck, as J and B filed a motion to strike the defendant’s counterclaim and prayers for relief …

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